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

Eugenia Cacciatori

Eugenia Cacciatori ha pubblicato Resolving Conflict in Problem-Solving: Systems of Artefacts in the Development of New Routines (CROMA Working Paper Series, 11/16).

Abstract: This paper argues that artefacts mediate the process through which the agency of individuals is institutionalized into new routines. In order to identify the mechanisms through which artefacts contribute to pattern behaviour, this paper proposes a typology of artefacts. An in-depth case study of the development of a new bidding process in an integrated engineering consultancy shows that the development of a new routine is better explained by looking at how different types of artefacts work as a system, rather than individually. By bundling different types of artefacts, agents reinforce and extend the patterns of action that each artefact supports. Further, the paper shows that it is in the design of these artefacts that the problem-solving and truce aspects of routines are worked out.