IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/halshs-00754059.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Void t the Heart of Rules : Routines in the Context of Rule-Following

Author

Listed:
  • Bénédicte Reynaud

    (PJSE - Paris-Jourdan Sciences Economiques - ENS-PSL - École normale supérieure - Paris - PSL - Université Paris Sciences et Lettres - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - ENPC - École des Ponts ParisTech - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to understand how rules operate in organizations. I focus on the links between organizational routines and rules that are incomplete in their application. I analyse the role of routines in managing the incompleteness of rules. I present a case study where management introduced a productivity bonus in the middle of 1992. This allows for the study of the extent to which the new rule modifies the prevailing routines of work organization. Based on team observations, interviews and statistics that I carried out over a period of nine years (1992-2000), I show that in an initial period, the productivity bonus has partially biased the task selection process. In a second period--'the normal period'--our observations indicate that following the rules consists in translating the abstract rules into concrete reference points, and adding in what the rules have not specified. The translation process conducts to a routine since the interpretation is stabilized. Routines provide a pragmatic, local and temporary solution to the incompleteness of rules. Since routines emerge only in the course of action, they come with no guarantee of success. That constitutes their dynamic.

Suggested Citation

  • Bénédicte Reynaud, 2005. "The Void t the Heart of Rules : Routines in the Context of Rule-Following," Post-Print halshs-00754059, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-00754059
    DOI: 10.1093/icc/dth073
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Markus C. Becker, 2004. "Organizational routines: a review of the literature," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 13(4), pages 643-678, August.
    3. Gersick, Connie J. G. & Hackman, J. Richard, 1990. "Habitual routines in task-performing groups," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 65-97, October.
    4. Michael D. Cohen, 1991. "Individual Learning and Organizational Routine: Emerging Connections," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 135-139, February.
    5. William G Egelhoff, 1991. "Information-Processing Theory and the Multinational Enterprise," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 341-368, September.
    6. Bénédicte Reynaud, 2002. "Operating Rules in Organizations," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-1-4039-1442-2, March.
    7. 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.
    8. 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.
    9. Martha S. Feldman, 2000. "Organizational Routines as a Source of Continuous Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 11(6), pages 611-629, December.
    10. Martha S. Feldman, 2003. "A performative perspective on stability and change in organizational routines," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 12(4), pages 727-752, August.
    11. Richard R. Nelson, 1995. "Recent Evolutionary Theorizing about Economic Change," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 33(1), pages 48-90, March.
    12. Herbert A. Simon & Massimo Egidi & Ricardo Viale & Robin Marris, 1992. "Economics, Bounded Rationality and the Cognitive Revolution," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 409.
    13. Martha S. Feldman & Anat Rafaeli, 2002. "Organizational Routines as Sources of Connections and Understandings," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(3), pages 309-331, May.
    14. Markus C. Becker, 2004. "Organizational routines : a review of the literature," Post-Print hal-00279010, HAL.
    15. Martin Schulz, 2003. "Impermanent institutionalization: the duration dependence of organizational rule changes," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 12(5), pages 1077-1098, October.
    16. Nathalie Lazaric, 2000. "The role of routines, rules and habits in collective learning: some epistemological and ontological considerations," Post-Print hal-00457133, HAL.
    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. David Cayla, 2008. "Organizational Learning: A Process between Equilibrium and Evolution," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(2), pages 553-559, June.
    2. Stephanie Bertels & Jennifer Howard-Grenville & Simon Pek, 2016. "Cultural Molding, Shielding, and Shoring at Oilco: The Role of Culture in the Integration of Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 573-593, June.
    3. Pertusa-Ortega, Eva M. & Zaragoza-Sáez, Patrocinio & Claver-Cortés, Enrique, 2010. "Can formalization, complexity, and centralization influence knowledge performance?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 310-320, March.
    4. Rodney Coyte & David Emsley & David Boyd, 2010. "Examining Management Accounting Change as Rules and Routines: The Effect of Rule Precision," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 20(2), pages 96-109, June.
    5. 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.
    6. Rouslan Koumakhov & Adel Daoud, 2017. "Routine and reflexivity: Simonian cognitivism vs practice approach," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(4), pages 727-743.
    7. Neil M Kay, 2018. "We need to talk: opposing narratives and conflicting perspectives in the conversation on routines," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 27(6), pages 943-956.
    8. Martijn van der Steen, 2011. "The emergence and change of management accounting routines," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 502-547, May.
    9. Nathalie Lazaric, 2007. "Are Routines Reducible or Mere Cognitive Automatisms? Some contributions from cognitive science to help shed light on change in routines," DRUID Working Papers 07-13, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    10. Julie Bertz & Martin Quinn, 2014. "Interpreting management accounting rules: an initial study of public bodies," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 24(4), pages 319-342, February.
    11. Martijn van der Steen, 2009. "Inertia and management accounting change," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 22(5), pages 736-761, June.
    12. Claver-Cortés, Enrique & Pertusa-Ortega, Eva M. & Molina-Azorín, José F., 2012. "Characteristics of organizational structure relating to hybrid competitive strategy: Implications for performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 993-1002.
    13. Mohammed Khalifa Abdelsalam & Ibrahim Mohammed Massoud Egdair & Halima Begum & Diara Md. Jadi & Hussein-Elhakim Al Issa & Omar Saad Saleh Abrika & A. S. A. Ferdous Alam, 2021. "The Key Organizational Factors in Healthcare Waste Management Practices of Libyan Public Hospitals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-19, November.
    14. Marie CORIS, 2008. "The coordination issues of relocations: How proximity still matters in location of software development activities\r\n," Cahiers du GREThA (2007-2019) 2008-03, Groupe de Recherche en Economie Théorique et Appliquée (GREThA).
    15. Waldemar Kremser & Georg Schreyögg, 2016. "The Dynamics of Interrelated Routines: Introducing the Cluster Level," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 698-721, June.
    16. Philip Stiles & Jonathan Trevor & Elaine Farndale & Shad S. Morris & Jaap Paauwe & Guenter Stahl & Patrick Wright, 2015. "Changing Routine: Reframing Performance Management within a Multinational," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 63-88, January.
    17. Nathalie Lazaric & Alain Raybaut, 2007. "Knowledge, Hierarchy and incentives: Why human resource policy and trust matter," Post-Print hal-00453292, HAL.
    18. Rush, Howard & Marshall, Nick & Bessant, John & Ramalingam, Ben, 2021. "Applying an ecosystems approach to humanitarian innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    19. 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.

    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. Mickaël David & Frantz Rowe, 2015. "Enterprise Systems Contribution to Organizational Routines Evolution Potential [Le rôle des systèmes d’information d’entreprise dans l’évolutivité des routines organisationnelles]," Post-Print hal-01559512, HAL.
    2. Arie Y. Lewin & Silvia Massini & Carine Peeters, 2011. "Microfoundations of Internal and External Absorptive Capacity Routines," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 81-98, February.
    3. Guha, Mahua & Das, Gopal, 2017. "Routine contraction in good times: An example of a typical prototype development routine," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 145-152.
    4. Scott F. Turner & Violina Rindova, 2012. "A Balancing Act: How Organizations Pursue Consistency in Routine Functioning in the Face of Ongoing Change," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 24-46, February.
    5. Paul Peigné, 2013. "Routines during an organizational change: a study on dynamics and its effects," Post-Print hal-00876163, HAL.
    6. Jeremy Aroles & Christine McLean, 2016. "Rethinking Stability and Change in the Study of Organizational Routines: Difference and Repetition in a Newspaper-Printing Factory," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 535-550, June.
    7. Paul Spee & Paula Jarzabkowski & Michael Smets, 2016. "The Influence of Routine Interdependence and Skillful Accomplishment on the Coordination of Standardizing and Customizing," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 759-781, June.
    8. Giada Baldessarelli & Nathalie Lazaric & Michele Pezzoni, 2022. "Organizational routines: Evolution in the research landscape of two core communities," Post-Print halshs-03718851, HAL.
    9. Gilstrap, J. Bruce & Hart, Timothy A., 2020. "How employee behaviors effect organizational change and stability," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 120-131.
    10. Rodrigo Canales, 2011. "Rule bending, sociological citizenship, and organizational contestation in microfinance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 90-117, March.
    11. Rouslan Koumakhov & Adel Daoud, 2017. "Routine and reflexivity: Simonian cognitivism vs practice approach," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(4), pages 727-743.
    12. David Obstfeld, 2012. "Creative Projects: A Less Routine Approach Toward Getting New Things Done," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1571-1592, December.
    13. 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.
    14. Martijn van der Steen, 2011. "The emergence and change of management accounting routines," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(4), pages 502-547, May.
    15. Matthias Brauer & Tomi Laamanen, 2014. "Workforce Downsizing and Firm Performance: An Organizational Routine Perspective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(8), pages 1311-1333, December.
    16. Giada Baldessarelli & Nathalie Lazaric & Michele Pezzoni, 2022. "Organizational routines: Evolution in the research landscape of two core communities," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 32(4), pages 1119-1154, September.
    17. Feim M. Blakçori, 2014. "The Role of Formal Routines in Organizational Innovation," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 4(2), pages 56-70, February.
    18. Guido Cozzi & Paolo Giordani, 2011. "Ambiguity attitude, R&D investments and economic growth," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 303-319, May.
    19. 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.
    20. Roberto Grandinetti, 2022. "A Routine-Based Theory of Routine Replication," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-23, July.

    More about this item

    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:hal:journl:halshs-00754059. 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: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    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.