We consider a hierarchical organization with two fully rational agents. The goal of the organization is that of selecting the best alternative out of several available, and agents are heterogenous in the accuracy with which they screen the alternatives. We show that, if internal communications...

The problem of designing, managing, and coordinating the efforts of different parts of complex organizations is central to the management and organizations literature. A central element, in turn, of Simon's (1962) argument, which provides a foundation for understanding complex organizations, is...

What role do hierarchies play with respect to the organization of production and what determines their structure? We develop an equilibrium model of hierarchical organization, then provide empirical evidence using confidential data on thousands of law offices from the 1992 Census of Services....

This study investigates the effect of entrepreneurial orientation of firms on their performance considering the moderating role of organization structure in firms of the Kaveh industrial city. The executive managers of these firms (approximately 250 people) have formed the statistical society of...

This paper presents a critical overview of some recent attempts at building formal models of organizations as information-processing and problem-solving entities. We distinguish between two classes of models according to two distinct objects of analysis. The first class includes models mainly...

This paper compares benefits and costs related to hierarchical and decentralized organizations in an agency framework. We show that the relative efficiency of hierarchy diminishes in contexts with asymmetric information. When effort is not observable, a performance-related pay is required in...

We model organization as the command-and-communication network of managers erected on top of technology (which is modeled as a collection of plants). In our framework, the role of a manager is to deal with shocks that affect the plants that he oversees directly or indirectly. Organizational form...

This article proposes a simple framework for understanding an emergent diversity of linkage between corporate governance (CG) and organizational architecture (OA). It distinguishes discreet modes of their linkage by different combinatorial patterns between three basic assets: managers' human...

The choice of organization structure between business group and conglomerate depends on the cost of ownership and the cost of market contracting. The advantages of business groups come from its flexibility in ownership compositions and the limited liability of member firms in the event of...

We model a firm in an institutional market setting, consisting of a production technology and its governance. The governance consists of a hierarchical firm structure, a cost efficiency parameter,and an internal pay system. The depth of the firm is determined by profit maximization under the...