Organizational Improvisation

Thought-provoking papers on the relatively new field of organizational improvisation, which consider the pressures on organizations to react continually to today's ever-changing environment.

Confronted with rapid and unpredictable environments, contemporary organizations are becoming more aware of the benefits of improvisation. By improvising, organizations create the capacity to make sudden adaptive moves, thus adapting in real time to unexpected events. Organizational improvisation is thus a new and exciting area in terms of practice and research. Organizational improvisation has important implications for such subjects as product innovation, teamworking and organizational renewal, and this new book brings together some of the best and most thought-provoking papers published in recent years. Organizational improvisation is now emerging as one of the most important areas of organizational science, and this book provides a comprehensive collection suitable for students, researchers and practitioners alike. Frank J. Barrett Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Monterey, USA, David T. Bastien Minneapolis, USA, Shona L.

Thought-provoking papers on the relatively new field of organizational improvisation, which consider the pressures on organizations to react continually to today's ever-changing environment.

Much has been researched and written about the emergence of improvisation processes within organizational contexts. Although still scarce, research on organizational improvisation has evolved from a jazz and theater metaphor to empirical and conceptual organizational frameworks, creating a consolidated organizational theoretical body. This Elgar Introduction discusses major theoretical advances in organizational improvisation, which the authors view as the process of improvisation that occurs within an organizational context, whether at the individual, team, or organizational level. Grounded in rigorous academic work to date, this book speaks both to scholars interested in developing research on organizational improvisation and to managers who face rapid change with crucial consequences.

This innovative volume provides a comprehensive overview of improvisation as a pervasive organizational process, essential in ever-changing business environments. Exploring theories of organizational action as well as contemporary challenges, it highlights improvisation’s rich potential in theory building and practice. The value and relevance of improvisational capabilities and processes in organizations are more apparent than ever: the global pandemic has forced organizations to reinvent themselves and to adapt to dramatic change on a massive scale. This surge in improvised activity starkly illustrates how the capability to improvise is key to organizational resilience: organizations that are able to improvise effectively are better prepared to bounce back and even thrive. From the latest thinking on improvisation in organizations to future avenues for research, this volume demonstrates the rich potential for both theory building and practice and provides a valuable resource for researchers and advanced students in organizational strategy, entrepreneurship, product development, information systems, disaster management, and HRM.

Describing the field, spanning individual, organisation, societal and cultural perspectives in a cross-disciplinary manner, this is the premier reference tool for students, lecturers, academics and practitioners to gather knowledge about a range of important topics from the perspective of organisation studies.

The relatively new field of organizational improvisation is concerned with the pressures on organizations to react continually to today's ever-changing environment. Organizational improvisation has important implications for such subjects as product innovation, teamworking and organizational renewal, and this new book brings together some of the best and most thought-provoking papers published in recent years. This area is now emerging as one of the most important in organizational science, and this book provides a comprehensive collection suitable for students, researchers and practitioners a.

Introducing and exploring the possible meanings of the idea of 'working live', this valuable book makes sense of the sense-making experience, drawing attention to the way ideas and concepts emerge 'live' in all conversations in organizations.