How the Past Matters For Organizations

To understand historical influences on organizations more systematically, we decompose organizations’ past into two distinct stages—junctures and processual periods. We refer to junctures as relatively short periods when organizations develop certain structures and routines, which in turn have a lasting influence. We then define processual periods as longer and more stable periods, and that processes then may strengthen, preserve, or weaken those structures and routines and thus the resulting past influence formed in prior junctures. We provide a framework to identify these elements, elaborating six ideal types of past influence—cohort effects, imprinting, imprinting decay, increasing-return path dependence, stable path dependence, and dissipation—with underlying processes and exemplar phenomena. Overall, our research contributes to a more comprehensive and cumulative understanding of how the past matters for organizations. Our study also clarifies confusion over different perspectives in the prior literature, sheds light on practical implications of managing the past, and connects and extends theories in this area.