Cited by 369Management and Organizational StudiesInnovation and Knowledge ManagementTheatre and Performance Studies

Theatrical improvisation: Lessons for organizations

Vera, Dusya, Crossan, Mary·2004·Organization Studies

Abstract

This article uses the improvisational theatre metaphor to examine the performance implications of improvisational processes in firms. We recognize similarities and differences between the concepts of performance and success in both theatre and organizations, and extract three main lessons from improvisational theatre that can be applied to organizational improvisation. In the first lesson, we start by recognizing the equivocal and unpredictable nature of improvisation. The second lesson emphasizes that good improvisational theatre arises because its main focus, in contrast to the focus of firms, is more on the process of improvising and less on the outcomes of improvisation. Lastly, in the third lesson, we look at the theatre techniques of ‘agreement’, ‘awareness’, ‘use of ready-mades’, and ‘collaboration’, and translate them into concepts that are relevant for organizations in developing an improvisational capability.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1177/0170840604042412

Cites

53 of 53 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • When improvisational activity involves some degree of innovation, it happens when the activity goes beyond the automatic repetition of an existing routine.

    “When the improvisational activity involves some degree of innovation, happens when the activity goes beyond the automatic repetition of an existing routine (Vera & Crossan, 2004).”

    From Linking knowledge management, organizational learning and memory (2020) · cites this paper as Vera & Crossan, 2004

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

2 of the 55 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Vera, D., & Crossan, M.
Affiliations
  • University of Houston (US)
  • Western University (CA)
Venue
Organization Studies
Published
2004-06
Volume
25
Issue
5
Pages
727-749
ISSN
  • 0170-8406 (ISSN-L)
  • 1741-3044
OpenAlex
W2052817658
Cited by
369
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 22 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 16 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 26 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 13
FWCI
13.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Organization Studies (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Visual Arts and Performing Arts › Theatre and Performance Studies
Keywords
organizational improvisation, improvisational theatre, organizational performance, dramatic technique, agreement, awareness, readymades, collaboration, organizational learning

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review