A perspective on path dependence processes: the role of knowledge integration in business model persistence dynamics in the provincial press in England

This paper examines why strategy innovation is rare in the regional news industry. It integrates the knowledge-based view of a firm, path-dependence theoretical perspective and the field of business model studies to interpret the historic emergence, formation, and current lock-in of legacy regional newspapers. The historic case of the provincial press in England is analysed to consider how, in an industrial context of relative simplicity and certainty, path-dependent formation processes are led by knowledge integration mechanisms.