Towards a Relational Theory of the Firm
This book lays the groundwork for a relational theory of the firm as a network of stakeholder resources and interests. Drawing on the author’s earlier publications on relational economics as the political economy of a global cooperative economy or stakeholder capitalism, it explores the governance and managerial implications of a relational economy for firms, while also critically revisiting the traditional and resource-based view of the firm. In turn, it explains concepts such as relational governance, relational costs, relational spaces, rent from cooperation, and shared value creation, as well as a dynamic and process-oriented relational business model. The book discusses the epistemological and methodological prerequisites of a relational theory of the firm and addresses their theoretical taxonomy. A relational theory of the firm is a work in progress; the book represents an invitation to join this theoretical and empirical undertaking.
Josef Wieland holds the chair of institutional economics, organizational governance, integrity management, and transcultural leadership at the Zeppelin University (ZU) in Friedrichshafen, Germany. He serves also as the director of the Leadership Excellence Institute Zeppelin (LEIZ, ZU)). He is the initiator and president of the German Forum Compliance and Integrity (FCI). He is member of the Accreditation Council of Banknote Ethics Initiative (BnEI). He served as the former chairman of the German Network of Business Ethics (DNWE) and is currently the chairman of DNWE’s advisory board. He is member of the International Research Advisory Board of the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) at the University of Pretoria (South Africa). He received the Max Weber Prize for Business Ethics of the BDI (Federation of German Industries) in 1999. In 2014, he received the highly estimated State Research Prize for Applied Research from the State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
