Speaker: Sandro Franzoi

Abstract: Information technologies are often introduced to improve organizational routines, yet IT-based changes can trigger unexpected and unintended routine dynamics. We address the question of how, why, and when such unintended dynamics emerge by developing a role-based explanation for routine change after IT interventions. Drawing on computationally-intensive theorizing and sequence analysis, we analyzed a longitudinal dataset tracing a customer onboarding routine in a financial institution over a two-year period during which several IT-based changes were implemented via a low-code platform. Our findings show that actors’ role enactments shape routine dynamics through two mechanisms: intra-role mechanisms, where actors fix and explore action patterns within role boundaries, and inter-role mechanisms, where actors prioritize and reassure actions across roles. By linking actors’ role-based behaviors to the emergence of unintended routine dynamics, we contribute to research on routines and IT-based change by integrating role-centered and action-centered perspectives on routine dynamics.

Short Bio: Sandro Franzoi is a research assistant at the Chair of Information Systems and Business Process Management at the University of Münster. His research explores the dynamics of business processes and organizational routines by leveraging computational methods such as process mining. In particular, he studies how large amounts of digital trace data and the associated behavioral visibility can be leveraged to better understand organizations and their business processes.