Theory of the Firm: Erich Gutenberg’s Foundations and Further Developments PDF
Preview Theory of the Firm: Erich Gutenberg’s Foundations and Further Developments
Theory of the Firm Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York Barcelona Hong Kong London Milan Paris Singapore Tokyo H. Albach · K. Brockhoff . E. Eymann P. Jungen . M. Steven . A. Luhmer Theory of the Firm Erich Gutenberg's Foundations and Further Developments With 39 Figures and 5 Tables , Springer Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Horst Albach Prof. Dr. Marion Steven WHU Koblenz Ruhr-Universitat Bochum Otto Beisheim Graduate School Fakultat rur Wirtschaftswissenschaft of Management Lehrstuhl rur Angewandte BWL I Burgplatz 2 0-44780 Bochum 0-56179 Vallendar Prof. Dr. Alfred Luhmer Prof. Dr. Klaus K. L. Brockhoff University of Magdeburg WHU Koblenz Fakultat rur Wirtschaftslehrel Otto Beisheim Graduate School Controlling of Management Universitatsplatz 2 Burgplatz 2 0-39106 Magdeburg 0-56179 Vallendar Dr. Egbert Eymann VWH Vorrichtungs- und Werkzeugbau GmbH BahnhofstraBe 104 0-56414 Herschbach Peter Jungen Peter Jungen Management Holding GmbH Gustav-Heinemann-Ufer 54 0-50968 Koln ISBN-13:978-3-642-64074-2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Theory of the firm: Erich Gutenberg's foundations and further developments; with 5 ta bles 1 H. Albach et al. - Berlin; Heidelberg; New York; Barcelona; Hong Kong; London; Milan; Paris; Singapore; Tokyo: Springer, 2000 ISBN-13:978-3-642-64074-2 e-ISBN-13:978-3-642-59661-2 DOl: 10.1007/978-3-642-59661-2 This work is subject to copyright All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illus trations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965, in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer-Verlag. Violations are liable for prosecution under the German Copyright Law. @ Springer-Verlag Berlin· Heidelberg 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publica tion does not imply. even in the absence of a specific statement. that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. Hardcover-Design: Erich Kirchner. Heidelberg SPIN 10724591 4212202-5 4 3 2 1 0 - Printed on acid-free paper Preface This book has an objective and a focus. It provides the reader with: • an in-depth acquaintance with the theory of the firm developed by Erich Gutenberg • an insight into a coherent body of current German research in the theory of the firm. The book is divided into two parts. The first part lays the foundations. It presents Gutenberg's theory of the firm to the English speaking reader. Considering the great importance that Erich Gutenberg has had in Germany and taking into consideration the impact that the translations of his path-breaking three volumes "Principles of Management" have had in France, the Spanish speaking countries, and in Japan, it was felt that it was necessary, on the occasion of his tOOth anniversary, to present a concise summary of his contributions to the theory of the firm to an English speaking scientific community. Six papers present Gutenberg's theory in the light of the theoretical advances that he stimulated as well as in the framework of other theoretical developments like capital market theory, transaction cost theory, principal agent theory, and contract theory. The papers show that Gutenberg's theory is highly relevant for theory and highly influential in the practice of management. The second part deals with theoretical developments in managerial functions and reviews these developments in the light of the foundations laid by Erich Gutenberg. Jan Pieter Krahnen studies the financing function in the firm and works contributions to optimizing it in the light of modern capital market theory. Harald Hruschka presents results of empirical tests of Gutenberg's doubly-kinked demand curve and confronts them with estimates of other functional forms of the firm's demand function. Sohnke Albers takes up the question of sales persons versus independent dealers and Gutenberg's answers to it and develops a model which answers this question by simultaneously optimizing sales regents. Joachim Reese contributes a paper on the most controversial factor of production in Gutenberg's theory of the firm: management. Gutenberg avoided any attempt to incorporate management in the production function quantitatively. He felt that management with its creativity, its setting of objectives for the firm and providing leadership for its employees could not be captured in a production function. Reese shows how management can be integrated quantitatively into a system of inventory control production. Alfred Luhmer, building on Gutenberg's production model, constructs dynamic production models which allow for change of the production function. This is a problem also that Klaus Brockhoff deals with in his contribution on the dynamics of technological competence. Hermann Jahnke introduces uncertainty VI into Gutenberg's production model, and Robert F. Gox contributes to our understanding of capacity planning under uncertainty. Gunter Fandel extends Gutenberg's production theory to encompass more complex production systems like network and process models. Horst Glaser and Marlies Rogalski give proof of the importance of Gutenberg'S production theory for modern cost accounting and control systems. The volume contains a selection of the papers that were contributed to a conference held by the Erich Gutenberg Society in Cologne on September 12 and 13, 1997 in memory of Erich Gutenberg'S birthday on December 13, 1897. The volume of proceedings of that scientific conference has been published by Springer-Verlag also under the title "Die Theorie der Unternehmung in Forschung und Praxis" under the editorship of Horst Albach and others. The editors wish to thank Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft for financial support of publishing this volume. Dr. Werner MUller was responsible for making this project come true at Springer publishers. His commitment to the project is greatly appreciated. Dr. Martina Bihn gave unwavering support during the process of translating and printing. I am grateful to her for making collaboration with the publisher a pleasure. Professor Gerry Lawson has shouldered the burden of checking the translations submitted by the authors and bringing the text into good English. I greatly appreciate his tremendous efforts and his admirable skill in bringing the translations into better form. All of us that have ever been involved in the task of correcting a text as a native speaker appreciate the effort and the skills required. Sometimes it seems easier to translate directly than to correct an author's translation. So it is with the greatest admiration that we express our gratitude to Professor Lawson for his devotion to the task and his personal friendship. Last but not least I would like to thank my assistant, Dipl.-Volkswirt Patrik Berend, for supervising all the organizational tasks involved in getting the scripts into the prescribed form, communicating with the publisher and with the printing house and clarifying problems and answering questions with the authors. The amount of time going into such a project is hardly ever correctly appreciated. Of course, the greatest reward is a favorable reception of the volume, and I do sincerely hope that the reception of the book in the English speaking world of business economics will greatly exceed Patrik's opportunity cost in time and effort. Horst Albach Contents Part I: Foundations Erich Gutenberg and the Theory 0/ the Firm 3 R. H. Schmidt The "Unified Basis" as a Starting Point/or Business Economic Analysis Remarks on Some Core Issues in the Theory 0/ the Firm on the Occasion o/the Centenary o/the Birth 0/ Erich Gutenberg 40 W. SchUler In Memory 0/ Erich Gutenberg 58 H. Albach Erich Gutenberg - His Work; Roots, Rise, Results 67 H. Sabel The Impact o/Gutenberg's Theory o/Organisation upon Modem Organisational Conceptions 88 H. Kreikebaum Shareholder Value-Oriented Management in the Light o/Gutenberg's Theories 104 G. Obermeier VIII Part II: Managerial Functions 119 Where do we Stand in the Theory of Finance? A Selective Overview with Reference to Erich Gutenberg 121 J.P. Krahnen Specification, Estimation, and Empirical Corroboration of Gutenberg's Kinked Demand Curve 153 H. Hruschka The Choice between Employed Salespersons and Independent Manufacturer Representatives 169 S. Albers Dynamics of Technological Competencies 185 K. Brockhoff The Dispositive Factor in a System of Inventory-Controlled Production 210 J. Reese Dynamic Models Based on Erich Gutenberg's Approach to Production Theory 230 A. Luhmer IX Gutenberg's Concept of Pramtrol. Uncertainty. and the Implications for Modelling; and Cost 245 H. Jahnke The Influence of the Gutenbction Theory on Production Planning and Control 261 M. Steven Determination of Intensity Yor Cost Control 279 H. Glaser Activity Orientation ofCosng According to Gutenberg: Fundamental Principles ofi Activity-Based Marginal Costing 300 M. Rogalski Capacity Planning under U in a Gutenberg Production Model 319 R. F. Gox Interdependencies Betweenlnd Activity-Analytical Descriptions of Production lips in the Implementation of Large-Scale Projects 336 G. Fandel Part I: Foundations
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