Institutional Pressures as Sources of Improvisations: A Case Study from a Developing Country Context

Bada, Abiodun O.; Aniebonam, Manny C.; Owei, Vesper

doi:10.1080/1097198x.2004.10856377

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…However, time convergence is not limited to disasters or crises, but can reflect any incident where there is little or no planning between the conceptualisation of an action to address an unanticipated event and the implementation of that action (Bada, Aniebonam, & Owei, 2004;Mallak, 1998;Moorman & Miner, 1998b). In other words, improvisation could be seen as an incremental method of response and control to unanticipated events.…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

Improvisation: A legitimate strategy in the face of adversity

Best¹,

Gooderham

2015

Small Enterprise Research

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While there is substantial research on entrepreneurial behaviour there is limited research on the use of improvisation as a legitimate response. It is widely acknowledged that many entrepreneurs do not use plans, or ignore them once they are written. This paper explores what entrepreneurs do when face with an unanticipated event that requires a response, and planning is not a viable option. Using a qualitative approach the paper builds on unobtrusive observations and informal interviews to establish how entrepreneurs respond to unanticipated events. Based on these observations and interviews the paper argues that improvisation is a legitimate alternative to planning. The paper contributes to our understanding of how entrepreneurs respond to unanticipated events that require immediate responses. It also demonstrates that improvisation is a wide-spread activity that is much more complex than the accepted definition implies.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 97%

Improvisation: A legitimate strategy in the face of adversity

Best¹,

Gooderham

2015

Small Enterprise Research

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“…Not withstanding these caveats, new institutional theory has been widely adopted by information systems researchers in recent years and has provided significant insights into understanding the phenomena in the context of information systems (Tingling and Parent, 2002;Gosain, 2004;Bada, Aniebonam and Owei, 2004;Hu and Quan, 2005;Hu, Hart, and Cooke, 2006). Gosain's (2004) theoretical analysis of how institutional environment could shape the adoption and implementation of information systems represents a comprehensive use of the new institutional theory in information systems research.…”

Section: The New Institutional Theorymentioning

confidence: 97%

The rise and fall of the competitive local exchange carriers in the U.S.: An institutional perspective

Huang

2006

Inf Syst Front

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The debacle of the telecommunications industry at the turn of the millennium resulted in significant consequences for investors, workers, financial institutions, telecom companies, and the economy in general worldwide. In the midst of the telecom bubble, the CLECs (competitive local exchange carriers) adopted similar or identical business plans and saturated the market, which resulted in destructive competition. In this study, we investigate the isomorphic business models of the CLECs from the perspectives of the new institutional theory. We argue that the combined coercive, mimetic, and normative institutional forces exerted on the companies by the actors who controlled the funding, managed the business, and provided the information fashioned the isomorphic CLEC business models, which in turn contributed to the demise of these companies and thus the burst of the telecom bubble. Evidence of the institutional influences on CLECs and the actors exerted the influences are presented and their consequences are discussed.

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“…Hayek argued that the ultimate decisions must be left to people who ''are familiar with these circumstances, who know directly of the relevant changes and of the resources immediately available to meet them'' [30, p. 524], an idea that is gaining prominence. For example, Google, a company that combines simple directives with ostensible chaos, ''crowdsources'' its product strategy and gives its talent ample space for improvisation [45,60,66]. Similarly, in the US Army: ''technology had 'flattened' the military hierarchy -by giving so much information to the low-level officer, or even enlisted man, who was operating the computer, and empowering him to make decisions about the information he was gathering'' [28].…”

Section: The Art Of Improvisation In Theory and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The impetus for improvisation can also derive not merely from intuition and creativity but also from institutional pressures which become sources of crises and opportunities; something that has been observed in developing countries. Examples include the implementation of IT and organizational change programs in a Nigerian bank [66], as well as in a Vietnamese insurance company, where the importance of improvisation as a strategy proved to be an unexpected finding in a state-owned company in a developing economy [67].…”

Section: The Art Of Improvisation In Theory and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%