Research On Organizational Improvisation Of Companies In The Context Of COVID-19 Pandemic

Major emergencies are common in this VUCA era.In such environment,if the companys’ managers rely too much on careful planning and control,these companys will be difficult to survive the crisis.At this time,the key to crisis management is finding the way to quickly come up with new solutions in a context full of time pressure and uncertainty,so that the organization can maintain operation,avoid being eliminated,and accumulate competitive advantage for future development.Organizational improvisation is a concept introduced by management researchers from the field of performance.Organizational improvisation requires organizations to converge composition and execution,which can help companies get rid of the constraints of time pressure,uncertainty and other unfavorable factors.However,regarding the mechanism of how organizational improvisation works in the context of major emergencies,existing research are still scarce.This thesis focuses on the study of organizational improvisation in the context of major emergency,and systematically sorts out the concept and characteristics of major emergency and the definition,characteristics,classification,and influence on company of organizational improvisation,then raises research questions baesed on the COVID-19 pandemic.Based on the analysis of the case data of three automobile industry companies,this thesis finds that:(1)time pressure and uncertainty are the key factors that induce organization improvisation in the context of major emergency;(2)in the context of major emergency,companies will adopt adaptive and creative improvisation to respond to major emergency;(3)the higher the resource constraints faced by the company,the more likely it is to adopt creative improvisation,and the lower the resource constraints faced by the company,the more likely it is to adopt adaptive improvisation;(4)the richer the company has prior experience in related industries or fields,such as knowledge and experience,the more likely it is to adopt creative improvisation,and the scarcer the company has prior experience in related industries or fields,such as knowledge and experience,the more likely it is to adopt adaptive improvisation;(5)in the face of major emergencies,companies pay attention to the use of resources at hand;seek to build a flexible organizational structure,pay attention to the use of communication channels based on information technology,and pay attention to stakeholders when they have spare capacity,which can help organizational improvisation achieves better performance.The research conclusions of this thesis have certain practical guiding significance.This thesis:(1)reveals that major emergency is the inducing situation of companys’ improvisation and point out that in the face of time pressure and uncertainty brought by major emergency,companies can quickly respond to environmental changes,propose new solutions,and eliminate unfamiliar threats that appear in business operation by setting aside pre-planned and carrying out improvisation which helps corporate managers to realize the important role of improvisation in the context of major emergency;(2)pays attention to the classification of company improvisation in the context of major emergency,and points out that adaptive improvisation is the basic way for companies to cope with a crisis,while creative improvisation is the breakthrough for companies to cope with a crisis;(3)reminds companies that they can think more and develop creative improvisation to seek breakthrough when resources are extremely scarce or the company has rich relevant prior experience;(4)provides suggestions for companies to carry out improvisations in the face of major emergencies,and points out that companies can focus on how to make good use of resources at hand,build flexible organizational structure,pay attention to the use of communication channels based on information technology,and focus on stakeholders when they have spare capacity to better achieve company goals and get out of trouble.