Path Dependence of Power Relations, Path-Breaking Change and Technological Adaptation

2011

We study the path dependence of technological systems and power relations inside companies. While the existing literature suggests power relations and technology to be path dependent and influenced by each other, interactions across these evolutionary processes remain poorly understood. We studied the history of four retail firms over 40 years, applying event structure analysis to explicate key dynamics. Companies exhibited two episodes of converging path dependency, where power relations further increased technological inertia. In each case, power initially concentrated outside the central headquarters. Path-breaking change led all firms to centralize power and implement networked IT syste…