Path dependence, initial conditions, and routines in organizations: The Toyota production system re‐examined

The purpose of this paper is to disentangle and elaborate on the constitutive elements of the concept of path dependence (initial conditions and lock-in) for a concerted and in-depth application to the study of organizational change. The approach takes the form of a combination of a longitudinal and...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of organizational change management 2009-01, Vol.22 (1), p.49-72
Main Authors: van Driel, Hugo, Dolfsma, Wilfred
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alliances
Automobile industry
Critical path
Manufacturing
Organizational change
Production management
Production methods
Studies
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Summary:The purpose of this paper is to disentangle and elaborate on the constitutive elements of the concept of path dependence (initial conditions and lock-in) for a concerted and in-depth application to the study of organizational change. The approach takes the form of a combination of a longitudinal and a comparative case-study, based on secondary literature. External initial conditions acted less as "imprinting" forces than is suggested in the literature on the genesis of the Toyota production system (TPS); a firm-specific philosophy in combination with a critical sequence of events mainly shaped and locked-in TPS. The empirical sources are limited to publications in English, so relevant factors explaining the path taken may not all have been included. The importance of a salient meta-routine might be firm-specific. The study contributes to understanding the factors underlying corporate performance by a critical re-examination of a much heralded production system (TPS). The paper highlights the use of the concept of meta-routines to connect the core elements of path dependence, that is, sensitivity to initial conditions and lock-in mechanisms. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0953-4814
1758-7816
DOI:10.1108/09534810910933906