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

• 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
• ISSN: 0953-4814; 1758-7816
• DOI: 10.1108/09534810910933906

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]