Conceptions of Process in Organization and Management

Abstract

Summary: Creativity, innovation, and change are vital to the development and sustainability of all organizations. Yet, questions remain about exactly how novelty comes about, and what dynamic processes are involved in its emergence? Ideas of emergence and process, drawn from a variety of different philosophical traditions, have been the focus of increasing attention in management and organization studies. In this volume, these issues are brought to bear on novelty and innovation, by examining new organizational and product development processes, whether planned or unplanned. The contributions in this volume offer both theoretical insights and empirical studies on, inter alia, innovation, music technology. haute cuisine. pharmaceuticals, and theater improvisation. In doing so, they throw light on the importance of emergence, improvisation, and learning in orgaizations, and how both practitioners and scholars alike can best understand their own assumptions about process. In addition, the volume includes general essays on process perspectives in organization studies--Book jacket.