Grammatical Model of Organizational Routines in a Technical Service Organization

This paper explores the sequential structure of work processes in a task unit whose work involves high numbers of exceptions, low analyzability of search, frequent interruptions and extensive deliberation, and cannot be characterized as routine under any traditional definition. Yet a detailed analysis of the sequential pattern of action in a sample of 168 service interactions reveals that most calls follow a repetitive, functionally similar pattern. This apparent contradiction presents a challenge to our theoretical understanding of routines: how can apparently non-routine work display such a high degree of regularity? To answer this questions, we propose a new definition of organizational routines as a set of functionally similar patterns and illustrate a new methodology for studying the sequential structure of work processes using rule-based grammatical models. This approach to organizational routines juxtaposes the structural features of the organization against the reflective agency of organizational members. Members enact specific performances form among a constrained (but potentially large) set of possibilities that can be described by a grammar, giving rise to the regular patterns of action we label routines.