The Roles of Technology in Improvising (Research Seminar, February 11th, 2002) Nils Fonstad MIT Abstract A growing number of organizational researchers are using the framework of improvising to make sense of the process of innovation in dynamic environments. The roles of technologies in such improvising, however, have all but been ignored in this literature. Drawing on the theoretical perspectives of structuration theory (Giddens 1984) and technologies-in-practice (Orlikowski 2000), I first develop a theoretical framework of the roles of technology in improvising and then apply that framework to examine the roles of technology in the work practices of two groups: a team of chemists developing new formulas for personal care products, and a management team developing a prototype web service during the initial stages of their Internet-based start-up business. The findings of my research should offer a richer understanding of the complex roles of technology in the increasingly important practice of improvising in the workplace.