THE MULTIPLICITY OF PATHS TO SUSTAINABILITY, GRAND CHALLENGES AND ROUTINE CHANGES: THE LONG ROAD FOR BORDEAUX WINEMAKERS

Overview & Synopsis

We explore potential changes to the organizational routines of Bordeaux winemakers faced with the need to reduce their use of pesticides – one of the grand challenges for agriculture. A routine dynamics lens suggests that the goal of sustainability can be achieved through various paths. The uncertainties related to reducing use of chemical pesticides to encourage ecological biodiversity have resulted in efforts by viticulturalists, winemakers and policy makers to find local solutions. Our results reveal a three-layered process of patterning and creating new routines. Our empirical findings contribute to theoretical work on routine dynamics and grand challenges. We show that there are several potential solutions to environmental problems based on new patterns and demonstrate that reflection is a major structural enabler of changes. Our research explores the ontological multiplicity of routines in the journey to achieving sustainability and the role of policy making in this process.