De betekenis van marktstructuren voor de scope van de onderneming

Different market structures and value systems give insight into the changing environment in which companies operate. In this inaugural address the central question is: What is the influence of market structures on the scope of the firm?The objective is to give meaningful contributions to the clear understanding of market structures that are of specific importance at the meso level. To gain more insights into the scope of the firm a framework is constructed based on the three dimensions: product/market, vertical integration and geography. In the framework a tentative expansion in the form of a fourth dimension is suggested: total solutions capability. This framework is relevant because of a relative fixation of dimensions. This means that a change in one of the four dimensions influences the other. So if a company reduces its number of product/market combinations it should go hand-in-hand with geographic expansion. Also the move from stand-alone components, modules, products and services to total solutions should be combined with a reduction of vertical integration. With this framework one can explain the limits of the scope of the firm. The challenge of the scope of the firm is determined by a dynamic balance of both the strategic core of a company and the access to the right strategic networks, which are embedded in more or less open market structures. Companies are supposed to act upon those opportunities, by themselves or in cooperation with others, in which they can achieve economies of scale, scope, span and speed. Harry Commandeur is a professor of Industrial Economics and Business at the Rotterdam School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam. His research interests include the relationship of market structure, corporate strategy and firm performance. In his inaugural address he focuses on the relationship of market structures and the scope of the firm. Harry Commandeur publishes in Journals such as Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of Management Studies, Long Range Planning, Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Business Logistics.