Routine resistance: how identity conflicts within transactive memory systems obstruct routinization

Routines resistance is observed among groups of experts that experienced a significant redefinition of their tasks and organizational goals within in a large French government agency. To expose the origins of such resistance, we investigate the processes by which transactive autobiographical memory supported organizational identification as an organization of technical experts, and how this memory structure led to the failed memorization of new action patterns which contradicted the pre-existing expert identity. We find that transactive autobiographical memory is deeply related to a complex process of identification, via the association of different contexts of identity, narrative and temporality, reflecting the levels and functions of autobiographical memory. More specifically, problems arose when managerial directives for new coordination actions conflicted with the pre-existing embedded sense of expert identity, related goals and relationships, leading to dis-identification among employees. The result was failed memorization and routine resistance, driven by conflicts with pre-existing transactive autobiographical memory. We propose a model of the micro-foundations of routines which explains these effects.