The V-form organisation and the future of the firm

Abstract

This chapter details how blockchains facilitate a new category of firm: the V-form organisation, where vertical integration is outsourced to a distributed ledger. The chapter first outlines the evolution of the firm from the unitary structure (U-form) to the multidivisional (M-form), and explains how V-form organisations are distinct. V-form organisations are structured around supply chains of information. The chapter looks at the experience of V-form organisations so far, and makes some predictions about the future of the firm, which the authors expect to be smaller, less hierarchical, and more networked.