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Unpacking the Dynamics of Ecologies of Routines: Mediators and Their Generative Effects in Routine Interactions

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  • Kathrin Sele

    (IAE Toulouse School of Management, Center for Research in Management (UMR 5303 CNRS), University of Toulouse 1 Capitole, 31000 Toulouse, France)

  • Simon Grand

    (Institute for Systemic Management and Public Governance, RISE Management Innovation Lab, University of St. Gallen, 9000 St. Gallen, Switzerland)

Abstract

Building on an in-depth ethnographic study at a renowned research laboratory, we show how the interactions of organizational routines can be more or less generative by tracing and analyzing how human and nonhuman actors (actants) connect routines. Adopting a performative perspective, we compare the connecting of such actants and study how they are engaged in routine performances. We relate observed differences in the generativity of routine interactions to whether actants become mediators or intermediaries. Whereas intermediaries merely maintain connections between routines, mediators can modify them when performing routine connections. We identify three generative effects mediators can lead to: (1) the creation of innovative outcomes, (2) the adaptation of existing routine performances, and/or (3) the emergence of new routine performances. Similar to the conception of organizational routines as dynamic and generative systems, we show that the way actants operate through their engagement renders routine interactions and thus ecologies of routines more or less generative.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathrin Sele & Simon Grand, 2016. "Unpacking the Dynamics of Ecologies of Routines: Mediators and Their Generative Effects in Routine Interactions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 722-738, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:27:y:2016:i:3:p:722-738
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1031
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    Cited by:

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    3. Marc Fréchet & Hervé Goy, 2017. "Does strategy formalization foster innovation? Evidence from a French sample of small to medium-sized enterprises," Post-Print hal-01623788, HAL.
    4. Lisa Balzarin & Francesco Zirpoli, 2021. "How organizational identity and organizational routines affect each other through agency," Working Papers 04, Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    5. Mele, Cristina & Tuominen, Tiina & Edvardsson, Bo & Reynoso, Javier, 2023. "Smart sensing technology and self-adjustment in service systems through value co-creation routine dynamics," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    6. Davies, Andrew & Frederiksen, Lars & Cacciatori, Eugenia & Hartmann, Andreas, 2018. "The long and winding road: Routine creation and replication in multi-site organizations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(8), pages 1403-1417.
    7. Dehua Gao & Aliakbar Akbaritabar, 2022. "Using agent-based modeling in routine dynamics research: a quantitative and content analysis of literature," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 521-550, February.
    8. Açıkgöz, Atif & Acikgoz, Fulya & Günsel, Ayşe & Latham, Gary P., 2023. "The relationship between imperfect information and performance speed: The mediation of improvisation in new product development teams," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    9. Yutaka Yamauchi & Takeshi Hiramoto, 2020. "Performative Achievement of Routine Recognizability: An Analysis of Order Taking Routines at Sushi Bars," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(8), pages 1610-1642, December.
    10. Dehua Gao & Flaminio Squazzoni & Xiuquan Deng, 2018. "The Intertwining Impact of Intraorganizational and Routine Networks on Routine Replication Dynamics: An Agent-Based Model," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2018, pages 1-23, November.
    11. Martha S. Feldman & Brian T. Pentland & Luciana D’Adderio & Nathalie Lazaric, 2016. "Beyond Routines as Things: Introduction to the Special Issue on Routine Dynamics," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 505-513, June.
    12. Lea Kiwan & Nathalie Lazaric, 2019. "Learning a new ecology of space and looking for new routines: Experimenting robotics in a surgical team," Post-Print hal-02559098, HAL.
    13. Verena Wolf & Christian Bartelheimer & Daniel Beverungen, 2020. "Workarounds as Generative Mechanisms for Restructuring and Redesigning Organizations - Insights from a Multiple Case Study," Working Papers Dissertations 68, Paderborn University, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics.
    14. Omid Omidvar & Mehdi Safavi & Vern L. Glaser, 2023. "Algorithmic Routines and Dynamic Inertia: How Organizations Avoid Adapting to Changes in the Environment," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 313-345, March.
    15. Anja Danner-Schröder, 2021. "Without actors, there is no action: How interpersonal interactions help to explain routine dynamics," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(7), pages 1913-1936, October.

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