{"id":42473,"date":"2021-10-20T09:25:02","date_gmt":"2021-10-20T13:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/?post_type=emagazine&p=42473"},"modified":"2022-07-27T07:31:21","modified_gmt":"2022-07-27T11:31:21","slug":"path-dependence-business-innovation","status":"publish","type":"emagazine","link":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/path-dependence-business-innovation\/42473\/","title":{"rendered":"How business can innovate better by escaping ‘path dependence’"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s an elaborate story how railway track spacing (and so, the space shuttle rocket boosters) ended up 4 feet 8 1\u20442 inches or 1.44 meters: Mind-bogglingly, the measurement goes back to the width of carriage wheels when pulled by two horses<\/a>. And unlike many similar stories, it seems more fact than fiction.<\/p>\n

Data engineer and Associate Professor of English at University of Michigan, Tung-Hui Hu,<\/a> points out this phenomenon \u2013 new infrastructure tending to follow the path of older infrastructure when its relevance is long past \u2013 in recent Tomorrow Unlocked audio series Fast Forward<\/a>. The phenomenon is called path dependence or path tendency. He studied it in writing his book, A Prehistory of the Cloud<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hu says in Fast Forward, \u201cI first noticed the tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad were where they ran fiber optic cable. It made me wonder what precursors to the Cloud \u2013 what older networks \u2013 might exist. The highway system in Chicago, for instance, is built on top of old Native American trails. We have the same choke points, in terms of traffic, as we did 100 years ago. It\u2019s hard to run a cable through a mountain. We tend to land cables in the same places as they did in the 19th century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every tech business today wants to be a disruptive innovator<\/a> like Uber or AirBnB \u2013 inventing products that don\u2019t just improve what\u2019s already there, but fundamentally change how a market operates. Examining how your business is \u2018path dependent\u2019 \u2013 or follows practices no longer relevant or necessary \u2013 could open the door to disruptive ideas.<\/p>\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Learn tech's future from its past<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Innovation success<\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

What we can learn about innovation from the audiocassette.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\tRead article<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/article>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\n

What keyboards say about path dependence in tech<\/h2>\n
\"path

Art by Getty Images<\/p><\/div>\n

The pattern of keys on the standard laptop, computer and even smartphone is a classic example of path dependence. The layout is called QWERTY after the first six letters on the top line of the English-language keyboard. But why are the letters in this strange order?<\/p>\n

QWERTY keyboard layouts were designed for the earliest typewriters in the 1870s<\/a> to address a common problem: Mechanical letter levers close to each other would collide and jam.<\/p>\n

By placing often-typed-together letters further apart, QWERTY meant typewriters jammed less often. You might have only seen typewriters in museums or historical dramas, but you see their \u2018path dependent\u2019 form daily.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Many have tried to design alternatives to QWERTY that could be faster to learn and use. The Dvorak<\/a> keyboard layout puts the most often used letters on the home keys, but whether it\u2019s faster, research is unclear.<\/p>\n

Dvorak, invented in the 1930s, didn\u2019t intend to \u2018disrupt\u2019 typing but make it faster and easier. Today, we see features like voice recognition disrupting writing itself, and with AI widely used to predict what people will want next, we may need to communicate our needs less in future.<\/p>\n

How do organizations stay nimble, notice and adapt to emerging trends, or even get ahead of them? No business wants to be the next Borders, Blockbuster or Polaroid<\/a>, but it\u2019s not always clear how what patterns we have or how to break out of them. Research in the field of path dependence offers insight.<\/p>\n

Using self-reinforcing mechanisms as a way to change<\/h2>\n

In the journal Business Research in 2020, Johann Fortwengel and Arne Keller ask, how can locked-in organizations regain their scope for maneuver<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Past research suggests organizations usually escape path dependence thanks to external \u2018shocks,\u2019 like tough competition entering their market or the price of certain materials becoming uneconomic. But Fortwengel and Keller found \u201csome organizations succeed in escaping from path dependence against all odds.\u201d Where organizations took time to understand how they were path dependent, and interrupt the ways the path reinforced itself (for example, in staff onboarding,) businesses could undo old paths and build new ones.<\/p>\n

One organization Fortwengel and Arne studied, 150-year-old German camera makers CameraCorp, had been a roaring success in the 20th century. \u201cEmployees gradually followed the informal principle to treat optical excellence and mechanical accuracy as the fundamental basis for decision-making, and adopted it as the ultimate priority in every aspect of their daily work.\u201d When in the mid-90s the Head of Electronics wanted to introduce new electrical features to the lens, he encountered much resistance because the solution was neither optical nor mechanical. The company became \u2018tapered\u2019 in its audience appeal, catering increasingly to the needs of the camera elite and ignoring wider market trends.<\/p>\n

When the digital photographic revolution hit in the late 90s, CameraCorp realized they couldn\u2019t go on building their business purely on past strengths. They established a structurally separate research-based digital imaging group. Although the group made several breakthroughs, staff in the wider organization didn\u2019t embrace the promise of change.<\/p>\n

It took an external investor to spearhead the shift by championing parts of the organization long sidelined and resetting work processes and priorities, dismantling the business\u2019s usual paths. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

CameraCorp could then make bold leaps to become a market leader in digital camera tech, whereas several big players in the camera and film market didn\u2019t adapt fast enough to survive<\/a> the industry\u2019s digital transformation.<\/p>\n

Fortwengel and Keller stress the need to understand how paths are reinforcing themselves. \u201cSelf-reinforcing mechanisms play a complex role in path dependence. On the one hand, they are the key driver of path dependence, on the other hand, paradoxically, they offer a possible lever to escape path dependence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making knowledge less sticky<\/h2>\n

In the Oxford University Press-published Strategic Management: State of the Field and Its Future<\/a>, researchers Henk Volberda, Tatjana Schneidmuller and Taghi Zadeh point to the role of managerial knowledge and strategy in escaping path dependence and achieving innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowledge stickiness\u201d describes the tendency of organizations \u2013 even within research and development \u2013 to rely on existing knowledge rather than seeking new. The three researchers propose triggers for organizations breaking out of their knowledge cycle: Diverse audiences, regulation and regulators, internal strategic misalignment and the strategist\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

Many would understand more diverse audiences can trigger organizations to change, but regulation is often assumed to harm innovation. The researchers argue history shows regulation often spurs innovation, so organizations might consider \u2018leaning in\u2019 to regulation, considering it an opportunity<\/a> rather than a pain in the neck.<\/p>\n

They also propose innovation benefits when different parts of an organization are pulling in different directions. \u201cOrganizations can thrive by embracing misalignment between internal components and promoting inconsistent mentalities and structures.\u201d Misalignment could make organizations more flexible and adaptive. \u201cFirms that can embrace misalignment can steer a path through their technological developments when they do not have a clear view of what the future might hold. They can accommodate differing views of the future among their managers.\u201d<\/p>\n

CameraCorp\u2019s story shows how businesses that become too focused on narrow goals become path dependent. It follows that being strategically diverse, or in other words a bit scattered, could be an advantage.<\/p>\n

All businesses want to innovate, but success is often followed by getting stuck on the same path that led you there. Studies in path dependence give insight on how organizations get stuck and how they can free themselves. When organizations fall victim to their own success, breaking patterns means undoing before building new. How will you start to break down your business\u2019s path dependence, allowing disruptive ideas into the light?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beyond just making new things better, tech businesses must break out of \u2018path dependence\u2019 and go on a whole new journey.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2552,"featured_media":42542,"template":"","coauthors":[3673],"class_list":{"0":"post-42473","1":"emagazine","2":"type-emagazine","3":"status-publish","4":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"emagazine-category-future-tech","7":"emagazine-category-leadership"},"hreflang":[{"hreflang":"x-default","url":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/path-dependence-business-innovation\/42473\/"},{"hreflang":"en-us","url":"https:\/\/usa.kaspersky.com\/blog\/secure-futures-magazine\/path-dependence-business-innovation\/25592\/"}],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/emagazine\/42473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/emagazine"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/emagazine"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2552"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kaspersky.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=42473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}