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21 – 30 of over 3000Guilherme Malucelli, Marcos T.J. Barbosa and Marly Monteiro de Carvalho
When plans fail, the form of making it happen leads to improvisation in practice, which is not sufficiently approached yet in the project management (PM) field. The main reason…
Abstract
Purpose
When plans fail, the form of making it happen leads to improvisation in practice, which is not sufficiently approached yet in the project management (PM) field. The main reason for the lack of research is that improvisation is predominantly seemed in a negative perspective. Due to the relevance of improvisation in the PM field, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how and why improvisation is applied in the PM context. This research address two questions: which are the key topics and studies linked with improvisation in the PM context?: how do the origin factors and the purpose influence improvisation in PM context?
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic literature review was carried out through the merging of bibliometric analysis and content analysis. The systematic literature review aims to identify and synthesize the research on the theme, applying structured, transparent and replicable procedures for each phase of the process. These studies focus mainly on the identification of literature standards based on publication reviews. The sampling process follows the flow summarized in Figure 1. The searching process was based on two selected databases, the Web of Science and Scopus. The search strings applied were: (improvisation OR bricolage) AND “project management.”
Findings
The evolution of publications has shown the existence of a growing interest in the articles relating to improvisation and PM in recent years. The literature on improvisation in the PM context, allows to identify the key related constructs, origin factors and purposes. It also identifies the core relation among these constructs. The understanding of the effect of origin factors on the key related constructs was achieved. Improvisation appears not only as a strategy for adapting when dealing with urgent demands, but also as a team skill.
Research limitations/implications
As a limitation related to the research methods adopted, their exploratory nature is acknowledged, implying some subjectivity in the content analysis of the surveyed sample. The databases, search strings and selection criteria may also have narrowed the research sample. This study shows a lack of research on knowledge management, experience and resilience that can be a drive for future research. Other interesting insights for future research are that some origin factors are more related with some related constructs than others.
Practical implications
As practical implications, project practitioners can better understand how improvisation is related to PM. The results can bring insights to professionals such as to explore improvisation in uncertainty and complex environments, and to improve aspects like adaptation, intuition and innovation needs. Improvisation can be understood as a way to improve project results considering that it is a mechanism of management in the face of the inherent environment pressure and is related to ones who have experience and is not necessarily a consequence of lack of planning.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the current literature in two ways. First, there is in-depth understanding of the literature on improvisation in the PM context, which allows to identify the key related constructs, origin factors and purposes. Moreover, it identifies the core relation among these constructs. Second, understanding of the effect of origin factors on the key related constructs was achieved.
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Ksenia O. Krylova, Dusya Vera and Mary Crossan
This paper aims to answer the question: how do knowledge workers’ improvisation processes promote both knowledge transfer and protection in knowledge-intensive organizations…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to answer the question: how do knowledge workers’ improvisation processes promote both knowledge transfer and protection in knowledge-intensive organizations (KIOs)? A model is proposed identifying how effective improvisation can strengthen the effect of four specific knowledge transfer mechanisms – an experimental culture, minimal structures, the practice of storytelling and shared mental models – on knowledge transfer inside the organization and knowledge protection outside of it.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper builds on a knowledge translation perspective to position improvisation as intrinsically intertwined with knowledge transfer and knowledge protection.
Findings
Improvisation is proposed as the moderating factor enhancing the positive impact of an experimental culture, minimal structures, storytelling practice and shared mental models on knowledge transfer and knowledge protection.
Practical implications
The paper argues against a “plug-and-play” approach to knowledge transfer that seeks to replicate knowledge without considering how people relate to the routines and the context and highlights to leaders of KIOs the importance of developing awareness, understanding and motivation to improvise to internalize new knowledge being transferred and to create imitation barriers.
Originality/value
The paper proposes that KIOs’ success in transferring and protecting knowledge emerges not directly from formal knowledge transfer mechanisms but from knowledge workers’ improvisation processes.
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Ken Kamoche and Miguel Pina E. Cunha
The literature on knowledge management and organizational improvisation have emerged as important perspectives for organizing, while existing almost in parallel. Both have…
Abstract
The literature on knowledge management and organizational improvisation have emerged as important perspectives for organizing, while existing almost in parallel. Both have significant implications for, inter alia, innovation and creativity, adaptability, and management in turbulent times. Previous research has considered the role of improvisation in innovation. We build on this literature to examine the specific role of improvisation in knowledge creation. Our assessment of organizational improvisation indicates that it constitutes an important potential source of knowledge, thus opening up a new avenue for exploring the strategic as well as political significance of embedded, situated knowledge. We argue that the rapprochement of the two literatures brings about the notion of “improvisational knowledge”. We develop the significance of this form of knowledge, focusing in particular on the challenges of appreciating and appropriating it as opposed to seeking to codify it. We offer propositions and identify some avenues for further research.
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João Vieira da Cunha and Miguel Pina e Cunha
Some studies show that improvisation is a source of change, whereas others show that it is a source of stability. The purpose of this paper is to specify the factors which set the…
Abstract
Purpose
Some studies show that improvisation is a source of change, whereas others show that it is a source of stability. The purpose of this paper is to specify the factors which set the boundary between improvised change and improvised stability.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on two published studies and contrasts their findings to analyze the extent to which improvisation leads to organizational change or organizational stability.
Findings
The paper suggests that the most innovative instances of improvisation reproduce some features of everyday experience. The extent to which an improvisation is a source of stability or a source of change depends on the dynamics of variation, selection and retention therein.
Research limitations/implications
Future research needs to add empirical flesh to this theoretical skeleton to push research on organizational improvisation beyond the study of its causes and into further research on its consequences.
Originality/value
The paper deals with the paradox of making sense about two apparently opposing streams of research on improvisation.
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Speed‐to‐market is cited as being vital in today’s competitive, uncertain and turbulent environments. To help companies in their quest for speed in new product development, many…
Abstract
Speed‐to‐market is cited as being vital in today’s competitive, uncertain and turbulent environments. To help companies in their quest for speed in new product development, many tools and techniques have been developed. One of the these techniques – team improvisation – is receiving a great deal of attention in both practice as well as theory. However, we know surprisingly little about improvisation in a new product development context. In this paper, we extend previous team improvisation models and test them in a new product development context. By studying 354 new product projects, we found that team improvisation has a positive impact on speed‐to‐market under turbulent markets and technology conditions, and there are some mechanisms that can facilitate a team’s ability to improvise, such as team stability and teamwork. We also found that having a clear project goal will detract from a team’s ability to improvise.
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Miguel Pina Cunha, Stewart Clegg, Arménio Rego, Luca Giustiniano, António Cunha Meneses Abrantes, Anne S. Miner and Ace Volkmann Simpson
The purpose of this paper is to explore how a number of processes joined to create the microlevel strategies and procedures that resulted in the most lethal and tragic forest fire…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how a number of processes joined to create the microlevel strategies and procedures that resulted in the most lethal and tragic forest fire in Portugal's history, recalled as the EN236-1 road tragedy in the fire of Pedrógão Grande.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an inductive theory development approach, the authors consider how the urgency and scale of perceived danger coupled with failures of system-wide communication led fire teams to improvise repeatedly.
Findings
The paper shows how structure collapse led teams to use only local information prompting acts of improvisational myopia, in the particular shape of corrosive myopia, and how a form of incidental improvisation led to catastrophic results.
Practical implications
The research offers insights into the dangers of improvisation arising from corrosive myopia, identifying ways to minimize them with the development of improvisation practices that allow for the creation of new patterns of action. The implications for managing surprise through improvisation extend to risk contexts beyond wildfires.
Originality/value
The paper stands out for showing the impact of improvisational myopia, especially in its corrosive form, which stands in stark contrast to the central role of attention to the local context highlighted in previous research on improvisation. At the same time, by exploring the effects of incidental improvisation, it also departs from the agentic conception of improvisation widely discussed in the improvisation literature.
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Wei Hu, Fawad Ahmed and Yuchao Su
Drawing upon the social exchange theory, this study examines the interplay of transactive memory system (TMS) with improvisation and market competition intensity for the impact on…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing upon the social exchange theory, this study examines the interplay of transactive memory system (TMS) with improvisation and market competition intensity for the impact on entrepreneurship performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used the temporal separation technique and used a questionnaire survey to collect data with a final sample of 423 valid responses forming 74 entrepreneurial teams from firms across 6 cities in China.
Findings
The expertise and credibility of the TMS has a significant positive impact on entrepreneurial performance and improvisation which mediates the relationship between the expertise and credibility of the TMS and entrepreneurial performance. The intensity of market competition positively moderates the mediating role of improvisation between the expertise and credibility of the TMS and entrepreneurial performance.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on entrepreneurship in emerging economies and entrepreneurial teams. Literature on TMS lacks studies on entrepreneurship performance. The authors' contextualized TMS perspective examines the impact of specific behavior of improvisation and, therefore, holds the promise to offer a novel angle to investigate how exactly TMS impacts entrepreneurship performance while engaging in micro-level processes and entrepreneurial phenomena such as surprises and response to surprises through improvisation. The study adds the context of social exchange theory to performance of entrepreneurial teams.
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Noel Dennis and Michael Macaulay
The purpose of this article is to investigate ways in which improvisation can be used to enhance and advance market orientation.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to investigate ways in which improvisation can be used to enhance and advance market orientation.
Design/methodology/approach
The article draws upon existing market orientation literature and musical theory to extend the authors' previous work of the need for improvisation in strategic market planning (SMP) into a wider area of market orientation.
Findings
The article evinces a conceptual matrix to illustrate four basic levels of market oriented improvisation: one‐size fits all; improvisation through alternatives; single level improvisation (SLI); and multi‐level improvisation (MLI).
Practical implications
The article will demonstrate the core competences of a jazz band: musical knowledge; role definition; quasi‐autonomous leadership; open communication; and self‐reflexivity. It will discuss how these competences are directly transferable to market oriented organisations.
Originality/value
The article provides a new definition of market orientation, which posits improvisation as a central element.
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Miguel Pina e Cunha, Arménio Rego and Ken Kamoche
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of improvisation in service recovery.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of improvisation in service recovery.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is a conceptual discussion that considers the relevance of improvisation in service recovery. It contributes to the clarification of the possible role of improvisation in the transformation of service failures into positive moments of truth.
Findings
The paper argues that improvisation may be viewed as a relevant, albeit largely ignored, topic in service recovery, and recommends that its role should be the object of theoretical and empirical research.
Practical implications
Managers may consider the possibility of creating conditions for competent improvisation to occur, such as training in improvisational skills and the creation of organizational contexts that facilitate the convergence of planning and execution in order to better deal with the characteristics of the situation.
Originality/value
The study addresses the under‐researched role of improvisation in the process of service recovery.
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Anil B. Jambekar and Karol I. Pelc
The core purpose of the paper is to propose that improvisational practices have the potential to bring an additional dimension to the learning process in a typical manufacturing…
Abstract
Purpose
The core purpose of the paper is to propose that improvisational practices have the potential to bring an additional dimension to the learning process in a typical manufacturing organization governed by a culture‐implied “plan what we do and do what we plan” environment. In today's turbulent environment employees should possess both the capability to follow a plan, while at the same time remaining able to respond instinctively to outcomes that are unexpected.
Design/methodology/approach
Several authors view the concept of improvisation associated with performing arts and creativity‐based artistic productions such as jazz performance, comedy and improvisational theater as a model to shape organizational processes. The instances of improvisation cited in the literature are first classified as either proactive or reactive. Using the jazz metaphor, the paper offers a model of decision making by an agent and a process view of communication.
Findings
The authors propose that a culture of a manufacturing environment described as “plan what we do, do what we plan, but improvise with bias toward improved system performance” is very desirable and should be legitimized.
Research limitations/implications
Although the model is conceptual, it will benefit from more empirical or case‐based research.
Practical implications
For practising managers, this work offers a goalpost toward productive thinking.
Originality/value
The paper argues that improvisational experience of other domains of activity (e.g. in creativity‐based artistic productions such as jazz bands, theatres) should be considered for adoption into the manufacturing environment after a suitable transformation.
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