On a Wing and a Prayer: Stories of the Use of Improvisation

There is little disagreement about the role that small businesses play in contributing to economic activity. The contribution that small businesses make to the economy includes job creation, competition, economic growth and innovation. Also, there is evidence that a flourishing small business sector can assist with creating and maintaining political and social stability. It is widely acknowledged that businesses are operating in a turbulent, unstable and at times chaotic commercial environment. Many business operators are spending increasing amounts of their time responding to unanticipated events in circumstances where there is little or no time to plan solutions or build up resources. There has been little research into how small businesses respond to such unanticipated events. Business operators were likely to respond to unanticipated events in one of three ways; they either ignored the event, undertook planning or they improvised. The term ¿improvisation¿ in this context was used to reflect either the time convergence between the realisation of a solution and its implementation. This book explores the use of improvisation as a legitimate strategy.