Based on the “dual network” ecology of subsidiaries, combing three levels: management, institution, and resources, and adopting the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis method (fsQCA), this study explores the configurational effects of control mechanism (contract control, trust control), institutional isomorphism (coercive isomorphism, normative isomorphism, imitative isomorphism) and network embeddedness (internal embeddedness, external embeddedness) on the organizational routine updating of subsidiaries. We have found that there are three driving mechanisms that can achieve high organizational routine updating in subsidiaries, and they have a systematic matching relationship with the life cycle stage of the subsidiaries: First, the strong control-driven type, where the parent company directly dominates the routine updating of the subsidiary through contract control or trust control, suitable for subsidiaries in the start-up stage; second, the network-enabled type, where the subsidiary’s routine updating are driven by obtaining key resources through internal and external networks, suitable for subsidiaries in the growth stage; third, the dualistic synergy type, where organizational vitality and member identification are directly and indirectly stimulated through multi-element synergy to efficiently complete the routine updating, suitable for subsidiaries in the mature stage. This research reveals that the routine updating of subsidiaries exhibit a “configuration - life cycle” co-evolution mechanism, presenting dynamic transition paths under different life cycles, which provides theoretical basis and practical reference for the differentiated growth of subsidiaries and the phased governance of groups.