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Chapter 36 - Path Dependence and Routine Dynamics

from Part IV - Related Communities of Thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 December 2021

Martha S. Feldman
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Brian T. Pentland
Affiliation:
Michigan State University
Luciana D'Adderio
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Katharina Dittrich
Affiliation:
University of Warwick
Claus Rerup
Affiliation:
Frankfurt School of Finance and Management
David Seidl
Affiliation:
University of Zurich
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Summary

Over time, organizational routines are likely to become persistent or even path-dependent. Such a process is obviously influenced by the degree of routinization; by the complexity, inter¬dependency and complementarity of routines; and also by their embeddedness in (inter-)organizational structures and practices. However, the acknowledgement of the tendency of routines to become path-dependent also depends on the theoretical lens used to examine them. Under the conditions mentioned, the classic view attributes a high likelihood of routines to become path-dependent – and thereby become a source of inertia or persistence, if not of the path dependence of a subunit or entire organization. The more recent view of routine dynamics, by contrast, requires a more nuanced reasoning. Against the background of this debate, the chapter discusses what routine dynamics research can learn from studies of organizational path dependence – and vice versa.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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