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I would like to draw the attention of members of this list to the following Call for Papers:

Organizational Improvisation

Guest edited by:

Stephen A. Leybourne, Boston University, USA

Gary Lynn, Stevens Institute of Technology, USA

Morten Thanning Vendelø, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark

Background

In the past decade the phenomenon of organizational improvisation has attracted increasingly more attention from academics and practitioners. Improvisation in organizations has been related to knowledge management (King and Ranft, 2001), new product development (Akgün et al., 2007; Kamoche and Cunha, 2001; Kyriakopoulos, 2011; Moorman and Miner, 1998a), organizing (Cunha and Cunha, 2001; 2008; Hatch, 1998; 1999; Zack, 2000), organizational change (Cunha and Cunha, 2003; Orlikowski, 1996; Weick, 1993), organizational learning (Barrett, 1998; Crossan and Sorrenti, 1997; Miner et al., 2001; Vendelø, 2009), organizational memory (Moorman and Miner, 1998b), project management (Leybourne, 2009; Leybourne and Sadler-Smith, 2006) and a number of attempts have been made to get closer to a more understanding of the nature of organizational improvisation (Ciborra, 1999; Cunha et al., 1999; 2002; Crossan et al., 2005; Hatch, 1997; Kamoche et al., 2003).

As a part of this development organizational improvisation has emerged as an important component in achieving new and novel tasks and activities, in dealing with emergent requirements, and in the development and delivery of new products and services. This special issue focuses on research and innovative practices at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and organizational improvisation. In this context creativity refers to the capacity to generate original and adaptive ideas, and it includes creative individuals, creative teams and organizations, in which innovative projects are developed. Both the creative process and the methods to facilitate and structure this process are important aspects of creativity. Innovation refers to the capacity to leverage original ideas in new scenarios and/or domains, or to apply understood materials and resources in new and/or novel ways. At the intersections of creativity, innovation, and organizational improvisation, several issues are of interest to both theory and practice.

·         Organizational improvisation and performance: How does organizational improvisation impact the creative or innovative performance of businesses, products and projects? What are the negative effects of improvised work, and are there solutions or partial solutions to this problem?

·         Organizational settings and organizational improvisation: What is the role of organizational improvisation in small companies and new ventures? And, how is it different from improvisation in larger companies, groups or projects?

·         Organizational improvisation in different contexts and environments: How does the creative and innovative nature of improvisation fit with the continuing evolution of new business and managerial frameworks? How can organizational improvisation, as well as its co-existence with decision making, organizational learning and problem-solving, be managed, and should it be?

·         Organizational improvisation and time constraints: How do improvised interventions influence the timing and urgency of organizational activities? Are the effects positive or negative? Does improvisation offer advantages for the management of temporal discontinuities in the execution of work, especially in turbulent organizational environments?

·         Forms of organizational improvisation: What is the difference between deliberate improvisation, and improvisation that is occasioned by reaction to unexpected situations or unplanned time constraints? How does improvisational theatre contribute to organizational creativity and innovation?

Contributions may address one or more of the listed research topics, although this should not be perceived as an exhaustive list, and contributors are encouraged to consult the guest editors about other potential areas that intersect with the Call for Papers. In order to stimulate the advancement of scholarly knowledge about organizational improvisation we encourage contributors to consider the use of innovative research designs and methods, such as:

·         Process studies of improvisation unfolding in different organizational settings.

·         Examples and reflections on the use and/or abuse of improvisation in specific contexts or circumstances.

·         Comparative studies of conventional interventions versus improvisational interventions, with respect to the quality of the outputs, implications of and on participants, managerial roles, etc.

·         Comparative analyses of implicit and explicit frameworks for divergent and convergent thinking, sharing of successful improvisational interventions, emerging best practice, etc.

·         Examples and case studies of improvisation during creative problem solving in competitive environments

Again the intended purpose of the list is to provide contributors with a source of inspiration.

Deadline and Submissions

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the CIM author guidelines, and need to be submitted through the online submission system of CIM: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cim. The deadline for the submission of papers is 1 October 2012. When submitting it is extremely important that you clearly state that your submission is meant for the special issue.

Contacts:

The Guest editors are happy to discuss ideas for papers and can be emailed at the below addresses:

Stephen A. Leybourne: sleyb@bu.edu

Gary Lynn: glynn@stevens.edu

Morten Thanning Vendelø: mtv@cbs.dk