Transformation of the Danish Wind Turbine Industry Through Path Creation

A path creation lens is employed to understand how wind power from turbines has become a dominant energy source in Denmark. In Denmark, supplier competencies, regulations, science and research-based knowledge, concerned policymakers, citizen groups, users, and a market for wind energy did not exist; these all emerged through a continual learning process, which involved interactions between multiple actors who imagined a future different from what existed. The process was not an orderly linear one, as emergent contingencies influenced the learning processes, gradually transforming expectations and interests of both supporting and opposing stakeholders.</p

Path Dependence or Path Creation?

We discuss the assumptions that underlie path dependence, as defined by Vergne and Durand, and then provide the outlines of an alternative perspective which we label as path creation. Path creation entertains a notion of agency that is distributed and emergent through relational processes that constitute phenomena. Viewed from this perspective, 'initial conditions' are not given, 'contingencies' are emergent contexts for action, 'self-reinforcing mechanisms' are strategically manipulated, and 'lock-in' is but a temporary stabilization of paths in-the-making. We develop these points using a narrative approach and highlight the theoretical and methodological implications of our perspective. Copyright (c) 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation (c) 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and Society for the Advancement of Management Studies.

Constructing Transition Paths through the Management of Niches

no abstrac