The Theory of the Firm Revisited from a Power Perspective

Abstract:     
In this article, I defend that since power is a strong vehicle of cooperation both within and between firms, organizational economists, who often reject power from their analysis, have to reconsider this concept for analyzing the intra- and inter-organizational cooperation. To do it, I use the lens of the (network-) firm. First of all, some insights are proposed on both the way organizational scholarship deals with the notion of power and the methodological requirements this notion needs. Then, it is argued that power represents the methodological key needed by organizational economists to analyze the emergence of intra-firm cooperation and collective social identity. Lastly, the focus is on inter-firm cooperation processes in order to compare intra- and inter-organizational power and to describe the cohesive role of power in the genesis of the network-firm.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 33

Keywords: theory of the firm, organization theory, power, authority, network-firm, cooperation

JEL Classification: A12, B40, K00, L20

working papers series