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Surprises in Management and Organization: Concept, Sources and A Typology *
Author(s) -
Cunha Miguel Pina e,
Clegg Stewart R.,
Kamoche Ken
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
british journal of management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.407
H-Index - 108
eISSN - 1467-8551
pISSN - 1045-3172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2005.00470.x
Subject(s) - typology , variety (cybernetics) , face (sociological concept) , process (computing) , epistemology , business , sociology , computer science , social science , artificial intelligence , philosophy , anthropology , operating system
We discuss why surprises, defined as events that happen unexpectedly or expected events that take unexpected shapes, are important to organizations and should be considered in the organization and management literature as an umbrella concept, encompassing a variety of related phenomena. The concept of organizational surprises is unpacked and a typology is built around the (un)expectedness of the issue and the (un)expectedness of the process. This typology uncovers the several types of surprising events that organizations may face, and contributes to the literature by identifying how different types of surprises require distinct managerial approaches.