The notion of organizational flexibility has not always been prominent in organization
theory. Early contributors to Scientific Management (e.g., Gilbreth & Gilbreth, 1917; Taylor,
1911) and classical administrative theory (e.g., Fayol, 1949; Gulick & Urwick, 1937) implicitly
or explicitly assumed the analyzability, specifiability, and predictability of tasks and subtasks
which can be coordinated by plans and schedules and, where necessary, buffers. Because they
assume stable organizational goals and task environments, they "leave out of account the
dynamics of program elaboration--the processes of developing new activities and programs of activities where these have not existed before.