The Socio-Structural Drivers of Strategic Improvisation in Emergency Services : An Exploratory Study of the Royal Malaysia Police

Hodgkinson, Ian R. and Hughes, Paul and Arshad, Darwina and Ghosh, Swapan and Ainul, Mohd Sharizal (2025) The Socio-Structural Drivers of Strategic Improvisation in Emergency Services : An Exploratory Study of the Royal Malaysia Police. Public Administration: An International Quarterly. ISSN 0033-3298

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Abstract

Strategic improvisation often occurs in fast‐paced decision‐making environments. Yet, improvisation has received little scholarly attention in public administration and management. This knowledge gap leads to the study's research question: what drives strategic improvisation in the emergency services of a developing country? To answer this research question, the article examines the socio‐structural pathways to strategic improvisation by drawing on survey questionnaire data collected from serving police officers in the Royal Malaysia Police. Data is analyzed using fuzzy‐set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) and this configurational approach reveals key socio‐structural recipes for strategic improvisation to materialize. Specifically, the analysis reveals a core set of socio‐structural conditions—top management support and knowledge collecting and donating—that can be further augmented in two different ways, either by (i) the presence of self‐efficacy among decision‐makers or (ii) through an information communication technologies capability and management status as a peripheral condition for strategic improvisation.