How Interorganizational Networks Can Become Path-Dependent: Bargaining Practices in the Photonics Industry

We investigate whether and how path dependence can develop in interorganizational networks. We focus our analysis on one particular type of network management practices–bargaining practices, which we define as recurrent activities through which network partners agree to identify and distribute their cooperative surplus. We conduct three empirical case studies of regional networks in the photonics industry, using qualitative interviews and content analysis. A major finding is that network bargaining practices can indeed exhibit interorganizational path dependencies. This paper contributes by operationalizing the theory of organizational path dependence and by extending this theory to parsimoniously explain the dynamics of networks.

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