Research On The Problem Of Enterprise Boundary

The enterprise boundary is a very important question in enterprise fundamental research. Initiates from the economic research, Scholars have started research on enterprise. As a whole, the enterprise theory has experienced the processes of Classical economics,Neoclassical economics,New institutional economics and the theory of enterprise ability. The goal of economic study is explaining the fact. Therefore the development of enterprise study also presents the change of enterprises' organization. From the summary of enterprise theory, we know that the different understanding of the nature of the firm had created scholar's different viewpoint on enterprise theory. The theory has displayed a criticalness evolution process; therefore the key to define the boundary of the firm is to study the nature of the firm. Precisely based on such understanding, on the foundation of theory summarizing, this article analyzed the characters and the direction of the process of enterprise theory. After that we proposed three dimensions of the nature of the firm, namely production attribute, transaction attribute and endogenetic. Through the analysis of the nature's three dimension union enterprise's objective function, this article has constructed the unified model of the enterprises'boundary definition.First,We carried on the major points of each school of the enterprise theory. The research on enterprise began from Smith's division of labor theory, using the theory of division of labor and cooperation would promote production efficiency. Smith explained the theory enterprise's appearance and the function. The neoclassic economics conducted the research on the firm under the perfect price theory. There the enterprise exists as a producer, it is restrained only by the market price and the production cost. The representative person of the new institutional economics coase saw the flaw of the perfect price theory, through the Introduction of transaction cost; he founded a new model on the research of organization. He thought that the appearance of the firm is the substitution of the price mechanism, because it more Frugal cost compares market. In fact, the new institutional economics studies on the incomplete contract under the uncertainty condition. Concentrate on the organization's saving to the transaction cost. The theory of the enterprise's ability ponders on the reality characteristic of the firm. The main thought is that enterprise is an ability aggregate, and the ability is a dynamic accumulation process in the enterprise of the interior resources, knowledge as well as the convention and so on. Thus the theory of the enterprise's ability starts the dynamic research of enterprise's development process.On the foundation of the summaries of the enterprise theory. We summarized the evolution process of the enterprise theory. This article thinks that the development of enterprise theory has three characters:(1)uncertainty and the differentiation of enterprise theory. In classical and neo- classical research frame, the external environment is definite, namely perfect competitive market supposition. This means that the market exist complete information, the essential factor unrestricted flow as well as the market do not have the reversion choice and the moral hazard. The enterprise can only act according to the market price to adjust its productive plan under such definite condition, enables enterprise's profit to achieve the maximization. The new institutional economics discover that the market information is not completely, price mechanism has cost, and thus it pulls back the enterprise theory's research tallies the reality condition. In the new institutional economics, the uncertainty exists because the lack of information when decision-making, Langlois call it the parameter uncertainty. The theory of enterprise's ability realized that people lack the practice knowledge of future, thought that people lack the ability to carry on the knowledge properly, and these knowledge involve the basic nature and the possible condition of something. The Enterprise's important function is accumulating ability and to realize decision-making in future. Langlois called this uncertainty the structure uncertainty. (2) The division and the fusion of enterprise's production attribute and transaction attribute. In classical and neo- classical research frame, enterprise was a production organization. The theory just focused on the production attribute. The new intuitional economics discovered the"black box"that neglected in neo- classical research, started research on the inner structure of the firm using the theory of transaction cost, which is the transaction attribute of the enterprise. Enterprise's ability theory conducted the research on the enterprise's ability angle; through the development we can see the fusion tendency. As a fact, enterprise is an aggregation of production attribute and transaction attribute. (3) Enterprise's homogeneity and non-uniformity supposition. In classical economics, neoclassic economics as well as the new intuitional economics, the enterprise is regarded as identical organization, under the enterprise homogeneous supposition; enterprise's profit can only be exogenous. This cannot explain the continuous profit disparity. Enterprise's ability theory thought that enterprise's profit is endogenous; the enterprise is non-uniformity, just enterprise's non-uniformity constituted enterprise's core competitiveness.On the foundation of former analysis, this article think that the enterprise has tertiary attribute, the production attribute, the transaction attribute as well as endogenetic.the enterprise's production attribute and the transaction attribute have well known by economists. But regarding enterprise endogenetic understanding is actually insufficient by far. Enterprise's endogenetic refers to the endogenetic of the enterprise's growing, Enterprise's ability theory pointed out that the enterprise is an aggregation of core knowledge and ability and so on non-uniformity resources. Its competitive advantage lies in the existence of the non-uniformity resources. Simultaneously the non-uniformity resources' existence with the accumulation is the key which causes the enterprise grow.At the end, this article has constructed a unified model of the enterprise boundary definition. The key to definite the enterprise boundary is to analysis the factor that influent it. This article has carried on the comprehensive analysis to the three dimensions of the enterprise nature. And also analyze the influence that each attribute to the enterprise boundary. To every attribute of the firm have a boundary, the scale boundary, the organization boundary and the ability boundary. This article thought that these three boundaries have cross-correlation existence in enterprise, and the ability boundary is most important. Enterprise's ability boundary decides the scale boundary and the organization boundary. And simultaneously the scale boundary, the organization boundary's expansion will expand enterprise's ability boundary. To synthesize the definition of enterprise boundary, we need to join enterprise's objective function. This factor is neglected frequently. This article reveals that enterprise's objective function is different when enterprise has different nature or in the situation of different development phase, finally this article has given the countermeasure suggestion in view of the significance of the enterprise boundary definition.