How agency and self‐efficacy moderate the effects of strategic improvisational behaviors on sales performance: Evidence from an emerging market

Abstract

This study develops and tests arguments that improvisation is not universal in its benefits for the firm, but rather its multidimensional characteristics (action‐orientation, creativity, and spontaneity) hold differential performance effects. The study further examines whether these relationships are contingent upon individual agency and self‐efficacy. Drawing on primary data from industrial sales account managers in Ghana, the study finds that an increasing level of action‐orientation is associated with decreases in perceived sales performance and the decrease in performance is more pronounced under conditions of stronger sense of agency and self‐efficacy. Similarly, an increasing level of creativity is associated with decreases in perceived sales performance when agency is stronger. However, an increasing level of spontaneity is associated with increases in performance and this increase is strengthened under conditions of stronger sense of self‐efficacy. The study concludes that the effect of strategic improvisation on sales performance outcome within the context of an emerging economy (such as Ghana) is more nuanced than established improvisation literature suggests.

In search of operational resilience: How and when improvisation matters

“…Improvisation studies have focused on different levels of analysis, some examining improvisation at the individual level (Hultman et al, 2022), others at the team level (Magni et al, 2013), and still others at the firm level (Munir et al, 2022). How the construct is operationalized also differs, with some studies treating improvisation as a unidimensional construct (Banin et al, 2016; Magni et al, 2013; Munir et al, 2022), and others as a multiple one (Hultman et al, 2022; Nemkova et al, 2015). In this study, we analyze improvisation at the firm level by focusing on its two basic components: spontaneity and creativity (Vera & Crossan, 2004).…”

“…Strategy and organizational studies show that organizational contingencies moderate the benefits of improvisation. Such contingencies include, for example, resource availability (Banin et al, 2016), self‐efficacy (Hultman et al, 2022), experimental culture, real‐time information and communication, and expertise (Vera & Crossan, 2005), as well as uncertainty and complexity‐inducing factors such as market dynamism (Souchon et al, 2016) and spatial dispersion (Magni et al, 2013). Following the COR resource caravan passageways concept (Hobfoll et al, 2018), we further propose that the ability to leverage improvisational responses for resilience is not uniform across firms; and even if this were not true, their efficacy is likely to vary due to differences in their exposure to supply chain disruptions (Luo & Malsch, 2020; Vera & Crossan, 2005).…”

“…Using survey data from Pakistani manufacturers, Munir et al (2022) find that improvisation is positively associated with supply chain resilience, although their empirical approach did not clarify how or when improvisation benefits supply chain resilience. Related empirical studies show that the benefits of improvisation are not universal, rather, they are multidimensional and contingent upon organizational circumstances (e.g., Hultman et al, 2022; Nemkova et al, 2015; Souchon et al, 2016). Hultman et al (2022) find that the impact of the spontaneity dimension of improvisation on sales performance is negative, while that of the creativity dimension is U‐shaped, and that self‐efficacy and agency moderate both effects.…”

“…Related empirical studies show that the benefits of improvisation are not universal, rather, they are multidimensional and contingent upon organizational circumstances (e.g., Hultman et al, 2022; Nemkova et al, 2015; Souchon et al, 2016). Hultman et al (2022) find that the impact of the spontaneity dimension of improvisation on sales performance is negative, while that of the creativity dimension is U‐shaped, and that self‐efficacy and agency moderate both effects. On the contrary, Nemkova et al (2015) show that creativity and spontaneity are positively related to export responsiveness but unrelated to customer and economic performance outcomes.…”

Improvisation, strategy, and strategic improvisation in emerging markets

“…The paper by Hultman et al (2022) provides an important contribution to the improvisation literature by demonstrating that the benefits of improvisational activity are not universal but instead multidimensional and are contingent upon individual agency and self‐efficacy. More specifically, the paper sheds light on the forms of the relationships between improvisational behaviors and sales performance, and the micro‐foundational conditions under which such relationships are more or less pronounced.…”