The Science of Success
Market Based Management
But first, a few words about the
Austrians
The Use of Knowledge in Society
Fredrick Hayek
1944
American Economic Review
In the context of the planning problem:
P
S
Q*
Q
Is finding Q the whole problem?
From The Use of Knowledge…
Today it is almost heresy to suggest that scientific knowledge is not the sum of all
knowledge. But a little reflection will show that there is beyond question a body of
very important but unorganized knowledge which cannot possibly be called
scientific in the sense of knowledge of general rules: the knowledge of the
particular circumstances of time and place. It is with respect to this that practically
every individual has some advantage over all others because he possesses unique
information of which beneficial use might be made, but of which use can be made
only if the decisions depending on it are left to him or are made with his active
coöperation. We need to remember only how much we have to learn in any
occupation after we have completed our theoretical training, how big a part of our
working life we spend learning particular jobs, and how valuable an asset in all
walks of life is knowledge of people, of local conditions, and of special
circumstances. To know of and put to use a machine not fully employed, or
somebody's skill which could be better utilized, or to be aware of a surplus stock
which can be drawn upon during an interruption of supplies, is socially quite as
useful as the knowledge of better alternative techniques. And the shipper who
earns his living from using otherwise empty or half-filled journeys of trampsteamers, or the estate agent whose whole knowledge is almost exclusively one of
temporary opportunities, or the arbitrageur who gains from local differences of
commodity prices, are all performing eminently useful functions based on special
knowledge of circumstances of the fleeting moment not known to others.
The knowledge problem
The economics of hurricanes:
The plywood problem: A grand web of
coordination.
How is it done?
The use of Knowledge in the Firm
• (Not an article title)
• The M form firm
• Decision Rights
• Locate decision rights and responsibilities
where they will do the most good.
Locate decision rights and
responsibilities where they will do the
most good.
• Sensible on it’s face, but what does it mean?
• What kind of information is required to make
a decision?
• As Hayek, for some kinds of actions, the
important knowledge is specific to the time
and place, and perhaps fleeting.
Two types of knowledge
• General and scientific: Decision rights are
likely to belong in the home office of a
company
• Specific to time and place: Decisions rights are
likely to reside at a divisional or local office of
a company.
Ummm. Ferinstance?
• Estimates of construction costs where local
conditions matter (Consider techniques)
• Pricing used goods versus pricing new goods
• Choosing what books to carry in a bookstore
• The recipe for beer
• Prescription antibiotics
• Décor for a restaurant chain
More Hayek:
The Meaning of Competition
• The textbook model of competition deprives
the verb “to compete” of all meaning.
• Competition as a process of discovery.
• Discovering prices, yes, but also discovering
products.
On to The Science of Success
Charles Koch and Koch Industries
KII (Koch Industries Incorportated)
One of the largest privately held firms in the
world
Revenues, 2006, 90 billion
Major Components
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Invista (Textiles inputs, once a part of DuPont)
Georgia Pacific (Lumber products, materials)
Pipelines and transportation
Minerals
Energy
Trading
Fertilizer
Politics
• Conservative
• Donates to politicians, mostly Republicans
• An obsession at the New Yorker, MSNBC
• Fred Koch, the company founder, worked in
the Soviet Union in the 1930s, becomes a
staunch anti communist.
Why this book?
• The theme of this course has been, what ideas
that are accepted principles in economics are
readily carried into business management
• And related, to that, how does economics help
us to better understand accepted business
principles
Why this book?
Koch Industries uses economics, often quite
explicitly, in selecting the structure of the
businesses and its conduct.
You will frequently find, in SoS, direct use of
economic principles.
Structural and resource-based approaches are
in evidence, though not equally.
The Science of Human Action
• This is Ludwig von Mises.
• Purposeful actions
• A normative foundation
• This chapter is in part devoted to recognizing
the position of a company in society.
Key ideas for us in this chapter
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The Five Dimensions
Vision: Create long term value. (planning)
Virtue and Talents: Personnel policy, broadly
understood.
Knowledge Processes: Acquiring and applying
knowledge, tracking profitability
Decision Rights: Authority and responsibility
Incentives: Rewarding people
Economics Exposed
Opportunity cost
“An example from the late 1960’s concerned one such
introductory concept that, in spite of being widely
taught, was not widely practiced. We were addressing
a question of when to sell some inventory. I suggested
selling it immediately, but was told the price was below
what we had originally paid, so we should wait until it
recovered. I pointed out that this shouldn’t be the test,
because what we paid was now a sunk cost. “
(This is followed by a statement of the sunk cost rule. )
More of this
Subjective Value
Anchored in people’s willingness to pay, which
is a matter of preferences.
Discusses diminishing marginal valuation and
the diamonds and water paradox
And still more
Comparative advantage:
Unless two people (nations) are exact multiples of
each other in terms of productivity, they will each
have a comparative advantage, even if one is
absolutely better in each activity.
The more productive party will benefit from
practicing the activity in which it has the greatest
advantage. The less productive party will benefit
from practicing the activity in which it is least
disadvantaged.
Supply
P. 37 shows something that looks like a supply
curve. Sort-of. It reflects that firms have
different cost structures. Firms will enter and
exit an industry as price fluctuates.
The diagram and related discussion shows
how knowledge of competitors cost structures
can provide useful productions about the
market.
Beyond that….
The economics is less explicit.
But note this:
“To its credit, the development group pioneered
the use of internal markets… . This helped us
more fully appreciate the value of having
measures based on economic reality.”
This is transfer pricing.
The Vision Thing
“Determine where and how the organization can
best create value in society to maximize its
own value long term through a value of
experimental discovery.”
What is this?
“Determine where and how the organization can
best create value in society to maximize its
own value, long term, through a process of
experimental discovery.”
Porter? RBV? Something else?
Any novelty here?
Basic Economics
• “Creating superior value means generating
greater value from resources consumed than
alternative uses.”
• (And how do we know the value in alternative
uses?)
• “A vision statement is the organization’s view
of how it plans to create value.”
Some RBV
(Regarding the erosion of profitability over a
product’s life…)
The wide range of strategies available to slow this
decline include: developing good customer
relationships; maintaining a strong brand with
the quality and consistency to back it up;
developing hard to duplicate distribution
channels; establishing long term sales or supply
contracts; developing new applications;”
(continues with IP protection, benefit/cost
improvements.)
(Still on vision: Innovation)
• Stainmaster example.
• “It is natural to think that if customers don’t
complain, they are satisfied.”
• “Customers seldom know what they will value
until they see it.”
Structure? RBV?
It is apparent from Koch Industries’ vision and
the diversity of its businesses that we view
ourselves as bound by capabilities, rather than
our industries or products, as is more typical.
Next up: Virtue and Talents
The personnel chapter
Next up: Virtue and Talents
Insure that people with the right virtue and
talents are hired and retained. Maintain a
culture based on the MBM principles.
Virtue is singular, but talents is plural.
MBM Guiding Principles
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Integrity
Compliance
Value creation
Principled entrepreneurship
Customer focus
Knowledge
Change
Humility
Respect
Fulfillment
Talents
Multiple Intellegences
(It takes all kinds to make a world)
Lessons from a week at leadership
school
It takes all kinds to make a world
All of us are better than any of us.
(Actually, this one is nonsense)
Different kinds decisions require different
processes
Decisions, decisions
• Does the decision require information from
others?
• Does the decision require buy-in from others?
• Does legitimacy require consultation, even
voting, from others?
• If not, make a decision.
But seriously folks…
• Talents are important.
• A key R in the RBV
• Accommodation and appreciation
Knowledge Processes
• “Ensure that knowledge is optimally acquired,
shared and applied. Measure profitability
wherever practical.”
• Analogy to the market process of Austrian
economics. Competition as a process.
• The last three chapters draw heavily on
economic reasoning.
Your assignment
• Read pages 99-154 if you haven’t already
• Identify three places in each chapter that are
right out of economics
• Identify two more that reflect economics.
• Bring your list to class.