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The void at the heart of rules: routines in the context of rule-following. The case of the Paris Metro Workshop

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  • Bénédicte Reynaud

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. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Bénédicte Reynaud, 2005. "The void at the heart of rules: routines in the context of rule-following. The case of the Paris Metro Workshop," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 14(5), pages 847-871, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:14:y:2005:i:5:p:847-871
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Stephan Kampelmann, 2011. "The Socio-Economics of Pay Rules," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/268040, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    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. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Burr, Wolfgang & Frohwein, Torsten, 2012. "Regelbrüche in Organisationen," Research Papers on Innovation, Services and Technology 1/2012, University of Stuttgart, Institute of Business Administration, Department I - Institute of Research & Development and Innovation Management.
    11. 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.
    12. 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.
    13. 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).
    14. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    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. Rodrigo Canales, 2011. "Rule bending, sociological citizenship, and organizational contestation in microfinance," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 5(1), pages 90-117, March.
    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.

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