Organizational Improvisation and Organizational Memory Author(S): Christine Moorman and Anne S
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Organizational Improvisation and Organizational Memory Author(s): Christine Moorman and Anne S. Miner Source: The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Oct., 1998), pp. 698-723 Published by: Academy of Management Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/259058 . Accessed: 23/09/2013 16:39 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Academy of Management is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Academy of Management Review. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 152.3.153.148 on Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:39:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions t Academy of Management Review 1998, Vol. 23, No. 4, 698-723. ORGANIZATIONALIMPROVISATION AND ORGANIZATIONALMEMORY CHRISTINEMOORMAN ANNE S. MINER University of Wisconsin at Madison We define organizational improvisation as the degree to which the composition and execution of an action converge in time, and we examine the theoretical potential of this definition. We then propose that both organizational procedural memory (skill knowledge) and declarative memory (fact knowledge) moderate improvisation's im- pact on organizational outcomes in distinct ways. We also suggest that improvisation influences organizational memory by (1) generating experiments and (2) permitting the development of higher-level competency in improvisation. Contemporary techno- logical changes related to the nature of organizational memory intensify the salience of these issues. Observers long have noted the presence and and skills (Crossan & Sorrenti, 1997; Eisenhardt promise of improvisation in the arts, teaching, & Tabrizi, 1995; Hatch, 1997b; Weick, 1993b,c). therapy, and athletics. For example, one can In this article we draw on work from several find detailed data on differences between im- disciplines to generate specific propositions provisational performance by expert and novice about how organizational memory will influ- mathematics teachers (Borko & Livingston, 1989), ence improvisation's impact. We argue that two models of musical improvisation (Pressing, 1984, different types of organizational memory-(1) 1988), and guidelines for encouraging effective procedural (skill memory) and (2) declarative improvisation by therapists (Embrey, Guthrie, (fact memory)-moderate the impact of organi- White, & Dietz, 1996; Gardner & Rogoff, 1990). zational improvisation in different ways. In par- Organizational scholars often seek to provide ticular, we suggest these memory types enhance strategic planning and project planning tools different organizational outcomes and can com- that, presumably, suppress the level of action pensate for each other's drawbacks. We also occurring without prior design. Nonetheless, formalize the insight that improvisation, in turn, those in an important contrasting branch of affects organizational memory and represents work have argued that improvisation not only an identifiable organizational competency occurs frequently in organizations but may also (Eisenhardt & Tabrizi, 1995; Weick, 1993b). have value for organizations (Preston, 1991a; To support these testable propositions, we Weick, 1979, 1987, 1993a,b,c, 1996). Researchers draw on prior work to define improvisation as have also observed, however, that fruitful im- the degree to which composition and execution provisation may require important resources converge in time. Therefore, the more proximate the design and implementation of an activity in The authors contributed equally to this article. Our re- time, the more that activity is improvisational. search benefited from the support of Paula Bassoff, This view of improvisation is primarily tempo- Stephanie Dixon, Bob Drane, Gabor Kemeny, Scott Little, ral, with a focus on the degree of simultaneity of John Miner, Jr., Aric Rindfleisch, David Robinson, Rona Velte, composition and implementation. It is consis- and two anonymous organizations, as well as the comments tent with prior work (Crossan & Sorrenti, 1997; of Jim Burroughs, Mary Crossan, Peter Dickson, Kathy Eisen- hardt, Mary Jo Hatch, Jan Heide, David Mick, Jeff Pressing, Weick, 1993a) but focuses on one key dimension: Thekla Rura-Polley, Bob Sutton, Mary Waller, Jim Walsh, the temporal order of two specific activities. This Karl Weick, and five anonymous AMR reviewers on previous enhances theory development by encouraging versions of this manuscript. National Science Foundation distinctions between the improvisation process Grant SBR-9410419, the Marketing Science Institute, and the itself and important potential correlates or out- University of Wisconsin School of Business Sabbatical Fund and Research Fund have generously supported this re- comes, such as intuition, adaptation, innova- search. tion, and learning. 698 This content downloaded from 152.3.153.148 on Mon, 23 Sep 2013 16:39:34 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1998 Moorman and Miner 699 The importance of predictions about organiza- bear more consistently on action. At the same tional improvisation and memory goes beyond time, organizations increasingly post organiza- refinements to existing frameworks and theo- tional product specifications, policies, and notes ries, however. First, awareness of the changed from group meetings and budget information on pace in competition for many organizations has firm intranets, as well as design internal search created a fadlike press on managers to abandon engines that invisibly guide employees' access traditional planning. Managers face broad ad- to different parts and types of organizational monishments to be nimble and flexible (e.g., memory (e.g., Diamond, 1997; Knott, 1997). Imai, Nonaka, & Takeuchi, 1985) but often lack Our conceptual framework draws on this in- balanced information on the tradeoffs between creasingly powerful role of organizational mem- improvisation and composing well in advance ory by suggesting that firms will need to design of action, and on the broader competencies re- systems that enhance access to the right type of quired to improvise effectively. Such knowledge memory while undertaking improvisational ac- is increasingly useful as contemporary organi- tion. It also implies that organizations could zations face competitive situations, in which benefit from deliberate efforts to accumulate exogenous change may outpace traditional memory that will permit them to improvise more planning cycles (Burgelman, Maidique, & effectively over time, and to take into account Wheelwright, 1996). This shift makes improvisa- the impact of different memory types on differ- tion important to more than startup or creative ent outcomes, such as speed or effectiveness of organizations. A highly successful special ses- actions. Taken together, then, our propositions sion involving jazz improvisation at the 1995 an- imply that developing organizational improvi- nual meeting of the Academy of Management- sational competencies involves long-term atten- documented and analyzed in a special issue of tion. Organization Science (Meyer, Frost, & Weick, in To develop and consider our propositions, we press)-also points to the more general impor- have organized the article as follows. We first tance of improvisation for many types of organi- describe several types of improvisation and dis- zations. cuss the nature of collective improvisation. Next, Second, work on improvisation is made sub- we examine the theoretical potential of this def- stantially more urgent by the impact of techno- inition of improvisation by assessing whether it logical change, not only on the tendency to im- extends the existing menu of organizational provise but on an organization's ability to variables in a meaningful way. Following this, deliberately manage the nature of and access to in the main body of the article, we present prop- organizational memory. Regarding the tendency ositions linking organizational memory and or- to improvise, technological change affects the ganizational improvisation. Taken as a whole, chances an organization may execute an act these propositions suggest that, while improvi- while designing it because traditional buffers sation may represent a potentially powerful or- between choice and action have been reduced ganizational tool, its effective deployment is drastically. For example, a CEO could improvise very demanding and may well require substan- a corporate response to a crisis by electronically tial time and investments by organizations. We mailing comments to thousands of employees conclude by considering the operationalization and customers. This level of simultaneity simply' of key constructs, boundary conditions, and se- would not have been possible if the CEO had lected contributions of this work. developed a strategy in conjunction with a pub- lic relations staff and then created written mem- oranda and organized meetings to communicate IMPROVISATION the organization's position. Definition Technological change also influences the way memory can guide action in organizations. For In Table 1 we suggest that the notion of im- example, in technically sophisticated firms, de- provisation