The Role of Luck in Business Administration

The theoretical content of business administration corresponds to the operative system originating from the indissoluble link between the organizational and managerial systems. It may be considered as a branch of economic science (general theory) destined to evolve, as every pure science, as well as to develop in various specializations for diverse operative types, corresponding to the various techniques of business initiatives. From the systemic conception of the firm, arises the origin of principles, applicable to all companies but debatable from a scientific point of view and variable in relation to the unstable environmental conditions. The observance of principles, deemed valid and in accordance with the business reality and social-political scene, is synonymous to the firm’s success. But the success of a business, which operates in a complex milieu, characterized by the simultaneous presence of order and disorder (theory of chaos), also depends on the importance of casual events that influence its precarious conditions of equilibrium. Very often, the successful results of a business are attributable to simple luck and not on the perspicacity of the businessman or the ability of a manager or the validity of specific techniques. Thus, the importance of the casual event in the context of a complex system which has interested physicists, mathematicians, biologists, humanists and, even more recently, economists, especially those interested in business administration. The present paper aims to emphasize the importance of random causality, especially in today’s world, which may have a direct bearing on the finances of a firm, determining the success (or failure) of any type of business initiative.