Restless Knowledge, Capabilities and the Nature of the Mega-Firm

Harry Bloch and Stan Metcalfe
Additional contact information
Stan Metcalfe: University of Manchester

A chapter in The Evolution of Economic and Innovation Systems, 2015, pp 431-453 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract An evolutionary approach to economics recognises that the economy is an open system subject to change from within. One important evolutionary feature is the emergence of dominant firms in many important sectors of the global economy. We argue that these firms have distinguishing characteristics that contribute to their evolutionary fitness and have powerful impact on the process of innovation. We designate these firms as mega-firms. We locate the distinctive competitive advantage of the mega-firm in its ability to cope with restless knowledge. The mega-firm imagines and then pursues its products, technology and resources. It does not take its environment as given. It develops extensive capabilities from the specialised knowledge of large numbers of individuals, thereby reaping economies through the coordination of a division of labour. Importantly, firm capabilities expand organically from the interaction of the knowledge of individuals, enhanced by introspection and creative problem solving, which provides potential protection for the firm against the ravages of creative destruction in the competitive process. Most importantly, the mega-firm organises itself to enhance innovation without destroying cohesion, which means that its structure and functions are both historically specific and changing over time. Thus, the mega-firm is a restless firm.

Keywords: Family Firm; Shared Understanding; Modern Economy; Entrepreneurial Firm; Creative Destruction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:eccchp:978-3-319-13299-0_18

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783319132990

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-13299-0_18

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Economic Complexity and Evolution from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().