Economic Analysis of Enterprise Organizations

Author: Lin Jinzhong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: This book does not approach the economic theory of enterprise organization from the perspective of the production function of neoclassical economics, nor from the perspective of transaction costs and contractual relationships of Coase and his successors, but rather from the perspective of social division of labor to explore the economic theory issues of enterprise organization. The main reason for this approach is that a comprehensive study, in-depth understanding, and correct elaboration of the theory of division of labor and coordination still retain explanatory power in researching the essential relationships of economic organization, yet it has been abandoned by mainstream Western economics since A. Marshall. Except for Chapter 1, which reviews the literature, and Chapter 2, which proposes the organizational nature of the enterprise and discusses the origin of the enterprise, the remaining four chapters are developed according to this guiding principle; among them, Chapters 3 and 4 focus on the relationship between the organizational structure of the enterprise and the external social division of labor system, while Chapters 5 and 6 focus on the division of labor and coordination within the organizational structure of the enterprise. From the perspective of the relationship between the organizational structure of the enterprise and the external social division of labor system, Chapter 3 of this book proposes the basic proposition that the organizational form of economic activities is interdependent with the social division of labor system, and from this, it derives the fundamental issue of the organizational structure of the enterprise—adaptability, elaborating on the competitive behavior and the market screening mechanism of the organizational structure of the enterprise that are related to this. These views lay a theoretical foundation for analyzing the behavior of the organizational structure of the enterprise within the social division of labor system. On this basis, Chapter 4 of this book explores two important issues: the differentiation and integration of the organizational structure of the enterprise, as well as the merchant buyer system. From the perspective of the division of labor and coordination within the organizational structure of the enterprise, Chapter 5 analyzes the division of labor and coordination of activities within the organizational structure of the enterprise, and on this basis, elaborates on the essential connotation and form classification of the organizational structure of the enterprise. This research, whether in terms of perspective, methodology, or viewpoints, is different from the existing literature in organizational management theory, although such topics as internal coordination of the enterprise and organizational structure have always been important research areas in organizational management theory. Readers can see this from the specific viewpoints of this book, such as the grasp of the essence of internal coordination of the organizational structure of the enterprise, the understanding of the institution as a form of coordination, and the economic theoretical discussion of team organizational structure issues. Given the prominent role of large enterprise organizations in modern economic life, this book is specifically dedicated to Chapter 6 to explore the organizational structure form widely adopted by large enterprises—the bureaucratic hierarchical structure. This exploration is carried out in three aspects: first, it analyzes how the organizational structure of the enterprise becomes large, proposing insights into the various forms of expansion of enterprise scale and the various forms of economies of scale; second, it reviews Weber's bureaucratic organization theory, which serves as the ideological prototype of the bureaucratic hierarchical structure, explaining the essential characteristics of this structural form; third, it analyzes the economic efficiency of the bureaucratic hierarchical structure, using this as the theoretical basis for evaluating those popular criticisms of bureaucratic organizations.