ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we present an argument for the importance of organizational improvisation referents for advancing improvisation theory and methods. Specifically, we introduce the importance of focusing on the focal context of organizational improvisation episodes and attending to how organizational actors experience improvisation through event time. Organizational improvisation referents address a fundamental question in the improvisation literature: what is being improvised on in organizations? Organizational improvisation referents are expected sequences, action streams, or episodes of organizational activity. They situate improvisation in the realities of organizational action and the subjective and objective realities of organizational actors and provide structure and boundary conditions for organizational improvisation episodes. Therefore, a renewed focus on organizational improvisation referents can help organizational improvisation scholars identify potentially new boundary conditions and help scholars modify scales for specific contexts and research questions.
