scholarly journals Organizational Improvisation and Organizational Memory

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Moorman ◽  
Anne S. Miner
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Organizational Improvisation

Organizational Learning and Organizational Improvisation

2018 ◽  
pp. 56-78
Author(s):  
Anne S. Miner ◽  
Jay O'Toole
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Learning ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Organizational Improvisation ◽  
Real Time Information ◽  
Learning Issues ◽  
Time Information

Organizational learning and organizational improvisation are distinct constructs, but the two processes intertwine in important ways. First, improvisational episodes can lead to long-term group/organizational learning when organizations selectively retain improvised action patterns, or when they learn the process of improvisation itself. Such postimprovisation learning can but also may not generate valid/useful learning. Still, unresolved questions remain, such as when does it lead to unexpected discovery, distinct forms of myopic learning, the emergence of unplanned identities, and improvisational competency traps? This chapter reviews evidence that learning can also occur during improvisational action streams, as when organizations draw on real-time information and long-term organizational memory while they improvise. Finally, this chapter highlights two underexplored learning issues: How does the organization create the nugget or template for the novel part of an improvised design? What is the role of short-term memory during improvisation? The chapter advocates that tackling the intersection of improvisation and learning will advance both areas.

Startup Responses to Unexpected Events: The impact of the relative presence of improvisation

2020 ◽  
pp. 017084062093785
Author(s):  
Jay O’Toole ◽  
Yan Gong ◽  
Ted Baker ◽  
Dale T. Eesley ◽  
Anne S. Miner
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Unexpected Events ◽  
Unexpected Event ◽  
Organizational Improvisation ◽  
Specific Experience ◽  
Support Theory ◽  
Managerial Implications ◽  
Shared Awareness ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Organizational Age

This study seeks to advance the literatures on organizational improvisation and unexpected events. It tackles the question of whether the relative presence of improvisation during a startup’s response to an ordinary, unexpected event affects the value of that response, an issue of clear importance given the ubiquity of unexpected events in startups. Improvisation in practice typically involves varying degrees of predesigned and extemporaneously designed activity. The study explores the dangers of simultaneously mixing predesigned actions and improvisational activity. It develops theory in the context of startups’ action streams in response to 141 unexpected events identified by field informants. Results from hypothesis tests support theory that the relative presence of improvisation in an action stream in response to an unexpected event will have a U-shaped impact on its success resolving that event: a mixed presence shows relatively poorer outcomes than either concentrated predesigned action or a high presence of improvisation. The study also extends prior work by theorizing and finding evidence that two sources of organizational memory—firm-specific experience (proxied by organizational age) and nonfirm-specific experience (proxied by founders’ business experience prior to founding)—moderate the value of the presence of improvisation in response to unexpected events in different ways, consistent with greater challenges to rapidly integrating varied knowledge. Finally, it contributes to understanding of improvisation patterns in response to ordinary, unexpected events, suggests areas for additional research, and offers managerial implications for startups such as the value of deliberately raising shared awareness of shifts to organizational improvisation.

scholarly journals Organizational Improvisation and Organizational Memory

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-723 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Moorman ◽  
Anne S. Miner
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Organizational Improvisation

An Organizational Memory Approach to Information Management

1998 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 796-809 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vikas Anand ◽  
Charles C. Manz ◽  
William H. Glick
Keyword(s):  
Information Management ◽  
Organizational Memory

Measuring Knowledge Management/Knowledge Sharing (KM/KS) Efficiency and Effectiveness in Enterprise Networks

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 37-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anirban Ganguly ◽  
Ali Mostashari ◽  
Mo Mansouri
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Illustrative Case ◽  
Enterprise Networks ◽  
Enterprise Network ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽  
Generalized Metrics

Knowledge Management (KM) is critical in ensuring process efficiency, outcome effectiveness and improved organizational memory for the modern day business enterprises. Knowledge Sharing (KS) is fast becoming a rapidly growing area of interest in the domain of knowledge management. The purpose of this paper is to enlist a set of generalized metrics that can be used to evaluate the efficiency and the effectiveness of knowledge sharing in an enterprise network. The metrics proposed in this research are those that can be readily measured by various types of enterprise knowledge sharing systems, and link usage information to organizational outputs. The paper uses an illustrative case example of how an enterprise might make use of the metrics in measuring the efficiency and effectiveness of its knowledge sharing system.

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