Inertia in routines: A Hidden source of organizational variation

Organization Science

Volumn 27, Issue 3, 2016, Pages 782-800

  Yi, Sangyoon ^a   Knudsen, Thorbjørn ^a   Becker, Markus C ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN DENMARK   (Denmark)

Author keywords

Evolutionary theory; Organizational adaptation; Organizational change; Organizational inertia; Organizational routines

Indexed keywords

EID: 85008398413     PISSN: 10477039     EISSN: 15265455     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2016.1059     Document Type: Article

References (96)

1. Abd El-Razek ME, Bassioni HA, Mobarak AM (2008) Causes of delay in building construction projects in Egypt. J. Construction Engrg. Management 134(2):831-841
2. Abell P, Felin T, Foss N (2008) Building micro-foundations for the routines, capabilities, and performance links. Managerial Decision Econom. 29(2):489-502
3. Adler PS, Borys B (1996) Two types of bureaucracy: Enabling and coercive. Admin. Sci. Quart. 41(2):61-89
4. Adler PS, Goldoftas B, Levine DI (1999) Flexibility versus efficiency? A case study of model changeovers in the Toyota production system. Organ. Sci. 10(2):43-68
5. Amburgey TL, Kelly D, Barnett WP (1993) Resetting the clock: The dynamics of organizational change and failure. Admin. Sci. Quart. 38(2):51-73
6. Argote L (1999) Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge (Springer, New York)
7. Argote L, Miron-Spektor E (2011) Organizational learning: From experience to knowledge. Organ. Sci. 22(2):1123-1137
8. Axelrod R, Cohen MD (2000) Harnessing Complexity: Organizational Implications of a Scientific Frontier (Basic Books, New York)
9. Baldwin CY, Clark KB (2000) Design Rules: The Power of Modularity (MIT Press, Cambridge, MA)
10. Baum JAC, Singh JV (1994) Evolutionary Dynamics in Organizations (Oxford University Press, New York)
11. Becker MC (2005) The concept of routines: Some clarifications. Cambridge J. Econom. 29(2):249-262
12. Becker MC, Knudsen T, March JG (2006) Schumpeter, Winter, and the sources of novelty. Indust. Corporate Change 15(2):353-371
13. Bigley GA, Roberts KH (2001) The incident command system: Highreliability organizing for complex and volatile task environments. Acad. Management J. 44(2):1281-1299
14. Birkinshaw J, Gibson C (2004) Building ambidexterity into an organization. MIT Sloan Management Rev. 45(4):47-55
15. Birnholtz JP, Cohen D, Cohen MD, Hoch SV (2007) Organizational character: On the regeneration of camp poplar grove. Organ. Sci. 18(2):315-332
16. Boumgarden P, Nickerson J, Zenger TR (2012) Sailing into the wind: Exploring the relationships among ambidexterity, vacillation, and organizational performance. Strategic Management J. 33(2): 587-610
17. Burgelman RA (1994) Fading memories: A process theory of strategic business exit in dynamic environments. Admin. Sci. Quart. 39(1):24-56
18. Butler BS, Gray PH (2006) Reliability, mindfulness, and information systems. MIS Quart. 30(2):211-224
19. Campbell DT (1960) Blind variation and selective retention in creative thought as in other knowledge processes. Psychol. Rev. 67(6): 380-400
20. Carroll GR, Hannan MT (2000) The Demography of Corporations and Industries (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ)
21. Chen EL, Katila R (2008) Rival interpretations of balancing exploration and exploitation. Shane S, ed. Handbook of Technology and Innovation Management (John Wiley & Sons, New York), 197-214
22. Cohen MD (2007) Reading Dewey: Reflections on the study of routine. Organ. Stud. 28(2):773-786
23. Cohen MD, Bacdayan P (1994) Organizational routines are stored as procedural memory: Evidence from a laboratory study. Organ. Sci. 5(2):554-568
24. Cooper RG, Kleinschmidt EJ (1986) An investigation into the new product process: Steps, deficiencies, and impact. J. Product Innovation Management 3(2):71-85
25. Cummings JN, Espinosa JA, Pickering CK (2009) Crossing spatial and temporal boundaries in globally distributed projects: A relational model of coordination delay. Inform. Systems Res. 20(2): 420-439
26. Cyert R, March JG (1963) A Behavioral Theory of the Firm (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ)
27. Doloi H, Sawhney A, Iyer KC, Rentala S (2012) Analysing factors affecting delays in Indian construction projects. Internat. J. Project Management 30(2):479-489
28. Ethiraj SK, Levinthal DA (2004a) Bounded rationality and the search for organizational architecture: An evolutionary perspective on the design of organizations and their evolvability. Admin. Sci. Quart. 49(3):404-437
29. Ethiraj SK, Levinthal DA (2004b) Modularity and innovation in complex systems. Management Sci. 50(2):159-173
30. Feldman MS (2000) Organizational routines as a source of continuous change. Organ. Sci. 11(2):611-629
31. Feldman MS, Pentland BT (2003) Reconceptualizing organizational routines as a source of flexibility and change. Admin. Sci. Quart. 48(2):94-118
32. Feldman MS, Pentland BT (2008) Routine dynamics. Barry D, Hansen H, eds. SAGE Handbook of New Approaches in Management and Organization (Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA), 302-315
33. Galunic DC, Rodan S (1998) Resource recombinations in the firm: Knowledge structures and the potential for Schumpeterian innovation. Strategic Management J. 19(2):1193-1201
34. Gavetti G, Levinthal DA (2000) Looking forward and looking backward: Cognitive and experiential search. Admin. Sci. Quart. 45(2): 113-137
35. Gersick CJG, Hackman JR (1990) Habitual routines in task-performing groups. Organ. Behav. Human Decision Processes 47(1):65-97
36. Gilbert CG (2005) Unbundling the structure of inertia: Resource versus routine rigidity. Acad. Management J. 48(5):741-763
37. Gündüz M, Nielsen Y, özdemir M (2013) Quantification of delay factors using the relative importance index method for construction projects in Turkey. J. Management Engrg. 29(2):133-139
38. Gupta AK, Smith KG, Shalley CE (2006) The interplay between exploration and exploitation. Acad. Management J. 49(2): 693-706
39. Hannan MT, Freeman J (1984) Structural inertia and organizational change. Amer. Sociol. Rev. 49(2):149-164
40. Hannan MT, Freeman J (1989) Organizations and social structure. Organ. Ecol. (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA), 3-27
41. Hargadon A, Sutton RI (1997) Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm. Admin. Sci. Quart. 42(2):716-749
42. Hodgson GM, Knudsen T (2010) Generative replication and the evolution of complexity. J. Econom. Behav. Organ. 75(2): 12-24
43. Holland J (1975) Adaptation in Natural and Artificial Systems (University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor)
44. Howard-Grenville JA (2005) The persistence of flexible organizational routines: The role of agency and organizational context. Organ. Sci. 16(2):618-636
45. Jones G (2013) Organizational Theory, Design and Change, 7th ed. (Prentice Hall, London)
46. Kauffman SA (1993) The Origins of Order: Self Organization and Selection in Evolution (Oxford University Press, New York)
47. Kilduff M (1992) Performance and interaction routines in multinational corporations. J. Internat. Bus. Stud. 23(2):133-145
48. Knudsen T, Levinthal DA (2007) Two faces of search: Alternative generation and alternative evaluation. Organ. Sci. 18(2):39-54
49. Knudsen T, Srikanth K (2014) Coordinated exploration: Organizing joint search by multiple specialists to overcome mutual confusion and joint myopia. Admin. Sci. Quart. 59(2):409-441
50. Leonard-Barton D (1992) Core capabilities and core rigidities: A paradox in managing new product development. Strategic Management J. 13(S1):111-125
51. Levinthal DA (1991) Organizational adaptation and environmental selection-Interrelated processes of change. Organ. Sci. 2(2): 140-145
52. Levinthal DA (1997) Adaptation on rugged landscapes. Management Sci. 43(2):934-950
53. Levinthal DA, March JG (1993) The myopia of learning. Strategic Management J. 14(S2):95-112
54. Levinthal DA, Posen HE (2007) Myopia of selection: Does organizational adaptation limit the efficacy of population selection? Admin. Sci. Quart. 52(2):586-620
55. Levinthal DA, Rerup C (2006) Crossing an apparent chasm: Bridging mindful and less-mindful perspectives on organizational learning. Organ. Sci. 17(2):502-513
56. Levitt B, March JG (1988) Organizational learning. Annual Rev. Sociol. 14:319-340
57. Limayem M, Hirt SG, Cheung CMK (2007) How habit limits the predictive power of intention: The case of information systems continuance. MIS Quart. 31(2):705-737
58. MacKay RB, Chia R (2013) Choice, chance, and unintended consequences in strategic change: A process understanding of the rise and fall of NorthCo automotive. Acad. Management J. 56(2): 208-230
59. March JG (1991) Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organ. Sci. 2(2):71-87
60. March JG, Simon HA (1958) Organizations (John Wiley & Sons, New York)
61. Merton RK (1936) The unanticipated consequences of purposive social action. Amer. Sociol. Rev. 1(2):894-904
62. Milgrom PR, Roberts J (1992) Economics, Organization and Management (Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ)
63. Moorman C, Miner A (1998) Organizational improvisation and organizational memory. Acad. Management Rev. 23(2):698-723
64. Murray KB, Häubl G (2007) Explaining cognitive lock-in: The role of skill-based habits of use in consumer choice. J. Consumer Res. 34(1):77-88
65. Nelson RR, Winter SG (1982) An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change (Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA)
66. Nickerson JA, Zenger TR (2002) Being efficiently fickle: A dynamic theory of organizational choice. Organ. Sci. 13(2):547-566
67. Orlikowski WJ (1996) Improvising organizational transformation over time: A situated change perspective. Inform. Systems Res. 7(2):63-92
68. Padgett JF (1980) Bounded rationality in budgetary research. Amer. Political Sci. Rev. 74(2):354-372
69. Pentland BT (2003a) Conceptualizing and measuring variety in the execution of organizational work processes. Management Sci. 49(7):857-879
70. Pentland BT (2003b) Sequential variety in work processes. Organ. Sci. 14(2):528-540
71. Pentland BT, Feldman MS (2005) Organizational routines as a unit of analysis. Indust. Corporate Change 14(2):793-815
72. Pentland BT, Feldman MS (2008) Designing routines: On the folly of designing artifacts, while hoping for patterns of action. Inform. Organ. 18(4):235-250
73. Pentland BT, Rueter HH (1994) Organizational routines as grammars of action. Admin. Sci. Quart. 39(2):484-510
74. Pentland BT, Hærem T, Hillison D (2010) Comparing organizational routines as recurrent patterns of action. Organ. Stud. 31(7): 917-940
75. Pentland BT, Hærem T, Hillison D (2011) The (n)ever changing world: Stability and change in organizational routines. Organ. Sci. 22(6):1369-1383
76. Pentland BT, Feldman MS, Becker MC, Liu P (2012) Dynamics of organizational routines: A generative model. J. Management Stud. 49(8):1484-1508
77. Plowman DA, Baker LT, Beck TE, Kulkarni M, Solansky ST, Travis DV (2007) Radical change accidentally: The emergence and amplification of small change. Acad. Management J. 50(2): 515-543
78. Polites GL, Karahanna E (2012) Shackled to the status quo: The inhibiting effects of incumbent system habit, switching costs, and inertia on new system acceptance. MIS Quart. 36(2):21-42
79. Polites GL, Karahanna E (2013) The embeddedness of information systems habits in organizational and individual level routines: Development and disruption. MIS Quart. 37(2):221-246
80. Pressman JL, Wildavsky A (1984) Implementation, 3rd ed. (University of California Press, Berkeley)
81. Rerup C, Feldman MS (2011) Routines as a source of change in organizational schemata: The role of trial-and-error learning. Acad. Management J. 54(2):577-610
82. Rivkin JW (2000) Imitation of complex strategies. Management Sci. 46(6):824-844
83. Rivkin JW, Siggelkow N (2003) Balancing search and stability: Interdependencies among elements of organizational design. Management Sci. 49(2):290-311
84. Rumelt RP (1995) Inertia and transformation. Montgomery CA, ed. Resource-Based and Evolutionary Theories of the Firm: Towards a Synthesis (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Norwell, MA), 101-132
85. Salvato C, Rerup C (2011) Beyond collective entities: Multi-level research on organizational routines and capabilities. J. Management 37(2):468-490
86. Sanchez R, Mahoney JT (1996) Modularity, flexibility and knowledge management in product and organization design. Strategic Management J. 17(S2):63-76
87. Siggelkow N, Levinthal DA (2003) Temporarily divide to conquer: Centralized, decentralized, and reintegrated organizational approaches to exploration and adaptation. Organ. Sci. 14(2):650-669
88. Siggelkow N, Rivkin JW (2005) Speed and search: Designing organizations for turbulence and complexity. Organ. Sci. 16(2):101-122
89. Simon HA (1947) Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision Making Processes in Administrative Organizations (Free Press, New York)
90. Simon HA (1955) A behavioral model of rational choice. Quart. J. Econom. 69(1):99-118
91. Simon HA (1991) Bounded rationality and organizational learning. Organ. Sci. 2(2):125-134
92. Singh JV, House RJ, Tucker DJ (1986) Organizational change and organizational mortality. Admin. Sci. Quart. 31(2):587-611
93. Tushman ML, O'Reilly III CA (1996) Ambidextrous organizations: Managing evolutionary and revolutionary change. Calif. Management Rev. 38(2):8-30
94. Weick KE (1979) The Social Psychology of Organizing (Random House, New York)
95. Weick KE, Roberts KH (1993) Collective mind in organizations: Heedful interrelating on flight decks. Admin. Sci. Quart. 38(2): 357-381
96. Winter SG, Szulanski G (2001) Replication as strategy. Organ. Sci. 12(2):730-743