Technological opportunities and their rejection: A process perspective on organizational lock-in

In this chapter, we add to the contemporary debate on path dependence in the management literature by examining how the scope of action evolves in lock-ins. For this purpose, we draw on qualitative data of the German newspaper industry from 1995 to date. Our study indicates that the scope of action in lock-ins continuously changes as new technological opportunities emerge and disappear. Our results also suggest that path-dependent firms have windows of opportunity available that remain unexploited due to cognitive and normative barriers. Furthermore, our empirical evidence indicates that although windows of opportunity may temporarily close, the scope of action reopens when further technological opportunities emerge. Our study contributes to a better understanding of lock-ins as an underresearched phase of path dependence, provides a more comprehensive process understanding for the inability of path-dependent firms to exploit technological opportunities, and offers practical implications on how path-dependent firms may leave their path.