Organizational Improvisation: What, When, How and Why

Abstract

In this article, the authors review the growing body of literature on organizational improvisation in order to present an encompassing and systematic perspective on this concept. An integrative definition of its construct is presented together with a new way of measuring this phenomenon in organizational settings. The article further explores this construct by presenting its triggers, necessary conditions, influencing factors and major outcomes. The issues of improvisation’s growing legitimization in the organizational arena for practitioners and researchers alike are addressed in order to argue for the need for and interest in a fuller development research on this concept.

Improvising Entrepreneurship

“…For the past 30 years, researchers have been intrigued by the notion of applying to organizations the metaphor of jazz combos, because they embrace creative uncertainty within structured regimes (Cunha et al, 1999). In organizations, improvisation occurs when action and design converge spontaneously to produce something new (Moorman & Miner, 1998).…”

“…Improvisation is most often characterized along the two dimensions of speed and novelty (Cunha et al, 1999). "Full scale" improvisations are therefore considered to be those that highly deviate from referents and are very spontaneous, regardless of whether they work out successfully or not.…”

“…Improvisation, considered to be as prevalent in organizational life as theatre, has been celebrated both for lifesaving creativity, and denounced as a last-ditch failure to plan properly (Cunha et al, 1999;Weick, 1993). In organizations, improvisation is the spontaneous convergence of design and execution while producing something novel (Moorman & Miner, 1998).…”

Is project management the new management 2.0?

“…Improvisation is also starting to permeate the project management domain (Leybourne, 2009;Leybourne and Sadler-Smith, 2006) and we are getting closer to a more nuanced understanding of the nature of organizational improvisation (Ciborra, 1999;Cunha et al, 1999;2002;Crossan et al, 2005;Hatch, 1997;Kamoche et al, 2003).…”

User innovativeness in living laboratories : everyday user improvisations with ICTs as a source of innovation

“…This play with structures also recurs in theories that focus on improvisation in jazz music (Montuori, 2003(Montuori, , 2008Moorman & Miner, 1998;Pina e Cunha et al, 1999;Sawyer, 2000). Montuori and Sawyer furthermore describe "gradations" of improvisation.…”