[cop359]

"The larger the corporation (by total employee count) the less nimble they become."

That's because of antiquated management structures. Look at Gore and Associates (makers of Goretex) for a modern corporate structure. Elements of a corporation should be almost completely independent and the only reason they are part of one entity is because of synergies and cooperation.

To give a toy example, McDonalds might grow and slaughter their own cows because they can better place them near their distribution facilities. Buying from a third party might create unnecessary overhead.

I'm sorta oversimplifying things, but I'd recommend reading

"Re-Creating the Corporation" by the late Russell Ackoff to appreciate why corporations exist (and why sometimes they shouldn't)

http://www.amazon.com/Re-Creating-Corporation-Design-Organiz...

[gregpilling]

In-n-Out Burgers does run their own butcher department. The company structure worked pretty well too, since the company did not stumble when a big chunk of the executive team and the CEO died in a plane crash. see http://fora.tv/2009/07/14/In-N-Out_Burger_Stacy_Perman#Histo...

[jkeel]

Thanks for the book reference. Looks interesting. If it's one thing I believe it's that there is not a single approach to anything. This seems like a good book for me

I do believe there are things that large corporations can do well and they do have their place. I hope that with technology advancements smaller companies can compete is some spaces traditionally well suited to these larger organizations.