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The Theory of the Firm is commonly viewed as axiomatic by business school academicians. Considerations in spanning organizational structures, their boundaries and roles, as well as business strategies all relate to the Theory of the Firm. The dominant Theory of the Firm poses that markets act perfectly to maximize the well- being of society when people act to maximize the personal utility of their individual purchases and firms act to maximize financial returns to their owners.
However, burgeoning evidence and discourse across the scientific and policy communities suggests that the economic, social, and environmental consequences of accepting and applying this theory in the organization of business and society threaten the survival of the human species, among countless others. This book provides the latest thinking on alternatives to the Theory of the Firm as cornerstone of managerial decision-making. Authors explore and elucidate theories that help us understand a firm differently and suggest alternatives to the Theory of the Firm.
This book will be of value to researchers, academics, practitioners, and students interested in leadership, strategic management, and the intersection of corporate interests and the well-being of the society.
List of contents
Introduction: Alternatives Theories of the Firm Michael Pirson, Erica Steckler, and David Wasieleski 1. From the Theory of the Firm to a Theory of the Community David Korten 2. A Note on Alternative "Theories of the Firm" J.-C. Spender 3. A Rightholding Perspective on the Firm and Principled Governance: 10 Memos Anna Grandori 4. Theories of the Firm: The Logic of Multiple Criteria for Assessing Outcomes Duane Windsor 5. Qualitative Growth: An Alternative to Solely Quantitatively-Oriented Theories of Firm Growth Dietmar Sternad and Gernot Mödritscher 6. What Are Corporations for?: Contemporary Capitalism, Authority, and a Communicative Theory of the Firm Timothy Kuhn 7. Toward a "We"-Mode Team Production Theory of the Firm: A Confucian Approach Alan Strudler, Matthew Caulfield and Tae Wan Kim 8. Strengthening Theory through Isolation and Subsequent Confrontation: The Case of French Convention Theory Abdul A. Rasheed, Richard L. Priem and Anne-Catherine Provost 9. What It Means to be Truly Human in Organizations: Martin Buber's Concept of I-Thou Relations Ulrich Leicht-Deobald, Lyndon E. Garrett and Lloyd E. Sandelands 10. Business for Peace: A New Paradigm for the Theory of the Firm Tilman Bauer 11. Lessons from Indigenous Social Enterprises: An Alternative Management Model? Mario Vázquez Maguirre 12. Toward a Humanistic Theory of the Firm: An Analysis of the Mondragon-Based Participative Model Ricardo Aguado, José Luis Retolaza and Josune Baniandrés 13. How Human and Organizational Relationships can be Explained by Natural Science Shann Turnbull 14. Capitalism as a Continuum: A Bioinspired Narrative Framework to Assess Four Functions of the Firm Elizabeth Castillo Index
About the author
Michael Pirson is William Loschert Professor of Management, Global Sustainability, and Social Entrepreneurship at Fordham University and Research Fellow at Harvard University, United States.
David M. Wasieleski is Albert P. Viragh Professor of Business Ethics in the Palumbo- Donahue School of Business and Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics in Business at Duquesne University, United States.
Erica L. Steckler is Associate Professor of Management and Co- Director of the Donahue Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility in the Manning School of Business at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, United States.
Summary
The Theory of the Firm is commonly viewed as axiomatic by business school academicians. Considerations spanning organizational structures, their boundaries and roles, as well as business strategies all relate to the theory of the firm.
