The art of discovering and exploiting unexpected opportunities: The roles of organizational improvisation and serendipity in new venture performance

This study examines a model linking organizational improvisation with new venture performance, via serendipity, at varying levels of resource constraints and informal organizational structure. Results from a national sample of 326 startups, based throughout the United States, indicate that the association of improvisation with serendipity is greatest when resource constraints are high, and-in turn-that serendipity is positively related to new venture performance when informal organizational structure is high. These findings highlight novel pathways and contingencies through which improvisation may prove to be a resourceful means for startups to identify new opportunities and gain performance advantages.