Resolving Conflict in Problem-Solving: Systems of Artefacts in the Development of New Routines

Abstract

This paper argues that, in order to understand the development process of new routines, we have to look at the emergence of systems of artefacts rather than at individual artefacts in isolation. The paper proposes a typology of artefacts understood as material objects that are the product of human activity and analyses their interactions in the case of an integrated engineering design consultancy engaged in the effort of developing a new bidding routine. The evidence from the case study shows that agents reinforce and extend the patterns of action that individual artefacts support by bundling different types of artefacts, and that in so doing, they extend the reach and influence of the community to which they belong. This study shows that the problem-solving and truce aspects of routines are worked out in the design of these systems of artefacts. © 2012 The Author. Journal of Management Studies © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.