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The Dynamics of Interrelated Routines: Introducing the Cluster Level

Author

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  • Waldemar Kremser

    (School of Business and Economics, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany)

  • Georg Schreyögg

    (School of Business and Economics, Freie Universität Berlin, 14195 Berlin, Germany)

Abstract

This paper explores interrelationships between organizational routines and their effect on routine dynamics. We introduce a more aggregate perspective on routines, the cluster level, and develop a theoretical framework that helps understanding the dynamics of routine clusters. The framework combines thoughts on the division of labor, modularity, and the consequences of complementarities. It explains why single routines are grouped into clusters and how complementarities between the specialized routines of a cluster will affect its evolution. It is the main argument of this paper that, in contrast to the expanding dynamics of single routines, which continuously bring about variations, the dynamics of clusters are restricting, amounting to a selection mechanism in organizational practice. To illustrate and substantiate our argument, we use a historical case study on CEWE, the European market leader in photofinishing. We analyze how the cluster for 35mm photofinishing—the core routines of the analog years—reacted to the upcoming digital revolution in the 1990s. Our paper offers three contributions: First, we theorize on the interrelationship between routines and the anatomy of clusters. Second, we provide a conceptual framework for analyzing the dynamics of routine clusters that builds on complementarities and the related misfit costs. Third, by elaborating on these dynamics, our findings contribute to a multilevel theory of organizational routines by adding the meso level of the routine cluster to the micro level of single routine dynamics.

Suggested Citation

  • Waldemar Kremser & Georg Schreyögg, 2016. "The Dynamics of Interrelated Routines: Introducing the Cluster Level," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 698-721, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ororsc:v:27:y:2016:i:3:p:698-721
    DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2015.1042
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    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. Siyuan Liu & Shaojie Tang & Jiangchuan Zheng & Lionel M. Ni, 2022. "Unsupervised Learning for Human Mobility Behaviors," INFORMS Journal on Computing, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 1565-1586, May.
    5. 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.
    6. D'Adderio, Luciana & Pollock, Neil, 2020. "Making routines the same: Crafting similarity and singularity in routines transfer," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(8).
    7. Johann Fortwengel & Arne Keller, 2020. "Agency in the face of path dependence: how organizations can regain scope for maneuver," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1169-1201, November.
    8. Arne Petermann & Georg Schreyögg & Daniel Fürstenau, 2019. "Can hierarchy hold back the dynamics of self-reinforcing processes? A simulation study on path dependence in hierarchies," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 12(2), pages 637-669, December.
    9. Lisa Balzarin & Francesco Zirpoli, 2021. "How organizational identity and organizational routines affect each other through agency," Working Papers 04, Venice School of Management - Department of Management, Università Ca' Foscari Venezia.
    10. 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.
    11. Jie Wu & Jan-Erik Vahlne, 2022. "Dynamic capabilities of emerging market multinational enterprises and the Uppsala model," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(5), pages 690-714, November.
    12. Robert Charles Sheldon & Eric Michael Laviolette & Fabien Geuser, 2020. "Explaining the process and effects of new routine introduction with a notion of micro-level entrepreneurship," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 609-642, July.
    13. Dongil D. Keum, 2020. "Cog in the wheel: Resource release and the scope of interdependencies in corporate adjustment activities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(2), pages 175-197, February.

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