Core Assumptions in Business Theory
A Wedge Between Performance and Progress
Published on 8. May 2025
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-19-894421-8 (ISBN)
Description
The modern market-based economy generates wealth, but it lags on well-being; it has mastered efficiency, but struggles with equity; it boasts size, but falls short on sustainability. In other words, our economy delivers performance but neglects progress (i.e., well-being, equity, and sustainability). Many rightly call for tighter regulation, higher ("true") prices, and longer-term incentives. Others appeal to corporate purpose, shared value, and stakeholder-centricity.
Beyond regulation and the practice of business, we must attend as well to education and the theory of business. In particular, we must look at business theory's core assumptions, whose weaknesses are long known. In an applied field such as business, where theory tends to be normative, flawed assumptions could act as a "wedge" cleaving apart performance and progress.
In this volume, Subramanian Rangan brings together eminent social scientists and philosophers to explore core assumptions in each of the major fields of business-including economics, strategy, marketing, operations, decision science, leadership, governance, technology, and finance. This structured field-by-field reflection reveals and expands the bounds of our rationality. Core Assumptions in Business Theory proposes a revised profit function that integrates harm, outlines how economic actors may draw on moral philosophy to enact Pareto-equity (and not just Pareto-efficiency), suggests a two-stage rationality approach that can attend to well-being, and recasts marketing as consumer education and not merely demand promotion.
With an emphasis on education rather than regulation of economic power, this volume argues that moral reasoning and moral roles can fruitfully supplement prudential reasoning and functional responsibilities. Such an evolution will enable our economy to be both modern and moral.
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.
Beyond regulation and the practice of business, we must attend as well to education and the theory of business. In particular, we must look at business theory's core assumptions, whose weaknesses are long known. In an applied field such as business, where theory tends to be normative, flawed assumptions could act as a "wedge" cleaving apart performance and progress.
In this volume, Subramanian Rangan brings together eminent social scientists and philosophers to explore core assumptions in each of the major fields of business-including economics, strategy, marketing, operations, decision science, leadership, governance, technology, and finance. This structured field-by-field reflection reveals and expands the bounds of our rationality. Core Assumptions in Business Theory proposes a revised profit function that integrates harm, outlines how economic actors may draw on moral philosophy to enact Pareto-equity (and not just Pareto-efficiency), suggests a two-stage rationality approach that can attend to well-being, and recasts marketing as consumer education and not merely demand promotion.
With an emphasis on education rather than regulation of economic power, this volume argues that moral reasoning and moral roles can fruitfully supplement prudential reasoning and functional responsibilities. Such an evolution will enable our economy to be both modern and moral.
This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read on the Oxford Academic platform and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 251 mm
Width: 181 mm
Thickness: 26 mm
Weight
839 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-894421-8 (9780198944218)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Subi Rangan is Professor of Strategy and Management at INSEAD, the global business school, where he holds the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court Endowed Chair in Societal Progress. His research focuses on how economic actors may better integrate performance and progress. In 2013 he initiated the Society for Progress, a fellowship of eminent philosophers, social scientists, and business leaders. He is also the editor of Capitalism Beyond Mutuality? (OUP, 2018) and Performance & Progress (OUP, 2015).
Content
List of Figures
List of Contributors
Subramanian Rangan: Introduction
Part I. Economics
1: Subramanian Rangan: From Market-Pareto to Moral-Pareto: Seven Problematic Assumptions in Business Economics Theory
2: Jean Tirole: Assumptions in Economics
3: Robert H. Frank: A Half-Dozen Assumptions That Have Led Economists Astray
4: David Autor: Some Assumptions in Labor Economics
5: Joshua Cohen: Reflection on Tirole's Chapter
6: Philip Pettit: Reflections on Autor's and Frank's Chapters
7: Ellen Quigley: Reflections on Frank's, Kailas's, Rangan's, and Tirole's Chapters
Part II. Strategy
8: Jay B. Barney: The Social Welfare Implications of Strategic Management Theory
9: Elizabeth Anderson: Reflections on Barney's Chapter
10: Michael Fuerstein: Humanitarian Monopolists: Reflections on Barney's Chapter
Part III. Marketing
11: Philip Kotler: Fundamental Assumptions in Marketing
12: Hilke Plassmann: Three Assumptions Underlying Customer Value Management: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
13: Valerie Tiberius: Does Anyone Need a Rolex?: Reflections on Kotler's and Plassmann's Chapters
14: Michael Fuerstein: I ''Need'' a Rolex: Reflections on Kotler's and Plassmann's Chapters
Part IV. Decision Science
15: James G. March: Theories of Choice and Value Endogeneity
16: Itzhak Gilboa: Some Questionable Assumptions in Economic Theory
17: David Schmidtz: Reflections on Gilboa's and March's Chapters
Part V. Operations Research
18: Edward H. Kaplan: The Assumptions of Operations Research
19: Philip Kitcher: Reflections on Kaplan's Chapter - I
20: Mathias Risse: Reflections on Kaplan's Chapter - II
Part VI. Organization Theory and Sociology
21: Julie Battilana: Fundamental Assumptions in Organization Theory
22: James P. Walsh: Organization and Management Theory: Our Assumptions and the Quest for a Better World
23: Kwame Anthony Appiah: Assumptions Rational and Not: Reflections on Battilana's and Walsh's Chapters
24: John W. Meyer: The Orientation of Economic Sociology: Assumptions and Limits
25: Gerald F. Davis: Assumptions Underlying Sociological Models in Business Schools
26: David Schmidtz: Social Science Assumptions: Reflections on Meyer's Chapter
27: Philip Kitcher: Methodological Individualism-Lessons (?) from Biology: Reflections on Davis's and Meyer's Chapters
28: Valerie Tiberius: Philosophical Concepts in Organization and Leadership
Part VII. Leadership and Corporate Governance
29: Ramon Mendiola: Fundamental Assumptions about True Leaders
30: Ravi Kailas: A Discussion on Corporate Governance
31: Bertrand Collomb: Incorrect Assumptions That Have Guided Our Economic System
32: Kwame Anthony Appiah: Corporate Governance and Leadership: Reflections on Kailas's and Mendiola's Chapters
33: Philip Pettit: On Corporate Governance: Reflections on Kailas's Chapter
Part VIII. Technology
34: S. D. Shibulal: Assumptions Regarding Technology
35: Jim Hagemann Snabe: A Compass for Technology
36: Elizabeth Anderson: Situating the Assumptions of Technology in Broader Normative Frameworks: Reflections on Shibulal's and Snabe's Chapters
37: Susan Neiman: Concerns about Technology: Reflections on Shibulal's and Snabe's Chapters
Part IX. Finance
38: Raghuram Rajan: Taking Stock of Some Core Assumptions in Finance
39: Marti G. Subrahmanyam: The Finance Paradigm
40: Susan Neiman: Reflections on Rajan's and Subrahmanyam's Chapters - I
41: Mathias Risse: Reflections on Rajan's and Subrahmanyam's Chapters - II
Ebba Abdon Hansmeyer: Afterword: Evolving the Theory, Actors, and Practice of Business
Index
List of Contributors
Subramanian Rangan: Introduction
Part I. Economics
1: Subramanian Rangan: From Market-Pareto to Moral-Pareto: Seven Problematic Assumptions in Business Economics Theory
2: Jean Tirole: Assumptions in Economics
3: Robert H. Frank: A Half-Dozen Assumptions That Have Led Economists Astray
4: David Autor: Some Assumptions in Labor Economics
5: Joshua Cohen: Reflection on Tirole's Chapter
6: Philip Pettit: Reflections on Autor's and Frank's Chapters
7: Ellen Quigley: Reflections on Frank's, Kailas's, Rangan's, and Tirole's Chapters
Part II. Strategy
8: Jay B. Barney: The Social Welfare Implications of Strategic Management Theory
9: Elizabeth Anderson: Reflections on Barney's Chapter
10: Michael Fuerstein: Humanitarian Monopolists: Reflections on Barney's Chapter
Part III. Marketing
11: Philip Kotler: Fundamental Assumptions in Marketing
12: Hilke Plassmann: Three Assumptions Underlying Customer Value Management: An Interdisciplinary Perspective
13: Valerie Tiberius: Does Anyone Need a Rolex?: Reflections on Kotler's and Plassmann's Chapters
14: Michael Fuerstein: I ''Need'' a Rolex: Reflections on Kotler's and Plassmann's Chapters
Part IV. Decision Science
15: James G. March: Theories of Choice and Value Endogeneity
16: Itzhak Gilboa: Some Questionable Assumptions in Economic Theory
17: David Schmidtz: Reflections on Gilboa's and March's Chapters
Part V. Operations Research
18: Edward H. Kaplan: The Assumptions of Operations Research
19: Philip Kitcher: Reflections on Kaplan's Chapter - I
20: Mathias Risse: Reflections on Kaplan's Chapter - II
Part VI. Organization Theory and Sociology
21: Julie Battilana: Fundamental Assumptions in Organization Theory
22: James P. Walsh: Organization and Management Theory: Our Assumptions and the Quest for a Better World
23: Kwame Anthony Appiah: Assumptions Rational and Not: Reflections on Battilana's and Walsh's Chapters
24: John W. Meyer: The Orientation of Economic Sociology: Assumptions and Limits
25: Gerald F. Davis: Assumptions Underlying Sociological Models in Business Schools
26: David Schmidtz: Social Science Assumptions: Reflections on Meyer's Chapter
27: Philip Kitcher: Methodological Individualism-Lessons (?) from Biology: Reflections on Davis's and Meyer's Chapters
28: Valerie Tiberius: Philosophical Concepts in Organization and Leadership
Part VII. Leadership and Corporate Governance
29: Ramon Mendiola: Fundamental Assumptions about True Leaders
30: Ravi Kailas: A Discussion on Corporate Governance
31: Bertrand Collomb: Incorrect Assumptions That Have Guided Our Economic System
32: Kwame Anthony Appiah: Corporate Governance and Leadership: Reflections on Kailas's and Mendiola's Chapters
33: Philip Pettit: On Corporate Governance: Reflections on Kailas's Chapter
Part VIII. Technology
34: S. D. Shibulal: Assumptions Regarding Technology
35: Jim Hagemann Snabe: A Compass for Technology
36: Elizabeth Anderson: Situating the Assumptions of Technology in Broader Normative Frameworks: Reflections on Shibulal's and Snabe's Chapters
37: Susan Neiman: Concerns about Technology: Reflections on Shibulal's and Snabe's Chapters
Part IX. Finance
38: Raghuram Rajan: Taking Stock of Some Core Assumptions in Finance
39: Marti G. Subrahmanyam: The Finance Paradigm
40: Susan Neiman: Reflections on Rajan's and Subrahmanyam's Chapters - I
41: Mathias Risse: Reflections on Rajan's and Subrahmanyam's Chapters - II
Ebba Abdon Hansmeyer: Afterword: Evolving the Theory, Actors, and Practice of Business
Index