From Paths to Patterning: Improvisations and Routine Dynamics

Taking a process perspective, the authors observed that some improvisations lead to altered patterns in organizational routines, while other improvisations fade. Key to this discovery is the concept of routine paths, which suggests that improvisation can play a significant role in routine dynamics over time, particularly in relation to organizational change. Examining improvisation before, during, and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, our longitudinal study traces the uptake of the Chinese social media platform WeChat at an Australian university. Staff improvised discreetly with WeChat to enact their communication routines in the years leading up to 2020 and then improvised openly after the onset of the crisis. The study explains how improvisation drove some situated actions to expand paths and led to patterning, which gradually redefined and reorganized how the university communicated with its students from China.