Part 1: Basic Concepts lays the groundwork for the book. Chapter 2 summa- rizes the economic view of behavior, stressing its management implications. Chapter 3 presents an overview of markets, provides a rationale for the exis- tence of organizations, and stresses the critical role of the distribution of knowledge within the organization.
Part 2: Managerial Economics applies the basic tools of economic theory to the firm. Chapters 4 through 7 cover the traditional managerial-economics top- ics of demand, production and cost, market structure, and pricing. These four chapters provide the reader with a fundamental set of microeconomic tools and use these tools to analyze basic operational policies such as input, output, and product pricing decisions. Chapters 8 and 9 focus on corporate strategy—the former on creating and capturing values and the latter on employing game the- ory methods to examine the interaction between the firm and its competitors, suppliers, as well as other parties. These chapters also provide important background material for the subsequent chapters on organizations: A robust understanding of the market environment is important for making sound orga- nizational decisions. Chapter 10 examines conflicts of interest that exist within firms and how contracts can be structured to reduce or control these conflicts.


Part 3: Designing Organizational Architecture develops the core frame- work of the book. Chapter 11 provides a basic overview of the organiza- tional-design problem. Chapters 12 and 13 focus on two aspects of the as- signment of decision rights within the firm—the level of decentralization chosen for various decisions followed by the bundling of various tasks into jobs and then jobs into subunits. Chapters 14 and 15 examine compensation policy. First we focus on the level of compensation necessary to attract and retain an appropriate group of employees. We then discuss the composition of the compensation package, examining how the mix of salary, fringe ben- efits, and incentive compensation affects the value of the firm. In Chapters 16 and 17, we analyze individual and divisional performance evaluation. Part 3 concludes with a capstone case on Arthur Andersen.


Part 4: Applications of Organizational Architecture uses the framework that we have developed to provide insights into contemporary management is- sues. Chapters 18 through 23 discuss the legal form of organization, outsourc- ing, leadership, regulation, ethics, and management innovations.