Notion Of Path Dependence Research Articles

How history matters in organisations: The case of path dependence

The quest to consider the historical side of managerial and organisational action has become increasingly accepted. An open question still is how this can be achieved systematically. In this paper we refer to the theory of organisational path dependence as an interesting candidate to fill this gap. The problem with the notion of path dependence is, however, that while being much quoted, its actual meaning and logic have remained vague and ambiguous. In order to provide a clear template for the consideration of historical relations and how they impact on present and future developments, we present a comprehensive theoretical framework clarifying how organisations become path-dependent. The process of an organisation – or some of its subsystems – becoming path-dependent is conceptualised along three distinct stages: preformation, formation and lock-in phase. A case from the German publishing industry is used to demonstrate the potential explanatory power of this processual framework. The case study focuses on a book club that has, after years of huge success, persistently suffered a decline and losses for more than 10 years. Reasons are given for why and how this book club has become path-dependent and, finally, locked-in.

Exploring the Origins of Organizational Paths: Empirical Evidence From Newly Founded Firms

The notion of path dependence in organizational processes has intrigued scholars for several decades. Yet, while extant studies provide rich insights on the factors that cause persistence in organizational paths, research that explores the origins of organizational paths remains scant. Analyzing data collected from 446 firm founders, the author investigates the creation of product—market paths in new firms. The analysis reveals systematic relationships between key pre-entry human capital endowments of founders and the consideration of alternative solutions in path creation, thereby helping us to better explain, and predict, organizational path creation. Implications for the organizational and entrepreneurship literatures are discussed.

Path Dependence, Agency and Technological Evolution

The notion of path dependence is regularly deployed to account for the way past commitments have an important bearing on current choices. We make a distinction between the notions of past and path dependence and focus on path dependence as two types of event sequences: selfreinforcing and reactive. We then address the issue of how the notion of path dependence can be reconciled with a temporal-relational perspective on agency. These notions are tested and refined using a longitudinal case study of ICI's move away from chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and the decision to build three plants to produce one CFC alternative (HFC-134a) for the global refrigeration market. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of path dependence for research on technological and firm evolution.