Dynamics of Organizational Routines: A Generative Model

This paper introduces a generative model of organizational routines and their change over time. The model demonstrates that variation and selective retention of patterns of action are necessary and sufficient to explain the features of organizational routines that are most relevant in relation to dynamic capabilities, such as formation, inertia, endogenous change, and learning. The model directly links micro-level actions to the macro-level dynamics of routines. The results suggest that focusing on action provides a useful and parsimonious foundation for a theory of organizational routines and capabilities.