Input Markets and the Strategic Organization of the Firm

Organizational structure of firms is an important topic that has been widely discussed in virtually all management disciplines. The typical view of firm organization emphasizes enhancing efficiency by fully aligning incentives of all participants to achieve a common objective. Over the years, research in accounting, economics, and marketing has stressed how competition in output markets can alter this view. More recently, there has been an emphasis on how a firm’s concurrent participation in input markets, wherein strategic supplier considerations are in play, can further alter the traditional view of organizational structure. This monograph seeks to synthesize such results and present the key considerations and conclusions that can be gleaned from this research. In doing so, the monograph emphasizes implications for accounting but also stresses the inherent interconnectivity with issues in industrial organization, strategy, and regulation.