An artificialist theory of the firm: contours and perspectives

Joelle Forest

Working Papers from HAL

Abstract: There is nothing new in applying the concept of artificiality to organizations; however, few researchers have followed Simon's suggestion, put forward in the early 1940s, that firms should be considered artifacts. The present article attempts to remedy this situation by outlining the contours of an artificialist theory of the firm. The design process is shown to be at the heart of the artificialist approach; therefore, the firm can no longer be represented purely in terms of choices between available alternatives. Highlighting the central role of design also leads theories of the firm to integrate the concept of creative rationality, alongside the idea of bounded rationality. As well as providing a positive vision of the firm, the artificialist approach discards the idea of natural evolution in favor of artificial evolution.

Keywords: Artificialism; design process; theory of the firm; bounded rationality; creative rationality; H.A. Simon.; Artificialisme; processus de conception; théorie de la firme; rationalité limitée; rationalité créative; Hebert Simon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-05-15
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