Crises for business-to-business (B2B) firms are characterized by unexpected or unanticipated severe threats that are highly uncertain where strategic response times are low in which executives are victim of overwhelming time pressures to action fast strategic responses to these events—as the threats bring to question the viability and survivability of the firm. Consequently, crises provoke a profound impact on executives' sensemaking, as they attempt strategically navigate these events. We bridge thinking around crisis management with theories of strategic decision-making and conclude that strategic improvisation is a vital mechanism that enables effective management interventions to be executed as a means of surviving, adapting, or potentially thriving under challenging circumstances. We derive a theoretically grounded framework of five strategic imperatives underlying our 10C Strategic Imperative Framework for improvisation readiness. First, we develop the Improvisation Readiness Index Score (IRIS) as a means for executives to diagnose their organization's improvisation readiness according to the requisite strategic imperatives. Second, we present a three-step guide for executives to consider for managing through crisis with improvisation and the strategic imperatives at its heart. Third, we illustrate the strategy improvisation challenges. This allows executives to close the strategic improvisation gaps between their ‘actual’ and ‘preferred’ readiness.

Purpose -Drawing on the burgeoning proactive market orientation literature and its role within the organizational learning-performance thesis, the aim of this aricle is to investigate further this nomological network. Design/methodology/approach -The article adopts a market knowledge diffusion approach to examine the effect of organizational learning (a second-order construct composed of knowledge acquisition, information distribution, information interpretation, and organizational memory) on both (reactive) market orientation and strategic proactiveness. Thereafter, it identifies both the pattern of direct relationships between these constructs and business performance and those moderated by strategic market planning capabilities. Using data generated from European high technology SBUs, the article uses structural equation modelling to test these relationships. Findings -It is found that organizational learning does significantly effect both proactive market orientation and strategic proactiveness. However, there is no direct effect of strategic proactiveness on business performance, but rather this relationship is mediated by market orientation. It is also found that strategic market planning capabilities moderate the market orientation-business performance relationship.Originality/value -This study acknowledges the paradox that results from the potential conflict between two important elements of strategy: commitment and flexibility. The article contributes and expands on the existing research by adopting the strategic ambidexterity perspective, effectively considering the co-existence of commitment and flexibility and the associated positive performance implications.

2012),"Strategic flexibility in open innovation -designing business models for open source software"

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An extensive body of work investigates business phenomena from the capability perspective introduced by Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997). While several literature reviews on capabilities exist, research is still fragmented with ongoing debates between those trying to foster relevance and passionate critics in favour of rigour. This study contributes to the conversation by looking at how the community of scholars gathered around Industrial Marketing Management (IMM) has engaged with this body of work and, in turn, influenced other subcommunities. Specifically, using the CitNetExplorer software, we analyse all IMM capabilities-related publications and their direct influence on other journals. The findings unveil seven thematic clusters that highlight how IMM scholars have expanded capability research by deepening the understanding of its relational foundations. Our data not only reinforce prior warnings about weak validity, but also uncover signs that suggest that the IMM community is on a path of theoretical consolidation with potential benefits for the broader conversation.