Examining the Stability and Variability of Routine Performances: The Effects of Experience and Context Change

Journal of Management Studies · 2012 · Volume 49 · Issue 8

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01061.x

Abstract

This study examines how the performance experience of actors shapes the stability and variability of routine performances. We argue that experience in performing a routine provides actors with greater understandings of the routine and its context, which provides an overall stabilizing effect on routine performances, but experience also heightens actors' capacity to adjust performances in response to changes in contextual constraints. Our analyses of routine performances in the waste collection sector are generally consistent with the arguments. Our findings also highlight differences in how actors' experience affects responsiveness to different forms of change in contextual constraints. These findings help to extend our understanding of the micro-foundations of routines.

Keywords

agency, context dependence, experience, generative, micro-foundations, routines

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