Browsing by Author "Foss, Nicolai J."
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Some Austrian InsightsFoss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2001)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: I critically discuss recent claims about economic organization in the emerging “knowledge economy,” specifically that authority relations will tend to disappear (or at least become radically transformed), the boundaries of the firm will blur, and coordination mechanisms will be much more malleable than assumed in organizational economics, resulting in various “new organizational forms.” In particular, the price mechanism will be used inside hierarchies to a much greater extent. In order to obtain an analytical focus on the knowledge economy, I assume that it may be approximated by “Hayekian settings” (after Hayek 1945), that is, settings in which knowledge is distributed and where knowledge inputs are relatively more important in production than physical capital inputs. I then argue, drawing on organizational economics as well as Mises’ insights in property rights and comparative systems, that the presence of Hayekian settings does not mean that authority will disappear, etc., although economic organization will in fact be affected by the emergence of the knowledge economy. This suggests that Austrian economics has an important contribution to make to the study of economic organization. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7899 Files in this item: 1
DRUID_01_07.pdf (99.18Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We discuss the emergence of the theory of the firm (in the Coasian sense); survey and discuss the main currents of the theo~y of the firm, and discuss what has determined the emergence of the theory of the firm. We argue that advances in the theory of the firm have been strongly influenced by conceptual innovations in (mainstream) economics in general and by the ongoing division of labour in economics in tandem with a recognition of the importance of a number of empirical anomalies The substantive borrowing from neighbouring disciplines, such as business history, law, psychology, organizational sociology and business administration has been relatively limited and ad hoc (although some scholars, notably Williamson, have made more substantive use of these disciplines than othe~s) The fact that the theory of the firm has stayed relatively close in to the (changing) economic mainstream and that its substantive borrowing from neighbouring disciplines has been relatively limited unde~lie and explain much of the "external" critique of the theory (i.e., the critiques of sociologists, heterodox economists and management scholars). URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7444 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 38.pdf (6.112Mb) -
Challenges and CharacteristicsFoss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The “knowledge governance approach” is characterized as a distinctive, emerging approach that cuts across the fields of knowledge management, organisation studies, strategy, and human resource management. Knowledge governance is taken up with how the deployment of governance mechanisms influences knowledge processes, such as sharing, retaining and creating knowledge. It insists on clear micro (behavioural) foundations, adopts an economizing perspective, and examines the links between knowledge-based units of analysis with diverse characteristics and governance mechanisms with diverse capabilities of handling these transactions. Research issues that the knowledge governance approach illuminates are sketched. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7880 Files in this item: 1
DRUID_06_10.pdf (170.2Kb) -
Origins, Key Tenets and Research GapsFoss, Nicolai J.; Lyngsie, Jacob (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The field of strategic entrepreneurship is a fairly recent one. Its central idea is that opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking—the former the central subject of the entrepreneurship field, the latter the central subject of the strategic management field— are processes that need to be considered jointly. The purpose of this brief chapter is to explain the emergence of SE theory field in terms of a response to research gaps in the neighboring fields of entrepreneurship and strategic management; describe the main tenets of SE theory; discuss its relations to neighboring fields; and finally describe some research gaps in extant theory, mainly focusing on the need to provide clear microfoundations for SE theory and link it to organizational design theory. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8249 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 7_2011.pdf (278.0Kb) -
A New Approach to Strategic ControlHallin, Carina Antonia; Andersen, Torben J.; Foss, Nicolai J.; Tveterås, Sigbjørn (Frederiksberg, 2012)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Recent advances within the dynamic capabilities view emphasize the “sensing” of employees as an important part of the micro-foundations of dynamic capabilities: By putting in place organizational processes that mobilize and exploit information gathered by individual employees from their operating environment, firms can update insights about performance outcomes and improve strategic decision-making. We test empirically the extent to which firms can ascertain performance outcomes by drawing on employee knowledge. Our empirical setting is the Scandinavian hospitality sector with respondents among frontline service employees. Using a time series approach, we show that employee respondents (collectively) assess medium-term organizational performance better than management and the financial models available to them. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8506 Files in this item: 1
Hallin.pdf (217.2Kb) -
Origins, Attributes, CritiqueFoss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Israel Kirzner’s concept of entrepreneurship as alertness to profit opportunities is one of the most influential modern interpretations of the entrepreneurial function. Shane and Venkataraman’s (2000: 218) influential assessment defines entrepreneurship research as “the scholarly examination of how, by whom, and with what effects opportunities to create future goods and services are discovered, evaluated, and exploited.” As such, “the field involves the study of sources of opportunities; the processes of discovery, evaluation, and exploitation of opportunities; and the set of individuals who discover, evaluate, and exploit them.” Shane’s General Theory of Entrepreneurship (2003) cites Kirzner and “Kirznerian opportunities” more than any writer other than Joseph Schumpeter. More generally, the entrepreneurial opportunity, rather than the individual entrepreneur, the startup company, or the new product, has become the centerpiece of the academic study of entrepreneurship. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7755 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-02.pdf (317.2Kb) -
From opportunity discovery to judgmentFoss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Entrepreneurship has become a fast-growing subfield in management research, and is increasingly appearing in economics, finance, and even law. We survey a number of approaches to entrepreneurship in the economics and management literatures, and argue that modern research in this area need to be focused around ideas from Austrian economics and Frank Knight on entrepreneurial judgment. We critically discuss the recent opportunity discovery literature in management, and argue that it has partially misunderstood the Austrian origins of the theory, and fails to ade-quately distinguish between opportunity identification and opportunity exploitation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7485 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-05.pdf (347.1Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (København, 2008)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Entrepreneurship is ultimately about the arrangement of resources into productive activi-ties. Much of the entrepreneurship literature, however, has focused on the demand side of the market. While resource heterogeneity is a feature of many theories of the firm, such theories are not built on a systematic theory of capital. We show how the approach to capital developed by the Austrian school of economics provides a natural bridge between theory of entrepreneurship and the theory of the firm. We refine Austrian capital theory by defining capital heterogeneity in terms of subjectively perceived attributes, the func-tions, characteristics, and uses of capital assets. Such attributes are not given, but have to be created or discovered by means of entrepreneurial action. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7443 Files in this item: 1
smg wp 2008-03.pdf (348.5Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G.; Bylund, Per L. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: The study of entrepreneurship and the study of economic organizing lack contact. In fact, the modern theory of the firm virtually ignores entrepreneurship, while the literature on entrepreneurship often sees little value in the economic theory of the firm. In contrast, we argue in this chapter that entrepreneurship theory and the theory of the firm can be usefully integrated, and that doing so would improve both bodies of theory. Adding the entrepreneur to the theory of the firm provides a dynamic view that the overly static analysis of firm organizing cannot support. Moreover, adding the firm to the study of the entrepreneur provides important clues to how we can understand entrepreneurship. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8250 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 6_2011.pdf (160.0Kb) -
Any Gains from TradeFoss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Although they have developed very much in isolation from each other, we argue the theory of entrepreneurship and the economic theory of the firm are closely related, and each has much to learn from the other. In particular, the notion of entrepreneurship as judgment associated with Frank Knight and some Austrian school economists aligns naturally with the theory of the firm. In this perspective, the entrepreneur needs a firm, that is, a set of alienable assets he controls, to carry out his function. We further show how this notion of judgment adds to the key themes in the modern theory of the firm (i.e., the existence, boundaries, and internal organization). In our approach, resource uses are not data, but are created as entrepreneurs envision new ways of using assets to produce goods. The entrepreneur’s decision problem is aggravated by the fact that capital assets are heterogeneous. Asset ownership facilitates experimenting entrepreneurship: Acquiring a bundle of property rights is a low cost means of carrying out commercial experimentation. In this approach, the existence of the firm may be understood in terms of limits to the market for judgment relating to novel uses of heterogeneous assets; and the boundaries of the firm, as well as aspects of internal organization, may be understood as being responsive to entrepreneurial processes of experimentation. Key words: Entrepreneurship, heterogeneous assets, judgment, ownership, firm boundaries, internal organization. JEL Codes: B53, D23, L2 URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/6429 Files in this item: 1
04-12.pdf (343.6Kb) -
Any Gains from Trade?Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (København, 2004)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Though they developed in isolation, the theory of entrepreneurship and the economic theory of the firm can be usefully integrated. In particular, the concept of entrepreneurship as judgment associated with Knight (1921) and some Austrian school economists aligns naturally with the theory of the firm. Because judgment cannot be purchased on the market, the entrepreneur needs a firm — a set of alienable assets he controls — to carry out his function. We show how this notion of judgment illuminates key themes in the modern theory of the firm (existence, boundaries, and internal organization). In our approach, resource uses are not data, but are created as entrepreneurs envision new ways of using assets to produce final goods. The entrepreneur’s problem is aggravated by the fact that capital assets are heterogeneous. Asset ownership allows the entrepreneur to experiment with novel combinations of heterogeneous assets. The boundaries of the firm, as well as aspects of internal organization, may also be understood as responses to entrepreneurial processes of experimentation. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7309 Files in this item: 1
ckg-wp 2004-11.pdf (200.5Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 2011)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This chapter discusses entrepreneurship in the context of the RBV. What does the RBV have to say that the study of entrepreneurship may usefully draw on? And, conversely, how can entrepreneurship research further the RBV? I begin by sketching the RBV. I then discuss the relation between the RBV and entrepreneurship research, before I characterize a new research stream that has emerged over the last decade or so in the intersection of the RBV and entrepreneurship research, namely “strategic entrepreneurship.” URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8251 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 8_2011.pdf (234.9Kb) -
Towards a new SynthesisFoss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G.; Kor, Yasemin Y.; Mahoney, Joseph T. (København, 2006)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: This paper maintains that the consistent application of subjectivism helps to reconcile contemporary entrepreneurship theory with strategic management research in general, and the resource−based view in particular. The paper synthesizes theoretical insights from Austrian economics and Penrose’s (1959) resources approach, arguing that entrepreneurship is inherently subjective and firm specific. This new synthesis describes how entrepreneurship is manifested in teams, and is driven by both heterogeneity of managerial mental models and shared team experiences. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7463 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 67.pdf (455.7Kb) -
The Conflicting Legacies of Demsetz and PenroseFoss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 1997)[More information][Less information]
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Foss, Nicolai J.; Mahoney, Joseph T. (Frederiksberg, 2010)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Knowledge governance is characterized as a distinctive research subject, the understanding of which cuts across diverse fields in management. In particular, it represents an intersection of knowledge management, strategic management, and theories of the firm. Knowledge governance considers how deployment of governance mechanisms influences knowledge processes: sharing, retaining, and creating knowledge. We survey the papers in this volume of the special issue, and discuss the remaining research challenges. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8030 Files in this item: 1
CBS_Forskningsindberetning_SMG_250.pdf (138.6Kb) -
Some Austrian InsightsFoss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 1998)[More information][Less information]
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Foss, Nicolai J. (Frederiksberg, 1996)[More information][Less information]
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The Strategic Human Resource Management DimensionFoss, Nicolai J.; Minbaeva, Dana B. (, 2009)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: SHRM increasingly emphasizes HRM practices as means to build strategic knowledge resources such as superior capabilities. While the knowledge-based view increasingly pays attention to micro-foundations, the SHRM field neglects these and emphasizes collective constructs such as “human capital pools,” “HRM architectures”, etc. As a result, causal links between HRM practices, knowledge and organizational performance are black-boxed. We propose a program for research and identify some of the key issues that future research must deal with. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7756 Files in this item: 1
SMG WP 2009-03.pdf (348.1Kb) -
How Organizational Design Can Make Delegation CredibleFoss, Kirsten; Foss, Nicolai J. (København, 2005)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: Credible delegation of discretion obtains when it is a rational strategy for managers not to overrule employee decisions that are based on delegated decision rights or renege on the level of delegated discretion (and this is common knowledge). Making delegation of discretion credible becomes a crucial issue when organizations want to sustain the advantages that may flow from delegation: Such advantages are dependent on motivated employees, and managerial overruling or reneging is harmful to motivation. However, little work has been done on how organizations can make delegation credible. We argue that key elements of organizations (i.e., organizational structure, coordination mechanisms, reward structures, and interdependencies between activities) and how these fit influence the credibility of delegation. Fit configurations of organizational elements reduce the probability of managerial intervention that may harm employee motivation. This introduces a neglected incentive dimension to the organizational design literature. Moreover, it is argued that harmful intervention may be reduced by increasing managers’ costs of intervening. Refutable propositions are derived. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/7427 Files in this item: 1
cbs forskningsindberetning smg 25.pdf (688.5Kb) -
Foss, Nicolai J.; Klein, Peter G. (Frederiksberg, 2013)[More information][Less information]
Abstract: We briefly survey Hayek’s work and argue for its increasing relevance for organizational scholars. Hayek’s work inspired aspects of the transaction cost approach to the firm as well as knowledge management and knowledge-based view of the firm. But Hayek is usually seen within organizational scholarship as a narrow, technical economist. We hope to change that perception here by pointing to his work on rules, evolution, entrepreneurship and other aspects of his wide-ranging oeuvre with substantive implications for organizational theory. URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10398/8655 Files in this item: 1
Foss_Klein_SMGWP2013_3.pdf (737.3Kb)