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Behavioral Theory of the Firm (Paperback)

by Richard Cyert (Author), James March (Author) "In a modern market society, economic decisions on price, output, product lines, product mix, resource allocation, and other standard economic variables are made not by..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 264 pages
  • Publisher: WileyBlackwell; 2nd Edition edition (16 April 1992)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0631174516
  • ISBN-13: 978-0631174516
  • Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 2.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 273,854 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

Product Description
Behavioural Theory of the Firm has become a classic work in organizational theory, and is one of the most significant contributions to improving the theory of the firm. This second edition includes new material which puts the original text in a contemporary context.

From the Back Cover
Behavioral Theory of the Firm has become a classic work in organizational theory, and is one of the most significant contributions to improving the theory of the firm. This second edition includes new material which puts the original text in a contemporary context.

The authors:
∗ Use experiments and empirical observations to build a model of decision making which can be compared with reality.
∗ Reject the structure of the firm as represented by classical economic theory, instead focus on the discretion of management.
∗ Offer a new way of viewing the effects of the organization, communications and individuals on the firm′s activity.
For students and specialists the second edition of this pathbreaking book offers the original theory, a new summary of the most important work that has taken place since the book was originally published, and an approach which not only advances the theory of the firm but provides a rigorous model for all research in the social services.
It is the most important and provocative view yet advanced for seeing inside the firm to understand it as an organization and an economic entity.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
In a modern market society, economic decisions on price, output, product lines, product mix, resource allocation, and other standard economic variables are made not by individual entrepreneurs but by a complex of private and public institutions. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Behavioural Theory of the Firm, 28 Feb 2001
By A Customer
Cyert and March are the first that try to look into the firm instead of just taking the firm as it is like the monopoly model and so forth. It tries to bring reality into their model by describing factors they derived from doing case studies of 4 multinational firms and 2 stimulation experiments. It describes the firm as a coalition with conflicting goals. The conflicting goals are the result of 'aspiration levels' ie, expectations, past success and personal information of the individuals in the parties. And that the firm is not a profit-maximizing instead are satisficing. This means that the firm has other goals that it wishes to fulfill and not just profit maximize. The ruling party in the coalition holds all the parties together in the form of orgaisational slack, which is 'side-payments' to keep the parties happy. The process of decision making as to what to satisfice in the firm is mainly determined in the budget and bargaining skill and past performance affects the outcome of the budget for the various parties in the firm. But the theory does not take into account of external forces like competition from firms, potential entry or fear of take-over. That might be because when they formulated the theory, the multinational companies did not face international pressures, they could produce the amount they need. So the model is more applicable for organisations that do not face external pressures like hospitals.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Concept of technology in the behavioral theory of the firm., 13 Feb 2001
By A Customer
It is a well-written book on the theories of the firm especially on the concept of technology. It has opposing views from that of Baumol in his managerial theory of the firm. Its a book that must be read if one is doing economics of organisation.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Decision-making within organizations, 11 Dec 2008
By Gerard Kroese (The Netherlands) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
Richard M. Cyert is Professor of Economics and Management at Carnegie Mellon University. James G. March is Professor of Management and Professor of Political Science and Sociology at Stanford University. This book was originally published in 1963 and consists of 9 chapters with a short introduction and preface. This 2nd edition published in 1992 adds an epilogue.

The authors start clearly in the Introduction: "This book is about the business firm and the way it makes economic decisions. We propose to make detailed observations and to use these observations as a basis for a theory of decision making within business organizations." In the second chapter Cyert and March introduce some of the problems with the original theory of the firm and organization theory and introduce their approach to explain the behaviour of business firms with respect to economic decisions.

The authors provide some partial answers in the 3 following chapters in which they consider organizational goals (chapter 3), organizational expectations (chapter 4), organizational choice and (to a limited extent) organizational control (chapter 5). This section is concluded with a skeleton of their basic theory of organizational choice and control upon which one can develop an explicit model of organizational decision making. The first model of price and output is already given in chapter 5 and in chapter 6 Cyert and March introduce a model of price setting in a department store.

Chapter 7 introduces a summary of the basic concepts in the behavioural theory of the firm which is based on 2 major organizing devices. First, a set of exhaustive variable categories (goals, expectations, choice) and, second, a set of relational concepts (quasi resolution of conflict, uncertainty avoidance, problemistic search and organizational learning). "We think that these concepts will prove useful in dealing with organizational decision making as it is reflectd in business firms."

Chapter 8 serves as a concluding chapter and explains that the theory of the firm serves four major purposes within the framework of economic theory: (1) a method for decision making; (2) a prescription for decision making; (3) a description of behaviour of certain aggregates of firms; and (4) a tool for deciding among some alternative economic policies. Each of these purposes are discussed in detail.

In the final chapter Cyert and March attempt to place the preceding chapters into a contract of developments subsequent to the original publication. "In the first section, we describe the main ideas on which the book was built, key themes in behavioural studies of the firm. In the second section, we discuss developments in the economic analysis of the firm since 1963 ... In the third section, we discuss developments in the behavioural study of decision making in organizations."

This was a monumental piece of research in the early 1960s and, yes, the authors admit "that they may not have it all quite right. Yet.", but is still pretty much up to date especially with the adjustments made for the 1992-edition. It provides great insights into decision making within business firms. I have read this book with great interest and enjoyment. I can recommend this book all managers and people interested in decision making and organizational behaviour.
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