Uncovering How Team Improvisation Occurs in Organisations: Microprocesses, Influences and Outcomes

The extant literature has reported with regards to individual and organisational level improvisation when improvisation is more likely to occur and how to make it more effective. However, there is limited evidence to explain the microprocesses of improvisation at the team level, and why improvisation occurs. An understanding of these processes is important because it would help complete and deepen improvisation theory, and offer specific guidance for practitioners with regard to solving problems in uncertain circumstances. The thesis research therefore set out to empirically identify the different types of microprocesses underlying team improvisation episodes and explore how cognitive, social and structural factors influenced these microprocesses. The other aim was to investigate how outcomes of team improvisation differed over time and at different levels. Two qualitative studies were therefore conducted in one manufacturing organisation in the People’s Republic of China. One study was interview-based (n =20) with the second being observational in nature, following team meetings (n = 17) over three months. Using thematic analysis to analyse the data, 45 distinct team improvisation microprocesses were identified and these were categorised into four higher-level themes. Based on an input-process-output model, the Team Improvisation of Microprocess Framework (TIMF) was created, which highlighted the relationship between microprocesses, the influences and the outcomes of team improvisation. The key findings highlighted that teams improvised by undertaking different sets of microprocesses related to creating physical devices, interpreting rules, asking for help, and creating new plans with simultaneous verification. Influences on these improvisation microprocesses were found from a range of cognitive (e.g. feelings of time pressure), social (e.g. power) and structural (e.g. location) sources. There were also findings emphasised that team members improvised: a) to suppress anxiety and relieve boredom, b) to obtain positive emotions, c) to produce positive outcomes. Interestingly, the findings highlighted potential contradictory tensions between positive and negative outcomes at the individual, team and organisational levels. The thesis therefore adds much-needed empirical detail on the nature of team improvisation microprocesses and contributes to a better theoretical understanding regarding the interplay between team improvisation and its influences and outcomes. From a practical perspective, the thesis discusses how the research can help organisations teach employees to improvise more effectively using the TIMF as an action guide.