Organizational improvisation: From the constraint of strict tempo to the power of the avant-garde

© 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Improvisation is too simple a name for a complex class of processes. The improvisational label, in fact, covers very different processes, from impromptu, ad-libbed responses to carefully designed organizational choreographies. We discuss different forms of organizational improvisation (ad-hoc, covert, provocative and managed), and trace their roots in the discipline of organization theory, in order to promote a granular and power-sensitive understanding of improvisation in organizations