Organizational path dependence is a staged process of critical juncture, self-reinforcing feedback, and lock-in.

Evidence

A detailed conception of organizational path dependence has much to offer when we are aiming to solve the puzzle of how organizations become locked in and adhere contraintuitively to historical solutions. To this end, we have defined organizational path dependence as a process that (1) is triggered by a critical event leading to a critical juncture; (2) is governed by a regime of positive, self-reinforcing feedback constituting a specific pattern of social practices, which gains more and more predominance against alternatives; and (3) leads, at least potentially, into an organizational lock-in, understood as a corridor of limited scope of action that is strategically inefficient. — Jörg Sydow, Georg Schreyögg, and Jochen Koch, Organizational Path Dependence, 119

Categorization

• DEFINE: Three-part technical definition of organizational path dependence as critical juncture, self-reinforcing feedback regime, and potential lock-in corridor.