Organizational Improvisation and Organizational Memory

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)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Academy of Management review Vol. 23; no. 4; pp. 698 - 723
Main Authors Moorman, Christine, Miner, Anne S.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Ada, Ohio, etc Academy of Management 01.10.1998
Subjects
Business innovation
Business strategies
Declarative memory
Improvisation
Innovations
Jazz
Learning
Marketing
Memory
Musical improvisation
Musical performance
Organization
Organization theory
Organizational behavior
Organizational behaviour
Product development
Studies
Technological change
Technological innovation
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary: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 impact 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 technological changes related to the nature of organizational memory intensify the salience of these issues.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0363-7425
1930-3807
DOI:10.2307/259058