John Roberts holds the John H. Scully Professorship in Economics, Strategic Management and International Business in the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He has published over seventy scholarly articles in academic journals in a variety of areas in economic theory and game theory and their application to problems in industrial competition and management. He has also written numerous case studies of businesses and co-authored the seminal textbook on the economics and management of firms (Economics, Organization and Management, Prentice Hall 1992).

"Best business book of the year...deserves to be a classic... Nobody, it can now be said, is fully fit to run a modern firm until they have read The Modern Firm."--The Economist

"I am aware of no book that does a better job of integrating rigorous economic reasoning with a rich understanding of how firms operate. Economists, sociologists, organization and strategy scholars, as well as practicing managers, can all learn from the insights on strategy and organization contained in this very fine book."--Joel Podolny, Dean of Yale School of Management

"It is interesting, which isn't something you can say about many business books."--The Times of London

"[This] is a book for people looking for a deeper understanding of the modern firm --and enjoying the experience. As one of the world's foremost experts on economics and management, Roberts writes in an engaging style that makes the new ideas readily accessible to a wider business audience."--Bengt Holmström, Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics, MIT

"At BP we have found John Roberts' ideas and concepts to be powerful, and we have used them in addressing the issues we face. The holistic approach he advocates to organizational design is very much in line with my own thinking. I am pleased that these ideas have been made available in a systematic fashion in this timely book."--Sir John Browne, Group Chief Executive, BP plc

"There are plenty of books on management and leadership that explain what leading firms do. This one explains why. The penetrating insights in The Modern Firm can profitably be applied to a wide variety of strategy and organization problems. Roberts, an economist of the first rank, offers us a practical, readable discussion, without mathematical notation. The Modern Firm should be required reading for corporate leaders and their advisers."--Jonathan Day, Partner, McKinsey & Company