Path nets: Concurrence and recurrence in the dynamics of organizing

• Main Authors: PENTLAND, Brian T., KREMSER, Waldemar, GOH, Kenneth T.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2025
• Subjects: Temporal structuring; Organizing dynamics; Path nets; Organizational Behavior and Theory
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/7651; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/8650/viewcontent/PathNets_pv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This article proposes a link between temporal structuring and the dynamics of organizing that is manifest in a fabric of concurrent paths that we call a path net. Path nets are shaped by mechanisms of temporal structuring, such as entrainment, planning, agency, and chance. Path nets materialize the effects of temporal structuring “here” and “now” in the comings and goings of actors and resources, thereby setting the stage for doings and sayings of situated practice and shaping the dynamics of organizing. Path nets offer a parsimonious system of picturing the complexity of organizing that is built on a processual ontology of paths and events. Through the lens of the path net, we can picture temporal structuring as a motor for organizing that drives recurrence without assuming stability or change. Comings and goings are readily observable, so path nets open new directions for empirical research on temporality and the dynamics of organizing.