1,720,961 research outputs found
Transaction cost theory and management consulting: Why do management consultants exist?
Get PDFThe paper sheds light on two questions, using transaction cost theory: 1) Why do management consultants exist, and 2) why do they organize in independent firms. The paper also contains a history of the management consulting industry.transaction cost theory, management consulting
Bureaucratic limits of firm size: Academic summary
Get PDFThe research tests Oliver Williamson’s proposition that transaction cost economics can explain the limits of firm size. Williamson suggests that diseconomies of scale are manifested through four interrelated factors: atmospheric consequences due to specialisation, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits of the employment relation and communication distortion due to bounded rationality. Furthermore, Williamson argues that diseconomies of scale are counteracted by economies of scale and can be moderated by adoption of the multidivisional organisation form and by high internal asset specificity. Combined, these influences tend to cancel out and thus there is not a strong, directly observable, relationship between a large firm’s size and performance. A review of the relevant literature, including transaction cost economics, sociological studies of bureaucracy, information-processing perspectives on the firm, agency theory, and studies of incentives and motivation within firms, as well as empirical studies of trends in firm size and industry concentration, corroborates Williamson’s theoretical framework and translates it into five hypotheses: (1) Bureaucratic failure, in the form of atmospheric consequences, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits and communication distortion, increases with firm size; (2) Large firms exhibit economies of scale; (3) Diseconomies of scale from bureaucratic failure have a negative impact on firm performance; (4) Economies of scale increase the relative profitability of large firms over smaller firms; and (5) Diseconomies of scale are moderated by two transaction cost-related factors: organisation form and asset specificity. The hypotheses are tested by applying structural equation models to primary and secondary cross-sectional data from 784 large U.S. manufacturing firms. The statistical analyses confirm the hypotheses. Thus, diseconomies of scale influence the growth and profitability of firms negatively, while economies of scale and the moderating factors have positive influences. This implies that executives and directors of large firms should pay attention to bureaucratic failure.bureaucratic failure, diseconomies of scale, transaction cost economics
Diseconomies of scale in large corporations: Theory and empirical analysis
Get PDFManagerial diseconomies of scale are often discussed but seldom studied. The purpose of the current research is to open up avenues of inquiry into this potentially important topic. The research tests whether diseconomies of scale influence corporate performance. It uses Coasian transaction cost economics and Williamson’s thinking on the nature of diseconomies of scale and the limits of firm size (Williamson 1975, 1985; Riordan and Williamson 1985) to develop a theoretical framework for describing diseconomies of scale, economies of scale, and moderating factors. It validates the framework against the relevant literature and translates it into five hypotheses. The hypotheses are tested in structural equation models against the 784 largest firms in the U.S. manufacturing sector in 1998. The findings are consistent with Williamson’s limits-of-firm-size framework. -------------------------- This working paper is not for the faint of heart. It is 151 pages long and contains a fiendish statistical analysis. However, the research has been widely praised. For example, Dr. Robert Axtell of the Brookings Institution wrote: "First, I find it a very nice monograph and this is not just because the subject interests me. Your literature review is thorough, the statistical methodology is appropriate, and the results are clean and important. Second, I think you have significantly pushed the frontier of testing 'transaction cost' ideas. Adherents of that school will be in your debt. Third, and most specifically, I think your analysis of the U-shaped neoclassical cost function is excellent, and gives away your experience beyond academic economics--it takes a practitioner to debunk propositions that are empirically false, although logically compelling. My mentor, Herbert Simon, would have approved. Congratulations on a very strong piece of work!" Also, the research won first prize in the EDAMBA (European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management and Business Administration) competition for best European doctoral dissertation in 2002.bureaucratic failure, diseconomies of scale, transaction cost economics
Managerial diseconomies of scale: Literature survey and hypotheses anchored in transaction cost economics
Get PDFThis working paper tests Oliver Williamson’s proposition that transaction cost economics can explain the limits of firm size. A review of the relevant literature corroborates Williamson’s theoretical framework and five hypotheses are formulated: (1) Bureaucratic failure, in the form of atmospheric consequences, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits and communication distortion, increases with firm size; (2) Large firms exhibit economies of scale; (3) Diseconomies of scale from bureaucratic failure have a negative impact on firm performance; (4) Economies of scale increase the relative profitability of large firms over smaller firms; and (5) Diseconomies of scale are moderated by two transaction cost-related factors: organisation form and asset specificity. (The working paper is the foundation for the doctoral thesis “Bureaucratic Limits of Firm Size: Empirical Analysis Using Transaction Cost Economics” (Canback 2002) available at http://canback.com/henley.htm, the British Library, and UMI. The thesis contains a full statistical analysis of the hypotheses described in this paper, based on a sample of 784 U.S. manufacturing firms.)transaction cost economics, diseconomies of scale, bureaucratic failure
Bureaucratic limits of firm size: Practitioner's summary
Get PDFThe research tests Oliver Williamson’s proposition that transaction cost economics can explain the limits of firm size. Williamson suggests that diseconomies of scale are manifested through four interrelated factors: atmospheric consequences due to specialisation, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits of the employment relation and communication distortion due to bounded rationality. Furthermore, Williamson argues that diseconomies of scale are counteracted by economies of scale and can be moderated by adoption of the multidivisional organisation form and by high internal asset specificity. Combined, these influences tend to cancel out and thus there is not a strong, directly observable, relationship between a large firm’s size and performance. A review of the relevant literature, including transaction cost economics, sociological studies of bureaucracy, information-processing perspectives on the firm, agency theory, and studies of incentives and motivation within firms, as well as empirical studies of trends in firm size and industry concentration, corroborates Williamson’s theoretical framework and translates it into five hypotheses: (1) Bureaucratic failure, in the form of atmospheric consequences, bureaucratic insularity, incentive limits and communication distortion, increases with firm size; (2) Large firms exhibit economies of scale; (3) Diseconomies of scale from bureaucratic failure have a negative impact on firm performance; (4) Economies of scale increase the relative profitability of large firms over smaller firms; and (5) Diseconomies of scale are moderated by two transaction cost-related factors: organisation form and asset specificity. The hypotheses are tested by applying structural equation models to primary and secondary cross-sectional data from 784 large U.S. manufacturing firms. The statistical analyses confirm the hypotheses. Thus, diseconomies of scale influence the growth and profitability of firms negatively, while economies of scale and the moderating factors have positive influences. This implies that executives and directors of large firms should pay attention to bureaucratic failure.bureaucratic failure, diseconomies of scale, transaction cost economics
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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