Enterprise Systems, Minimal Structures of Knowledge and Organizational Improvisation

This paper develops a conceptual framework to examine how enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems may affect knowledge capabilities that enable organizational improvisation. Drawing upon research into knowledge integration, improvisation and communities of practice, a new concept, minimal structures of knowledge, is introduced. In jazz improvisation, minimal structures (e.g., jazz chord progressions) provide the basis for improvisational freedom. Minimal structures of knowledge are defined as boundary objects of cross-practice organizational knowledge that provide a basis for organizational improvisation. The framework is applied to understand the impacts of ERP systems on the integration of knowledge across functional boundaries in new product development. The analysis points to the emergence of new minimal structures of knowledge as one of the potential outcomes of ERP system implementation, which provide enhanced improvisational capabilities for the firm. The discussion suggests that the predominant view of organizational inflexibility as the outcome of ERP systems requires broader examination.