Firms spend much more of their time on survival. Arguably they have incorporated the market-based cycles of creation and destruction inwardly. ie they have abso

Firms spend much more of their time on survival. Arguably they have incorporated the market-based cycles of creation and destruction inwardly. ie they have absorbed this cycle. In technology we see this in two areas: 1. In Outsourcing and the rise of contractors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_outsourcing_to_India http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_process_outsourcing_to... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_outsourcing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_technology_outsourc... This enables the business to spend money on product maintenance and product development. Then the business can shut this off when cashflow stops. (But the firm keeps going!) 2. We see the rise of Product Management http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_management http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_management This is a kind of 'management science' devoted to starting, maintaining and stopping products. (But the firm keeps going!) The point I'm making is that firms are getting older because they can incorporate the cycles of creation and destruction internally. You might argue this is good for the shareholder in the medium term.