Understanding Organizational Routines And Their Flexibility From The Perspective Of Kuhn's Paradigm Theory

Since Stene first introduced the concept of organizational routines in 1940, a number of areas in social science began to study it. Scholars put their focus on the two main problems, they are "what is the concept of organizational routines?" and "how organizational routines change?" Organizational routines have been compared to individual habit, scripts and genes by traditional researchers. Each of the three metaphors, tends to reinforce our understanding of routines as unitary and unchanging. However, in practice, when the environments change, some organizational routines change too. Agents will repair, develop or completely change routines. Traditional researchers' theory does not conform to the reality, so this article will use the idea of Kuhn's Paradigm Theory to make a breakthrough.We can interpret Kuhn's Paradigm from two aspects, Kuhn's I and Kuhn's II. Kuhn's II refers to members of the scientific community under the guidance of a same belief to carry out the scientific research. The same belief limits the scope of the research, provides the basic theories and methods to solve problems. However, Kuhn's II views the conversion of the old paradigm and the new paradigm as psychological change, changes in belief, so it makes the conclusion that paradigms are incommensurability. Kuhn's I solve the problems in Kuhn's II. Kuhn's I refers to the scientific research a kind of practice that we all fully take part in it. New paradigm is developed on the basis of the old paradigm, the conversion of the old paradigm and the new paradigm are not the completely change, but to the new form of life. So incommensurability is failed.According to the concept of paradigm, this article views the concept of organizational routines from two aspects too. With the corresponding Kuhn's II, organizational routines' II mean that standards, principles and norms to guide the agents' specific actions. Traditional researchers conclude that norms, principles are stable and unchanging, but they ignore the practice in routines. So I put forward the new idea of organizational routines' I . With the corresponding Kuhn's I, organizational routines' I mean that when we are engaged in an organizational routine, it is the specific action taken by specific agents at specific time. From the great effort accomplish, norms are changed with the changing environment. The practical of routines make themselves the course of their change. When the environment changes, organizational routines will do the appropriate adjustment. However, when the adjustment can not play a role, the old routines should be replaced by the new routines. The new organizational routine is developed on the basis of the old one.