IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/aal/abbswp/04-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Organizational Routines A Sceptical Look

Author

Listed:
  • Teppo Felin
  • Nicolai J. Foss

Abstract

Organizational routines and capabilities have become key constructs not only in evolutionary economics, but more recently also in business administration, specifically strategic management. In this chapter we explicate some of the underlying theoretical problems of these concepts, and discuss the need for micro-foundations. Specifically, we focus on some of the explanatory problems of collective-level theorizing, and what we think are tenuous assumptions about human beings. We argue that individual-level considerations deserve significantly more consideration, and that evolutionary economics and strategic management would be well served by building on methodological individualism.

Suggested Citation

  • Teppo Felin & Nicolai J. Foss, 2004. "Organizational Routines A Sceptical Look," DRUID Working Papers 04-13, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    • Handle: RePEc:aal:abbswp:04-13
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://wp.druid.dk/wp/20040013.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanni Dosi & Luigi Marengo & Giorgio Fagiolo, 1996. "Learning in evolutionary environment," CEEL Working Papers 9605, Cognitive and Experimental Economics Laboratory, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    2. Herbert A. Simon, 1955. "A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 69(1), pages 99-118.
    3. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    4. Marengo, Luigi, et al, 2000. "The Structure of Problem-Solving Knowledge and the Structure of Organizations," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 9(4), pages 757-788, December.
    5. Oliver E. Williamson, 1999. "Strategy research: governance and competence perspectives," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(12), pages 1087-1108, December.
    6. Cohen, Michael D, et al, 1996. "Routines and Other Recurring Action Patterns of Organizations: Contemporary Research Issues," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 5(3), pages 653-698.
    7. Richard R. Nelson & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Evolutionary Theorizing in Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(2), pages 23-46, Spring.
    8. Geoffrey M. Hodgson & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2008. "The Complex Evolution of a Simple Traffic Convention: the Functions and Implications of Habit," International Economic Association Series, in: János Kornai & László Mátyás & Gérard Roland (ed.), Institutional Change and Economic Behaviour, chapter 9, pages 178-199, Palgrave Macmillan.
    9. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    10. Massimo Egidi, 1995. "Routines, Hierarchies of Problems, Procedural Behaviour: Some Evidence fom Experiments," CEEL Working Papers 9503, Cognitive and Experimental Economics Laboratory, Department of Economics, University of Trento, Italia.
    11. Sidney G. Winter, 1964. "Economic "Natural Selection" and the Theory of the Firm," LEM Chapters Series, in: Yale Economic Essays, pages 225-272, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    12. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    13. Armen A. Alchian, 1950. "Uncertainty, Evolution, and Economic Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(3), pages 211-211.
    14. Scott Stern, 2004. "Do Scientists Pay to Be Scientists?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(6), pages 835-853, June.
    15. Egidi, Massimo & Narduzzo, Alessandro, 1997. "The emergence of path-dependent behaviors in cooperative contexts," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 15(6), pages 677-709, October.
    16. Giovanni Dosi, 2000. "Hierarchies, Markets and Power: Some Foundational Issues on the Nature of Contemporary Economic Organizations," Chapters, in: Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics, chapter 23, pages 669-688, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    17. Jaeyong Song & Paul Almeida & Geraldine Wu, 2003. "Learning--by--Hiring: When Is Mobility More Likely to Facilitate Interfirm Knowledge Transfer?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 351-365, April.
    18. Richard P. Rumelt & Dan Schendel & David J. Teece, 1991. "Strategic management and economics," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 5-29, December.
    19. Argote, Linda & Ingram, Paul, 2000. "Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for Competitive Advantage in Firms," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 150-169, May.
    20. Giovanni Dosi, 2000. "Innovation, Organization and Economic Dynamics," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1248.
    21. Rebecca Henderson & Iain Cockburn, 1994. "Measuring Competence? Exploring Firm Effects in Pharmaceutical Research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 63-84, December.
    22. Todd R. Zenger, 1994. "Explaining Organizational Diseconomies of Scale in R&D: Agency Problems and the Allocation of Engineering Talent, Ideas, and Effort by Firm Size," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 40(6), pages 708-729, June.
    23. Richardson, G B, 1972. "The Organisation of Industry," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 82(327), pages 883-896, September.
    24. Winter, Sidney G, 1988. "On Coase, Competence, and the Corporation," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 4(1), pages 163-180, Spring.
    25. Maurizio Zollo & Sidney G. Winter, 2002. "Deliberate Learning and the Evolution of Dynamic Capabilities," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 339-351, June.
    26. Christine Oliver, 1997. "Sustainable competitive advantage: combining institutional and resource‐based views," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(9), pages 697-713, October.
    27. Iain M. Cockburn & Rebecca M. Henderson & Scott Stern, 2000. "Untangling the origins of competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1123-1145, October.
    28. Michael D. Cohen & Paul Bacdayan, 1994. "Organizational Routines Are Stored as Procedural Memory: Evidence from a Laboratory Study," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(4), pages 554-568, November.
    29. Luis Garicano, 2000. "Hierarchies and the Organization of Knowledge in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(5), pages 874-904, October.
    30. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    31. Bill McKelvey, 1997. "Perspective---Quasi-Natural Organization Science," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 8(4), pages 351-380, August.
    32. Knott, Anne Marie & McKelvey, Bill, 1999. "Nirvana efficiency: a comparative test of residual claims and routines," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 365-383, April.
    33. Foss, Nicolai J, 1998. "The Competence-Based Approach: Veblenian Ideas in the Modern Theory of the Firm," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 22(4), pages 479-495, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Martine Séville, 2008. "Habitude, cognition et actions des dirigeants," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 11(2), pages 51-78, June.
    2. Cohendet Patrick & Llerena Patrick & Simon Laurent, 2014. "The Routinization of Creativity: Lessons from the Case of a Video-game Creative Powerhouse," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 234(2-3), pages 120-141, April.
    3. Jiatao Li & Rajiv Kozhikode, 2008. "Knowledge management and innovation strategy: The challenge for latecomers in emerging economies," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 25(3), pages 429-450, September.
    4. Arturo Lara Rivero, 2012. "Agente adaptable, aprendizaje y estructura del ambiente: un enfoque alternativo," Revista de Economía Institucional, Universidad Externado de Colombia - Facultad de Economía, vol. 14(26), pages 95-120, January-J.
    5. Thierry Burger-Helmchen, 2008. "From Investment Rules of Thumb to Routines," Post-Print hal-02153062, HAL.
    6. Teppo Felin & Nicolai Foss, 2006. "Individuals and Organizations Thoughts on a Micro-Foundations Project for Strategic Management and Organizational Analysis," DRUID Working Papers 06-01, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    7. Saras D. Sarasvathy & Nicholas Dew, 2013. "Without judgment: An empirically-based entrepreneurial theory of the firm," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 26(3), pages 277-296, September.
    8. M. J. Keneley, 2009. "Organisational capabilities and the role of routines in the emergence of a modern life insurer: The story of the AMP," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(2), pages 248-267.
    9. Kandora Marcin, 2017. "In search for effective methods of routine formation," Management, Sciendo, vol. 21(1), pages 20-39, May.
    10. Agnès Festré & Nathalie Lazaric, 2007. "Routines and leadership in Schumpeter and von Mises' analysis of economic change," Post-Print halshs-00271338, HAL.
    11. Reuter, Ute, 2011. "Der ressourcenbasierte Ansatz als theoretischer Bezugsrahmen: Grundlagen, Theoriebausteine und Prozessorientierung," Research Papers on Innovation, Services and Technology 3/2011, University of Stuttgart, Institute of Business Administration, Department I - Institute of Research & Development and Innovation Management.
    12. Chatterjee, Sidharta, 2015. "Teleological Dynamics of Organizational Performance: From Process to Practice and Performance," MPRA Paper 68530, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Teppo Felin & Nicolai Foss, 2006. "Individuals and Organizations Thoughts on a Micro-Foundations Project for Strategic Management and Organizational Analysis," DRUID Working Papers 06-01, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    2. Giovanni. Gavetti & Daniel A. Levinthal, 2004. "50th Anniversay Article: The Strategy Field from the Perspective of Management Science: Divergent Strands and Possible Integration," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(10), pages 1309-1318, October.
    3. Jutta Wollersheim & Koen H. Heimeriks, 2016. "Dynamic Capabilities and Their Characteristic Qualities: Insights from a Lab Experiment," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 233-248, April.
    4. Nickerson, Jack A. & Yen, C. James & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2011. "Exploring the Problem-Finding and Problem-Solving Approach for Designing Organizations," Working Papers 11-0107, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    5. Peter Abell & Teppo Felin & Nicolai Foss, 2008. "Building micro-foundations for the routines, capabilities, and performance links," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(6), pages 489-502.
    6. Giovanni Dosi & Luigi Marengo, 2007. "Perspective---On the Evolutionary and Behavioral Theories of Organizations: A Tentative Roadmap," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(3), pages 491-502, June.
    7. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    8. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M., 2004. "A study into the alliance capability development process," Working Papers 04.21, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    9. Pantic-Dragisic, Svjetlana & Söderlund, Jonas, 2020. "Swift transition and knowledge cycling: Key capabilities for successful technical and engineering consulting?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    10. Giovanni Gavetti, 2005. "Cognition and Hierarchy: Rethinking the Microfoundations of Capabilities’ Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(6), pages 599-617, December.
    11. Chen, Hung-hsin & Lee, Po-yen & Lay, Tzyy-jane, 2009. "Drivers of dynamic learning and dynamic competitive capabilities in international strategic alliances," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1289-1295, December.
    12. Heimeriks, K. & Duysters, G.M. & Vanhaverbeke, W.P.M., 2004. "The evolution of alliance capabilities," Working Papers 04.20, Eindhoven Center for Innovation Studies.
    13. Giovanni Dosi & Marco Faillo & Luigi Marengo, 2003. "Organizational Capabilities, Patterns of Knowledge Accumulation and Governance Structures in Business Firms. An Introduction," LEM Papers Series 2003/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    14. Ilgaz Arikan & Ipek Koparan & Asli M Arikan & Oded Shenkar, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities and internationalization of authentic firms: Role of heritage assets, administrative heritage, and signature processes," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(4), pages 601-635, June.
    15. Lee, Po-Yen & Lin, Hui-Tzu & Chen, Hung-Hsin & Shyr, Yi-Hwan, 2011. "Dynamic capabilities exploitation of market and hierarchy governance structures: An empirical comparison of Taiwan and South Korea," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 359-370, July.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9209 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Georg Schreyögg & Martina Kliesch, 2006. "Zur Dynamisierung Organisational Kompetenzen — „Dynamic Capabilities“als Lösungsansatz?," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 58(4), pages 455-476, June.
    18. Filippo Carlo Wezel & Gino Cattani & Johannes M. Pennings, 2006. "Competitive Implications of Interfirm Mobility," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(6), pages 691-709, December.
    19. Patrick Regnér & Udo Zander, 2011. "Knowledge and Strategy Creation in Multinational Companies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 821-850, December.
    20. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    21. Mehmet Ali Köseoglu & John A. Parnell & Melissa Yan Yee Yick, 2021. "Identifying influential studies and maturity level in intellectual structure of fields: evidence from strategic management," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1271-1309, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior
    • M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:aal:abbswp:04-13. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Keld Laursen (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.druid.dk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.