Inert organizational practices become visible mainly during radical change

Evidence

Discovering such structural or institutional inertia allows the researcher to assert path dependence. Because the logic of hyperstability is often hidden, inert practices are easier to uncover or make visible in situations of radical change (e.g., Tushman, Newman, & Romanelli, 1986). However, organizational paths can also surface in incremental or even creeping change processes. In any case, the contrafactual maintenance of a specific pattern is an indicator of a path-induced, potentially inefficient organizational lock-in. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 114

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the core analytic move of path analysis: asserting path dependence requires first surfacing structural or institutional inertia.
• XREF: Connects to path-dependence literature (David, Arthur) and to organizational-change scholarship like Tushman, Newman & Romanelli on punctuated equilibrium.