The Form of the Firm

Abstract

This paper presents a sociological and constructivist model of the organization of a firm. It presents five suggestions, and one problem, on which the theory of the firm may be based. These are history, business, culture, management, systems references and context respectively. It goes on to introduce George Spencer Brown’s notion of form as an appropriate device with which to handle the problem. Niklas Luhmann’s theory of social systems is considered to be an important step in developing a theory of differentiation that combines closure with structure, or self-referentiality with coupling, in showing how dependent communication emerges from independent contingency. The model then focuses on the idea of a contingent co-variation of the variables product, technology, organization, economy, society and individuals. It is developed with respect to five levels of re-entry: work, business, corporate culture, communication and philosophy. The idea of the paper is that models of this kind may be able to contribute to an analytical understanding of the synthesis of a firm by enabling an observer, who may be an employee, a manager, an investor, a client, a partner, an analyst or a consultant, to interact selectively with that firm and thereby take part in its reproduction and variation.