I wonder how we could operationalize everyday organizational practices

Speaker(s):

Iikka Meriläinen, University of Oulu

Abstract:

This session explores how abstract concepts of everyday organisational practices, drawing on Schatzki and Reckwitz, can be translated into measurable and comparable entities. It considers the challenge of moving from descriptions of routines, embodied know-how, and material arrangements to a level of systematicity that allows for benchmarking practices across different organisations. The talk outlines potential approaches such as ethnographic observation, process mapping and other mixed-methods setups, that could systematically capture the frequency, sequence and material context of practices to be operationalised. The session aims to open a discussion on which methods might best illuminate such routine actions in a way that is sufficiently objective for comparative examination. Ideally, participants’ practical experiences and ideas will enrich the session and contribute to methodological development during the interregnum.