Chair "Theory of the Enterprise" Models of Governance and Collective Creation
An innovation-driven view of the firm
The main proposal of our program is that modern companies, with professional management, have emerged at the end of the 19th century, because of the need to organize the development of new collective capabilities (technologies, functions, methods, competencies…), that would not be available otherwise on the markets.
This breakthrough in the organizations has deeply transformed our societies. But, despite the tremendous expansion of companies all over the 20th century, it hasn’t been conceptualized enough and has remained overlooked by classical theories of the firm and by business rules or corporate law.
This fundamental proposal has lead our team:
- To explore a new theory of the firm: building on management history, we see modern companies as innovation-driven organizations and we analyze the conditions of joint “venture in unknown” to revisit the foundations of managerial authority and of stakeholders’ participation (Segrestin and Hatchuel, 2008).
- To analyze forms and models of corporate governance: considering that the law of (public) corporations was already set up before the birth of modern management, we question the implications of this gap and investigate possible management-based (or innovation-driven) principles of governance, such as for instance mission-driven corporations (Segrestin and Hatchuel, 2010) (Segrestin and Hatchuel, 2011)(Levillain 2017)(Levillain et al., 2019).
Academic and socioeconomic impacts
Bridging traditionally distant academic fields, the program has connected management, innovation management and design theory, with business history and law. Academic and socioeconomic impacts include:
- Numerous awards for the publications on the new model of the enterprise, profit-with-purpose corporations and transformation of the shareholding industry:
- Several awards (Manpower foundation for employment’s award, AFCI award, Best book in applied research in management Syntec-SFM) for Refonder l’Entreprise(Segrestin & Hatchuel, 2012).
- Best research book in management 2017 from FNEGE and Consult’In France for Les Entreprises à Mission(Levillain, 2017).
- « Livre RH » award (SciencesPo, Le Monde, Syntec) for La Mission de l’Entreprise Responsable (Segrestin & Levillain 2018).
- Several best paper awards of the SIG Business for Society at EURAM conference (Levillain et al. 2014, Belinga et al. 2019)
- Direct participation of the research work to the transformation of French corporate law for the creation of « Sociétés à Mission » (adopted May 2019). Numerous experimentations with different companies of the new governance devices adapted to innovative purposes
- Creation of new education and lecturing programs, based on the new approach of the firm and the implications for governance, for graduate students and doctoral students (Mines ParisTech, Dauphine University…).
The scientific objectives of the Chair
The research program focuses on 4 major dimensions:
- Model of the enterprise as a collective creation device. Innovation-driven management, managerial authority and subordination as commitment into collective venture in the unknown. Study of the condition of stakeholders’ investments into processes of innovation and capabilities building. History of the corporate form and the enterprise.
Impact of managerial decisions upon the parties and general equilibrium between the parties: models of “generative solidarity” and sharing mechanisms. New models of solidarity for responsible innovation and current grand challenges.
. Investments of the various stakeholders are necessary but not enough to make either innovation or growth. Potential for social and economic growth may depend on capabilities building not only within firms but also among firms. Investors as ecosystemic actors for innovation and responsibility. Shareholder engagement. Conditions for sustainable growth.
Corporate law has not conceptualized management: today CEO can appear in corporate governance as “agents” of shareowners. Corporate law has failed to protect managerial latitude and collective long-term innovative investments. We need to explore principles and feasibility of existing and potential models of business governance to combine social justice and the challenge of contemporary innovations. New corporate forms, Profit-with-Purpose corporations, hybrid organizations.
References
For a full list of references see Publications
Levillain, K., & Segrestin, B. 2019. From primacy to purpose commitment: How emerging profit-with-purpose corporations open new corporate governance avenues. European Management Journal, 37(5), 637-647.
Levillain, K., Segrestin, B. & Hatchuel, A. 2019. Profit- with-Purpose Corporations An Innovation in Corporate Law to Meet Contemporary Corporate Social Responsibility Challenges. In McWilliams, A., Rupp, D. E., Siegel, D. S., Stahl, G. K., & Waldman, D. A. (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of corporate social responsibility: Psychological and organizational perspectives. Oxford University Press.
Segrestin, B., Johnston, A., & Hatchuel, A. 2019. The separation of directors and managers: A historical examination of the status of managers. Journal of Management History, 25(2), 141-164.
Levillain, K., Parker, S., Ridley-Duff, R., Segrestin, B., Veldman, J., & Willmott, H. 2018. Protecting Long-term Commitment. In Driver, C., & Thompson, G., Corporate Governance in Contention. Oxford University Press.
Segrestin, B., & Levillain, K. 2018. La mission de l’entreprise responsable. Principes et normes de gestion. Presses des Mines.
Levillain, K. 2017. Les Entreprises à Mission. Vuibert.
Segrestin, B., Levillain, K., Hatchuel, A. (eds.) 2014. La Société à Objet Social Etendu : proposition pour un nouveau statut de l’entreprise, Paris: Presses des Mines.
Segrestin, B. and Hatchuel, A. 2012. Refonder l’entreprise, Paris, Le Seuil.
Segrestin, B. and Hatchuel, A. 2011. Beyond Agency Theory, a Post-crisis View of Corporate Law. British journal of management, Vol. 22, pp. 484–499.
Segrestin, B. and Hatchuel, A. 2010. Theories of the firm in a post-crisis world: management theory as the foundation of new business law? . EURAM. Rome.
Segrestin, B. and Hatchuel, A. 2008. The shortcomings of the corporate standard: towards new enterprise frameworks? International Review of Applied Economics, Vol. 22, pp. 429 – 445.