Spring is here, though Winter may have her last blast.
Frantic rush to get a paper proposal into SMR. The idea being a Special Issue on Edith Penrose’s work and influence. I point to commonalities with Coase – all under the Knight umbrella. Fritz Machlup, her thesis adviser, took part in Knight’s dispute with ‘the Austrians’ over ‘capital’ – which led to Knight asserting the distinction between resources and services.
Zanner cocooned ashore. Draft of my new Knight/Commons/Coase paper completed! Way too long to publish, but I shall be able to mine it and its supporting materials for several papers and a book. It proposes an institutional approach to economics and theorizing ‘the firm’. Goes back to the Methodenstreit.
Academic Activities. I came into management education in 1971 after Naval service and managerial work in several industries. I wanted to understand this experience. It proved more difficult – and more interesting – than I imagined. Ever since I have been working on a theory of the firm that has a central place for the managerial/entrepreneurial imagination. I have only recently understood how this brings strategy, entrepreneurship, ethics, and leadership together into a single inquiry.
