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Replacing old routines: how Ericsson software developers and managers learned to become agile

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  • Lars Lindkvist
  • Marie Bengtsson
  • Dan-Magnus Svensson
  • Linnéa Wahlstedt

Abstract

In our account of the successful transformation of a software development unit at Ericsson, we show how a combination of trial-and-error learning processes, operating at the management and employee levels, can bring about routine change. In developing this explanation, we refer to the off-line/online search dichotomy as a basic way of distinguishing between how routines are tried out at management and employee levels. Furthermore, we suggest a way in which the performative view of routines can be linked to the teleological and life cycle modes of change at the level of management and employees, respectively. As a result, we arrive at a view of routines as both “inherently changeable” and directional and suggest how the combined use of managerial- and employee-level processes makes it possible to gain the benefits associated with each of them, while at the same time mitigating the effects of their shortcomings.

Suggested Citation

  • Lars Lindkvist & Marie Bengtsson & Dan-Magnus Svensson & Linnéa Wahlstedt, 2017. "Replacing old routines: how Ericsson software developers and managers learned to become agile," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 26(4), pages 571-591.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:indcch:v:26:y:2017:i:4:p:571-591.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Annosi, Maria Carmela & Martini, Antonella & Brunetta, Federica & Marchegiani, Lucia, 2020. "Learning in an agile setting: A multilevel research study on the evolution of organizational routines," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 110(C), pages 554-566.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • M15 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - IT Management

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