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Locking in and Unlocking — Adding to Path Dependence

In: Self-Reinforcing Processes in and among Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Mona Ericson
  • Rolf A. Lundin

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to direct attention to situations that instigate unlocking a path by spotlighting strategic and organizational contexts. It draws on three empirical examples. The first illustrates unlocking, combining locking in through myth with unlocking through “ghost myth”. In the second and third, the focus is on history as continuously re-presented and re-constructed through the actions taken by individual organizational members. Although contemporary research on path dependence underlines the fact that the notion of path dependence is highly relevant to strategic and organizational settings, it is also relevant to ask if a path can be dissolved or escaped, as Sydow, Schreyögg, and Koch (2009) point out. Therefore, an attempt is made to elaborate on the theoretical implications of adding unlocking to a theory of path dependence that opens up to unlocking through an emphasis on individuals, their actions, interpretations, and relations to group and organizational levels of analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Mona Ericson & Rolf A. Lundin, 2013. "Locking in and Unlocking — Adding to Path Dependence," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Jörg Sydow & Georg Schreyögg (ed.), Self-Reinforcing Processes in and among Organizations, chapter 10, pages 185-203, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-39283-0_10
    DOI: 10.1057/9780230392830_10
    as

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