分工、协调和企业组织若干基本理论问题

企业是一个人格化的通过分工、协作与协调实现生产的实体组织,它是生产性与组织性的统一。企业起源与发展的动力起初可能来源于生存的压力,后来是追求分工经济利益的欲望,企业直接起源于社会协作的困难,其实质是在一定分工、技术和制度条件下的组织创新,作用机制是企业内的分工与协调和企业间的分工与协调之间的相互作用和相互转化;企业的边界无非就是企业组织的分化与整合。     

领导企业平台构建与我国工业园区实践——产品内分工视角

随着大型企业不断解构以及企业间跨流程整合越来越复杂,领导企业平台的地位和作用显得越发重要。本文从生产范式和交易范式两个层面,分析了多边协调功能领导企业平台的动力机制,并以产品内分工视角进行了理论解释,提出了产品内分工—企业间关系结构模型,为分析和总结中国工业园区企业间关系以及领导企业平台模式提供了理论基础。最后,指出了适合我国工业园区领导企业平台的企业间科层和企业间市场两种协调机制。     

工业化、高速经济增长与协调分工的制度安排

在工业化过程中，后起国家可以利用模仿与“学习效应”（包括技术模仿、生产组织方式模仿、管理模仿等）获得“加速的成本下降”，而“加速的成本下降”可以使后起国家的工业化进程明显快于先行国家．因而在潜质上具有更高的经济增长速度。但在工业化初期，工业体系的形成需要大量的企业互补投资，由于产业发展的不确定性极强，资本市场和市场价格难以负载未来信息．市场很难在较短的时间内协调工业化早期所必须的分工．从而产生“协调失灵”现象。东亚国家都利用了各种不同程度和方式的政府干预成功地解决分工“协调失灵”问题．因而产生了具有与发达国家不同的市场体制．但这种体制也潜藏了较大的弊病．在日后的发展过程中逐步表现出来。     

班组内的分工与整合

现代企业班组组织结构内具有两大特点:一是要把完成的整体任务分解为具体工作或者程序,由不同岗位承担,即"分工";二是在分工的基础上又要按照整体任务要求协调相关岗位或者流程,形成整体运作模式,即"整合"。"分工与整合"始终存在班组长管理的过程之中,形成班组运行机制而构成矛盾统一体。随着企业组织结构"扁平化"的发展趋势,班组组织边界不断外延将会形成区域化的管理模式,所以班组长理解班组内的"分工与整合"就显得必要了。     

后“三鹿事件”时代内蒙古乳制品市场竞争力回归与提升对策研究——一个基于分工视角的思考

如何重振内蒙古乳业,提升其乳制品市场竞争力,是"三鹿事件"后内蒙古两大乳品企业必然面临的问题.在保证足够小的内生交易费用条件下,不断地深化产品区域分工、区域内产品分工及其产业链纵向分工,是内蒙古乳制品市场竞争力得到提升的根本途径.较大比例的婴幼儿奶粉、奶酪、乳清粉等干乳制品和较小比例价值高的低温液态奶是内蒙古乳制品产品区域分工的合理选择.目前倡导的乳品企业自建牧场、"托管奶站"+"养殖小区奶户"以及"奶农合作社+奶户"原奶生产组织形式存在巨大的内生交易费用,不是促进产业链纵向分工的有效组织形式,而吸纳奶农现有奶牛建立企业化牧场才是深化产业链纵向分工的有效组织形式.     

基于专业化的供应链产品内分工研究

在生产全球化的趋势下,供应链产品的分工模式也在发生着深刻的变化,在原有纵向和横向分工的基础上,又出现了供应链产品的内分工模式.这种分工模式是专业化生产不断细化的必然结果.本文正是从这个角度出发,分析了供应链产品内分工的形成原因,并在此基础上分析了这种新型分工模式对我国产业发展的影响.     

基于组织结构扁平化的车间管理模式变革

企业组织结构理论的发展过程大致可以分为两个阶段。第一阶段,从十八世纪七十年代亚当·斯密的分工理论开始,至本世纪八十年代,这一阶段强调分工,组织结构也越来越庞大,组织形式从直线制开始,一直到事业部制,我们可称之为传统的层级化组织结构理论。第二阶段自本世纪     

产业链纵向关系与分工制度安排的选择及整合

产业发展过程中的产业链现象越来越受到关注。产业链中上下游企业之间存在着高度的分工,分工制度安排的优化与产业链稳定性有着密切的关系。产业链中分工制度安排包括:企业分工、准一体化契约分工和市场分工。成本与收益的比较是决定分工制度安排选择的主要因素,成本与收益的变化又决定了分工制度安排的进一步整合。通过实施不同的产业链纵向关系可以实现不同分工制度安排的选择与整合。     

后现代管理时代企业组织和谐变革研究

在后现代管理时代,由于企业组织变革呈现出来的新特征,使人们开始关注组织变革过程中的和谐性问题。后现代管理理论在批判现代管理学说的理性主义和普遍主义所带来的种种矛盾和冲突的过程中,饱含着鲜明的和谐思想。本文基于这种思考,提出企业组织和谐变革的主题,认为组织变革是一种追求组织和谐的过程,其目标是发展成为和谐组织,并对和谐组织的内涵和模型进行深入分析,最后就如何构建和谐组织,从组织内部和谐和组织外部和谐两方面进行了探讨。     

城市集聚经济微观机制及其超越:从劳动分工到知识分工

本文在区分集聚机制与集聚效应、劳动分工与知识分工、成本外部性与技术外部性的基础上,使用统一的分析框架解释了城市集聚经济的发生机制,特别是将知识创造、知识溢出和知识积累结合起来,分析了知识分工与技术外部性促进城市集聚经济的发生机制。知识分工通过协作机制、结构匹配机制和循环累积机制促进知识的创造和积累,交流外部性条件下技术外部性的创新集聚效应和动态累积效应实现了知识在更大空间范围内的低成本使用,二者共同促进了城市收益递增。     

模块化组织价值创新:原理、机制及理论挑战

本文借鉴瀑布效应原理，通过对需求导向下协调生产规则的演变、生产控制权追逐下旗舰企业地位的形成．以及迂回生产链加长条件下报酬递增等模块化组织价值创新机制的研究．指出企业与市场握手地带是一种专业化分工与一体化分工并存、报酬递减与报酬递增并存和外生不确定性化解与内生不确定性提高并存的双重世界。这将使企业与市场握手地带的传统企业理论因双重性而受到挑战。     

Envy,comparison costs,and the economic theory of the firm

An economic theory of the firm must explain both when firms supplant markets and when markets supplant firms. While theories of when markets fail are well developed, the extant literature provides a less than adequate explanation of why and when hierarchies fail and of actions managers take to mitigate such failure. In this article, we seek to develop a more complete theory of the firm by theorizing about the causes and consequences of organizational failure. Our theory focuses on the concept of social comparison costs that arise through social comparison processes and envy. While transaction costs in the market provide an impetus to move activities inside the boundaries of the firm, we argue that envy and resulting social comparison costs motivate moving activities outside the boundary of the firm. More specifically, our theory provides an explanation for ‘managerial’ diseconomies of both scale and scope—arguments that are independent from traditional measurement, rent seeking, and competency arguments—that provides new insights into the theory of the firm. In our theory, hierarchies fail as they expand in scale because social comparison costs imposed on firms escalate and hinder the capacity of managers to optimally structure incentives and production. Further, hierarchy fails as a firm expands in scope for the simple reason that the costs of differentially structuring compensation within the firm to match the increasing diversity of activities also rises with increasing scope. In addition, we explore how social comparison costs influence the design of the firm through selection of production technologies and compensation structures within the firm. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论企业与市场的相互融合

当代经济组织发展的新趋势是企业与市场相互融合。一方面,企业吸收市场的比较优势,在经营层次上利用市场机制替代科层机制,在战略层次上用模块协调代替行政协调,是权威和价格这两种资源配置方式的有机融合。另一方面,市场利用企业的比较优势,在管理上引入科层机制来提高交易效率和降低交易费用。总之,企业中有市场,市场中有企业,企业和市场都是一种以模块化运作为基础的网络。     

The Investment Behaviour of Firms in an Oligopolistic Setting

Industrial organization theory has identified strategic investment in capacity as an important element in competition in oligopolistic markets. In the paper we specify a model of oligopolistic investment behaviour, and test it with panel data for 114 firms in 15 narrowly defined UK manufacturing industries in the 1970s and 1980s. The industries are distinguished according to their market characteristics as fragmented, dominant firm and dominant group sectors. The results indicate behaviour which is noncooperative in fragmented sectors, cooperative in dominant group sectors and competitive in dominant firm sectors.     

Revisiting the firm,industry, and country effects on profitability under recessionary and expansion periods: A multilevel analysis

Research summary: Despite voluminous past research, the relevance of firm, industry, and country effects on profitability, particularly under adverse contexts, is still unclear. We reconcile institutional theory with the resource‐based view and industrial organization economics to investigate the effects of economic adversity, such as the 2008 global economic crisis. Using a three‐level random coefficient model, we examine 15,008 firms across 10 emerging and 10 developed countries for the 2005–2011 period. We find that firm effects become stronger under adversity, whereas industry effects become weaker, as well as country main and interaction effects, particularly among the emerging economies. These findings confirm our assumptions that the firm's own fate is, to a great extent, self‐determined; a reality that is even more pronounced during periods of extreme economic hardship. Managerial summary: In this research, we examine how generalized economic adversity affects the balance across the firm‐, industry‐, and country‐specific factors determining firm profitability. We specifically examine 15,008 firms from 10 emerging and 10 developed countries during the 2005–2011 period to investigate the effects of the 2008 global economic crisis on firm performance. We find that in such adverse conditions, the role of the industry and the country are reduced and the firm's own resources and capabilities become more pertinent for firm performance. This phenomenon is more pronounced across emerging markets. We conclude that the firm's own fate is, to a great extent, self‐determined, a reality that is markedly more evident during periods of extreme economic hardship. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the effects of authority on peer motivation: Learning from Wikipedia

Research Summary: We investigate the conditions under which authority can be deployed without reducing subordinate motivation. We show that lateral authority, the legitimacy to resolve task‐specific problems, is welcomed by members of an organization in the resolution of coordination conflicts, the more so (a) the fiercer the conflict to be resolved, (b) the higher the competence‐based status of the authority, (c) the lower the tenure of, and (d) the more focused the organizational members are. Analyzing the discussion behavior of members of Wikipedia between 2002 and 2014, we corroborate our allegations empirically by analyzing 642,916 article–discussion pages. Our findings, obtained for a modern collective production community, provide learning opportunities for how traditional organizations may want to govern activities of their idiosyncratically motivated staff. Managerial Summary: When managers use their (legitimate) power to take decisions on behalf of their staff, they risk setting back employees and making them detach from the firm. This danger is particularly salient whenever highly motivated teams of staff autonomously work on corporate problems and are used to governing themselves. Examples range from skunkwork initiatives within traditional firms to entire team‐based organizations, such as Valve or Zappos. When and how managers can add value by resolving conflicts within and across these teams once their self‐organization fails is what we study in this article. Inspired by data from Wikipedia, we suggest that managers should not intervene prematurely, benefit from visible competence, and are respected most for their actions by specialized peers who recently joined the organization.     

零售企业规模无边界的理论与实证分析--以沃尔玛为例

企业规模理论在企业战略联盟及企业网络化环境下受到质疑，学术界提出了企业无边界理论．零售企业尤其是沃尔玛的快速扩张又提出了另一种无边界理论。这是两种不同性质的无边界理论。就单个企业的边界来说．生产企业和流通企业存在本质的区别．生产企业的资产专用性和技术跳跃所带来的沉没成本制约了生产企业的规模扩张．而流通企业的资产通用性和技术稳定性使流通企业避免了威廉姆森的企业“复制和有选择性控制的不可能性”命题的局限。本文通过沃尔玛的规模扩张的案例．建立影响企业规模因素的模型并进行实证分析．提出了零售企业规模无边界的命题。     

Innovations and the role of complementarities in a strategic theory of the firm

In the resource‐based view of strategy and in evolutionary economics, complementary assets play a crucial role in explaining sustainable competitive advantages and innovations. Despite the apparent importance of complementary assets for the understanding of corporate strategy, their creation and the associated managerial problems have been much less discussed. We believe this to be a major weakness in the strategic theory of the firm. Interestingly, problems of coordination and cooperation are center stage in the contract‐based theories of the firm, and we try to integrate some of their insights into a resource‐based perspective. Specifically, we show how complementary assets raise the need for strategic direction by a firm's top management. Moreover, complementary assets magnify internal incentive problems, and their management has an impact on the innovativeness of a firm. Lastly, complementary assets play a crucial role in the internal appropriation of innovative rents. We demonstrate the fruitfulness of our integrated framework by relating some of our findings to the literature on corporate strategy, industry evolution, and organizational structures. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The management of coopetitive tensions within multi-unit organizations

Coopetition strategy is often considered critical for firm performance (Gnyawali, He & Madhavan, 2008; Yami, Castaldo, Dagnino & Le Roy, 2010). However, this paradoxical strategy creates tension, especially when coopetition occurs within an organization (Tsai, 2002; Luo, Slotegraaf & Pan, 2006). This paper addresses existing knowledge gaps by providing the first analysis of the specific managerial methods and the key approaches needed to reduce internal tensions within multi-unit and multi-brand organizations. Using an in-depth study approach in the banking industry, we examine two exemplary cases: Crédit Agricole (CA), which is the leading bank in France and the third leading bank in Europe, and Banque Populaire Caisse d'Epargne (BPCE), which is the third leading bank in France. Our findings indicate that firms simultaneously use formal and informal coordination to manage coopetitive goals. Moreover, to reduce tensions due to coopetition, the banks have developed an original organizational model that allows for the distribution of the antagonist powers and fosters integration. The research shows that inter-unit projects balance responsibilities across the firm, while horizontal coordination and social interaction also eliminate blocking and facilitate decision making. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to examine the management of coopetitive tensions within a multi-unit and multi-brand organization.     

Organizational slack and firm performance during economic transitions: two studies from an emerging economy

An Erratum has been published for this article in Strategic Management Journal 25(3) 2004, 307. How does organizational slack affect firm performance? Organization theory posits that slack, despite its costs, has a positive impact on firm performance. In contrast, agency theory suggests that slack breeds inefficiency and inhibits performance. The empirical evidence, largely from developed economies, has been inconclusive. Moreover, little effort has been made to empirically test whether such an impact (positive or negative) is linear or curvilinear. This article joins the debate by extending empirical work to the largely unexplored context of economic transitions. Specifically, two studies, based on survey and archival data (N = 57 and 1532 firms, respectively), are undertaken in China's emerging economy. Our results suggest (1) that organization theory generates stronger predictions when dealing with unabsorbed slack, and (2) that agency theory yields stronger validity when focusing on absorbed slack. Furthermore, we also find that the impact of slack on performance is curvilinear, which resembles inverse U‐shaped curves. Overall, our findings call for a contingency perspective to specify the nature of slack when discussing its impact on firm performance. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.