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

<p dir="ltr">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 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[1]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.