ABSTRACT
This and the following two chapters shift attention away from the boundaries of the firm and concentrate on the firm as a system in its own right, and develops in this context the general framework outlined in Chapters 2 and 3. Chapter 8 lays the ground work by examining the view, evident in for example Williamson (1975) and Casson (1987), that the firm as an organisational form can be conceived in profit maximising terms. This leads into the discussion of Chapter 9 where the firm is viewed as a complex system of strategic control, interacting in a dynamic way with its environment. A necessary feature here is that active human agency must be given a central role. Finally in Chapter 10 microeconomic policy implications of the discussion will be developed.
