Men of Action : The Influence of Organizational Improvisation on Opportunity Recognition
ISBN
0-910897-32-8
Type
conference paper
Date Issued
2010-06-09
Author(s)
Abstract
Entrepreneurship research aims at getting more insights about the process of how entrepreneurs recognize unexploited opportunities. Our paper argues that the recognition of under-exploited opportunities entails the need of spontaneous innovative behavior and experimentation in the face of new and different business conditions. The creation of cognitive frameworks occurs, as people learn from each other and from various responses to the environment, finding a common, and probably unexpected pattern that works for them. Improvisation can serve as a means to increase variation, available possibilities and diversity of trial and error by acting beyond the mere repetition of pre-existing routines. New solutions can be found through a creative recombination of resources and past routines and organizational knowledge bases can hence be extended. We develop a model of the interaction between organizational improvisation and the recognition of opportunities in a corporate context, including antecedents and potential moderating factors of this central relationship.
Funding(s)
Language
English
Keywords
Entrepreneurship
Improvisation
Business Opportunity
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Book title
Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research 2010
Publisher
Babson College
Publisher place
Babson Park, Massachusetts
Start page
1
Event Title
30th Annual Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC)
Event Location
Lausanne, Switzerland
Event Date
09.-12.06.2010
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
69218