Why Do Firms Exist? Eine theorieintegrative Konzeption ihrer Erstursachen

Approaches to the theory of the firm’s existence are often carried out monocausally. Either the issue is too complicated to be coherently and adequately encompassed, or so far there has been a lack of an appropriate model for doing so systematically. With recourse to Aristotle’s four causes, this article approximates this gap theory-integratively. The four causes, namely the causa materialis (the components, in a socio-economic interpretation), the causa formalis (the particular form), the causa finalis (the very purpose of a thing), and the causa efficiens (what brings in motion) transform decades of management and organization research into a consistent argumentation. The essay concludes with a brief outlook on the compatibility of the elaborated conceptual view of the firm and recent developments in business practices - specifically the increasing machinization of industrial work.