Organizational routines as outcome of interpretative sensemaking processes : A study of a medical laboratory adopting to and coping with the institutional change from professional dominance to managerial control

The conference paper details the theoretical foundation of an ongoing dissertation project focusing on the complex interplay of micro-level institutional logics and organizational routines. The theoretical basis of the dissertation is formed by neo-institutional theory (Meyer & Rowan, 1977; DiMaggio & Powell, 1983) and its institutional logic perspective (Friedland & Alford, 1991; Thornton, Ocasio & Lounsbury, 2012). This theory conceives society as comprised of diverse institutions with corresponding institutional logics at the meso- (organization) and the micro-level (individuals). How exactly these corresponding levels of institutional logics are formed remains in large parts obscure. Drawing on the work by Schedler & Rüegg-Stürm (2014) and Feldman & Pentland (Feldman & Pentland, 2003; Pentland & Feldman, 2005) the dissertation proposes to understand rationalities as ostensive aspect of organizational routines. Building on this premise, the research aims at better understanding how exactly rationalities create and shape organizational routines.