The theory of the firm addresses the economic choice concerning the coordination of production: direct control by an entrepreneur on the one hand or an open market pricing mechanism on the other. We draw upon design theory to offer new thinking on the choice to integrate economic activities within the boundaries of the firm. By drawing on the scholarship in the field of design studies, we show that the coordination of production could both be created and eliminated by a design. It is a design that specifies the labor and material inputs, thus defining the type and number of factors of production. An important factor is the formality of the design, which influences the potential for its modularization into discrete units of production that can be contracted on the open market. In sum, the article argues that design theory can contribute novel conceptualizations to theory of the firm questions on firm existence, scale, and scope.

中文翻译：

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企业设计：第 1 部分——企业理论

企业理论解决了有关生产协调的经济选择：一方面由企业家直接控制，另一方面是公开市场定价机制。我们利用设计理论为将经济活动整合到公司范围内的选择提供新的思考。通过利用设计研究领域的学术成果，我们表明生产的协调可以通过设计来创造和消除。它是一种指定劳动力和材料投入的设计，从而定义生产要素的类型和数量。一个重要的因素是设计的形式，这会影响其模块化成可以在公开市场上签约的离散生产单元的潜力。总共，