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The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development

Publication ,  Journal Article
Moorman, C; Miner, AS
Published in: Journal of Marketing
July 1, 1998

The field of marketing strategy often makes the important assumption that marketing strategy should occur by first composing a plan on the basis of a careful review of environmental and firm information and then executing that plan. However, there are cases when the composition and execution of an action converge in time so that, in the limit, they occur simultaneously. The authors define such a convergence as improvisation and develop hypotheses to investigate the conditions in which improvisation is likely to occur and be effective. The authors test these hypotheses in a longitudinal study of new product development activities. Results show that organizational improvisation occurs moderately in organizations and that organizational memory level decreases and environmental turbulence level increases the incidence of improvisation. Results support traditional concerns that improvisation can reduce new product effectiveness but also indicate that environmental and organizational factors can reduce negative effects and sometimes create a positive effect for improvisation. These results suggest that, in some contexts, improvisation may be not only what organizations actually practice but also what they should practice to flourish.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Marketing

DOI

EISSN

1547-7185

ISSN

0022-2429

Publication Date

July 1, 1998

Volume

62

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1 / 20

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1506 Tourism
  • 1505 Marketing
 

Citation

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MLA
NLM
Moorman, C., & Miner, A. S. (1998). The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development. Journal of Marketing, 62(3), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299806200301
Moorman, C., and A. S. Miner. “The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development.” Journal of Marketing 62, no. 3 (July 1, 1998): 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299806200301.
Moorman C, Miner AS. The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development. Journal of Marketing. 1998 Jul 1;62(3):1–20.
Moorman, C., and A. S. Miner. “The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development.” Journal of Marketing, vol. 62, no. 3, July 1998, pp. 1–20. Scopus, doi:10.1177/002224299806200301.
Moorman C, Miner AS. The Convergence of Planning and Execution: Improvisation in New Product Development. Journal of Marketing. 1998 Jul 1;62(3):1–20.

Published In

Journal of Marketing

DOI

EISSN

1547-7185

ISSN

0022-2429

Publication Date

July 1, 1998

Volume

62

Issue

3

Start / End Page

1 / 20

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3507 Strategy, management and organisational behaviour
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1506 Tourism
  • 1505 Marketing