The Routledge Companion to Improvisation in Organizations

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Endorsements
3. Half Title
4. Series Page
5. Title Page
6. Copyright Page
7. Dedication
8. Contents
9. Acknowledgements
10. About the Contributors
11. Introduction – Improvisation in organizations: A convocation, a celebration, and an invitation
    1. Introduction
    2. But why bother? Why now? A convocation
       1. OI activity is pervasive
       2. OI matters for practice
       3. OI opens a crucial window for theory development
    3. Who else is here? Four ongoing conversations, or a celebration of polyphonic theory creation
       1. Conversation 1: Probes features of artistic improvisation to theorize about OI in other organizations
       2. Conversation 2: Builds theory from directly observing OI
       3. Conversation 3: Builds and tests deductively derived OI causal theories
       4. Conversation 4: Offers novel conceptual theory about OI
    4. Illustrations of mutually constructive nests of OI theory development
    5. Joining the OI community: An invitation
    6. Note
    7. References
12. PART 1: Conceptual linkages
    1. 1 Improvisation and bricolage: Similarities and differences between two approaches to resource scarcity
       1. Introduction
       2. Development of theory on improvisation and bricolage
       3. Comparing improvisation and bricolage
       4. Discussion
       5. Conclusion
       6. Notes
       7. References
    2. 2 Eight paradoxical tensions of organizational improvisation
       1. Introduction
       2. What is paradox?
       3. Ontology, paradox, and improvisation
       4. Oxymoron: Signs of improvisation as paradoxical process
       5. Nuancing improvisation through a paradox view
       6. Paradoxical challenges in the management of improvisation
       7. Conclusion
       8. Note
       9. References
    3. 3 The importance of referents for advancing improvisation theory and methods
       1. Organizational improvisation referents
       2. Improvisation and boundary conditions: Differences between referents and triggers
       3. Organizational improvisation referents and measuring improvisation
       4. Conclusion
       5. References
    4. 4 The improvisation–serendipity nexus
       1. Introduction
       2. Organization, improvisation, and serendipity
       3. Differences: Mutually exclusive – almost
       4. Similarities: Negative capabilities
       5. Improvisation to serendipity: The doings of bricolage
       6. Serendipity to improvisation: Enacting exaptation
       7. Contributions to a research agenda
       8. Implications for practice
       9. Implications for pedagogy
       10. Methodological implications
       11. Conclusion
       12. Notes
       13. References
13. PART 2: Improvisation process: Before, during, and after
    1. 5 The improvisational arc: A sensemaking perspective
       1. Introduction
       2. The improvisational arc and improvisational sensemaking
       3. Characteristics of improvisational sensemaking
       4. Conclusion
       5. References
    2. 6 Preparing to be spontaneous for effective organizational improvisation
       1. Proglemenon
       2. Introduction
       3. Organizational improvisation and preparedness
       4. Structural capabilities
       5. Anticipatory capabilities
       6. Responsive capabilities
       7. Adaptive capabilities
       8. Discussion
       9. Conclusion
       10. References
    3. 7 Character and improvisation: A recursive relationship
       1. Introduction
       2. Leader character
       3. How character influences improvisation
       4. Improvisation as a practice to develop character
       5. Application
       6. Conclusion
       7. References
    4. 8 Improvisational decision making: Context, antecedents, and outcomes
       1. Introduction
       2. Theoretical background
       3. Theory and hypotheses
       4. Methods
       5. Discussion
       6. Conclusion
       7. References
    5. 9 Improvisation, routine dynamics, and temporal regularity
       1. Routine dynamics, improvisation, and flexibility
       2. Regular temporal patterns of routines as a structure
       3. Routines as minimal structures for improvisation
       4. Scrum routine
       5. How temporal regularity of the scrum routine enables improvisation
       6. Discussion
       7. Temporal patterns as a complementary structure for enacting routines
       8. Improvisations in routine performance
       9. Note
       10. References
    6. 10 Practising strategizing: Novelty as a leap of faith expanding learning and improvising
       1. Introduction
       2. Strategizing: Practice, process, and practising
       3. Methodology
       4. Strategy practice, practising, and improvising in high tech
       5. Discussion – Learning to connect and reconnect aspect of strategy practice
       6. Conclusions
       7. Acknowledgments
       8. Notes
       9. References
14. PART 3: Improvisation in specific contexts
    1. 11 Improvisation in Africa
       1. Introduction
       2. The context of Africa
       3. The existing body of knowledge on improvisation in the context of Africa
       4. Conclusions and avenues for future research on improvisation in Africa
       5. Acknowledgments
       6. References
    2. 12 Locating improvisation in public service management: Past, present, and future research directions
       1. Decision making in the public sector
       2. The dominance of rational planning
       3. The origins of emergent decision making
       4. The present: Improvisation prevalence in public sector research
       5. Future research directions
       6. Conclusion
       7. References
    3. 13 Organizational improvisation in project management
       1. Considering organizational improvisation constructs within the project management domain
       2. The “Tension” between improvisational activity and the “Plan – then Execute” paradigm
       3. The future of improvisation in project management
       4. References
    4. 14 Professional service firms: Why is improvisation so important?
       1. Introduction
       2. Professional service firms
       3. Improvisation in professional service firms
       4. Improvisation and change
       5. Improvisation and knowledge
       6. Improvisation and innovation
       7. Moving forward the research of improvisation in PSFs
       8. Conclusions
       9. References
    5. 15 Team leadership, momentum, and improvisation in extreme contexts
       1. Introduction
       2. Extreme contexts, momentum, and improvisation
       3. Team leaders in extreme contexts
       4. Methods
       5. Findings
       6. Discussion
       7. Conclusion
       8. References
    6. 16 Managing improvisation in dispersed settings
       1. The double-edge sword of geographic dispersion
       2. Improvising under different degrees of dispersion
       3. Implications for managers and organizations
       4. Future challenges in considering geographical dispersion
       5. References
15. PART 4: Improvisational theater beyond metaphor
    1. 17 Improvisation as a design for organizational emergence
       1. Introduction
       2. Organizations as social systems embedded in complex environments
       3. Improvisation as a design for emergence
       4. Organizational improvisation: from avoiding to allowing collaborative emergence
       5. Conclusion
       6. Note
       7. References
    2. 18 Improvisational theater in organizations: Between company expectations and effects on individuals and teams
       1. Introduction
       2. Review of the literature on improvisational theater
       3. Methodology
       4. Results
       5. Discussion
       6. References
    3. 19 Theatrical improvisation for organizational improvisation education
       1. Introduction
       2. Organizational improvisation in learning and teaching
       3. Improvisation learning in a management school: An educational experience
       4. Theatrical principles for developing organizational improvisation
       5. Conclusion
       6. References
16. PART 5: Improvisation and new organizational forms
    1. 20 Improvising around and about boundaries in open organizations
       1. Open organizations
       2. Improvisation in open organizations
       3. Concluding remarks
       4. Notes
       5. References
    2. 21 Agility and improvisation
       1. Agility and improvisation
       2. Methodology
       3. The strategic preparedness of organizational agility and purposeful spontaneity of organizational improvisation: Etymological roots and core definitions of OA and OI
       4. Organizational improvisation as antecedent to organizational agility: The dynamic capabilities approach to OA
       5. Organizational agility as precondition to organizational improvisation: The strategic approach to OA
       6. An integrated approach to organizational agility and organizational improvisation
       7. References
    3. 22 Flow with the go: Real-time continuous improvisation in digital business ecosystems
       1. Real-time continuous improvisation in digital business ecosystems
       2. Understanding the pulsing fabric
       3. Improvisation as a real-time phenomenon: Flow with the go
       4. From dynamic capabilities to real-time continuous improvisation
       5. Section 5: Implications for scholars and managers
       6. References
    4. 23 Advancing improvisation within entrepreneurship research
       1. Improvisation and entrepreneurship
       2. Connections to established entrepreneurship constructs
       3. Connections to new entrepreneurship constructs and perspectives
       4. Why not more?
       5. Some future directions
       6. Conclusion
       7. Note
       8. References
17. PART 6: Conceptual expansions and conclusions
    1. 24 Improvisation: A taste of chaos in the middle of order and a taste of order in the middle of chaos
       1. Introduction
       2. Nonlinear Dynamic Systems theory
       3. Cusp catastrophes
       4. Defining the cusp catastrophe model
       5. Testing the cusp catastrophe model
       6. Artificial neural networks
       7. Pattern recognition
       8. Classification and clustering
       9. Forecasting
       10. The road ahead
       11. References
    2. 25 Strategic improvisation in loosely coupled systems
       1. Introduction
       2. Strategic improvisation: What is it?
       3. What is not SI?
       4. Managing loosely coupled systems: Responsiveness and distinctiveness
       5. Strategic improvisation in loosely coupled systems
       6. Discussion
       7. Suggestions for further research
       8. Concluding remarks
       9. References
    3. 26 Improvisation in organizations: A review with a phenomenological research agenda
       1. Introduction
       2. The three perspectives of organizational improvisation
       3. Discussion
       4. Conclusion
       5. References
    4. 27 Why ever stop improvising? Why endings matter for theory and practice
       1. Construct definitions and research strategy
       2. Findings
       3. Conclusion
       4. References
18. Epilogue – Improvisation in organizations: Looking ahead
    1. OI and artificial intelligence, technology, and digital ecosystems
    2. OI outcomes and endings
    3. OI microprocesses
    4. OI and paradoxes
    5. OI leadership
    6. OI training
    7. Final thoughts
    8. References
19. Index