Towards a New Theory of the Firm

This book was born out of the basic idea that firms have proved to be a very important organizational form to transform society. Firms help solve real problems by creating economic value, by creating social value, and by introducing change. Management and managers have a large influence on the wellbeing of many people.

But are our theories about management and managers faulty, and perhaps even the reason for the errors that led to the current crisis? IESE, as a business school committed to the development of leaders who aspire to have a positive, deep and lasting impact on people, had a concern for the trend to dehumanize management and the management profession, but also for according recognition to its importance and achievements.

Out of this commitment and with some sense of urgency, in 2011 it launched an international conference on “Humanizing the Firm and the Management Profession,” in an attempt to help reverse this trend by rethinking our theories of the firm. This book contains the papers presented at that conference. The book is organized into three parts. The first, On Leaders and Society: What Future Are We Building Today?, sets the stage for the debate by providing a diagnosis of the situation. It presents some positive views but also some negative ones; some empirical reflections but also some normative thoughts.

Then we move onto the second part, Building Blocks for a New Theory of the Firm, which attempts to develop some core elements of a new theory of the firm: the foundations of a stakeholder theory of strategic management, the basic philosophical questions about what humanizing might be, the foundations of Corporate Social Responsibility, and the foundations for stakeholder engagement. Finally the third part, On Micro Foundations, elaborates on some of the key elements that can provide support to a new theory of the firm.

Along the path, we have seen something about how our world is, why it is this way, and what we can do to make it different. This book is intended for a wide audience of academicians and high-level professionals interested in improving the quality of our management through a better theory of the firm.