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true in the hard sciences, but it is without any doubt true in the
social sciences of business organization and politics.

 Path Dependence: The upward and downward causation
process is path dependent. In the context ‘history’ being the
decisions of prior generations set the stage for the current

generation who bequeath the starting point to future
generations. Inside business systems, the choices of prior leaders
(say) set the starting point for the current leadership, which sets
the stage for future leaders. Such path dependence is nonlinear

such that it is difficult or impossible to predict outcomes. This
path dependence generates inertia in an organization and society
so that ‘culture’ for example is extremely persistent in the

context and inside organizations that sit in slow adapting
contexts.
 Power! Over time the outcomes of the up-down interaction say
between integrative levels in the context lead to formalization

such as government structure. This structure becomes the
vehicle by which power is wielded and is ‘acceptable’ to the
populace. However, structure and the enforcement of ‘laws’ is

subject to corruption or take-over. Inside bounded systems such
as firms, formalization occurs very early under isomorphic
pressure’ formal command relationships are how things are

done! The interaction of upward and downward causation and
its relationship to the formal structure is the heart of academic
studies of organizational behavior, organizational design and
culture formation.

The ‘Emergence’ of Culture

In thids Guide, culture is deemed to be the primary expression of the
upward –downward interaction for business people.

Culture is the macro-level construct that embodies the sum of the
behaviors and ‘way things are done’ inside the context or business
system. Cultures are typically understood in terms of their norms of

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