Time and organizational improvisation

Mary Crossan, Joao Vieira da Cunha, Miguel Pina e Cunha and Dusya Vera

Nova SBE Working Paper Series from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics

Abstract: This paper argues that the apparent contradiction in current conceptualizations of time in organizations (e.g., Chronos vs. Kairos) is only apparent, and that a synthesis between these opposing poles is both possible and desirable. We propose improvisation (where time to plan converges with time to act) as a vehicle for articulating a dialectical view of time-based organizational phenomena, while focusing on the three major time-related problems organizations have to solve: scheduling, synchronization, and allocation. The paper discusses how improvisation helps to synthesize even time and event time in scheduling processes, internal pacing and external pacing in synchronization processes, and linear and cyclical time in allocation processes. Methodological and practical obstacles to synthesis are also discussed.

Keywords: Improvisation; planning; time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 36 pages
Date: 2002
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (21)

Downloads: (external link)
https://run.unl.pt/bitstream/10362/83526/1/WP410.pdf

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unl:unlfep:wp410

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Nova SBE Working Paper Series from Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Susana Lopes ().