Theory of Law & Management

Abstract

This chapter aims to present the originality of the concept of normative flow to help change the perception of what a standard is (which becomes a flow), and consequently the way of managing it. Product norms in a high-speed context and in programmed obsolescence means they need to be managed more systematically than before. This involves moving away from a critical stance of castigating legislative or normative inflation to considering, at the level of the actors in the legal system, what high-speed production and circulation of norms means for our relationship with them. Produced in a flow logic and context, conceived as a flow, the legal standard appears today as one flow among others (an input) that organizations must proactively manage in order to optimize their strategy. The law-in-flow takes seriously the fact that law and regulation is part of, for certain commentators, Porter’s five forces model and may be the most strategic for the organizations. In order to evaluate this, the chapter develops this hypothesis in a five point sequence: by defining the new concept of normative flow; by presenting the originality of the approach to law through the prism of flows; by establishing the state of the literature on the issue; by a reflection on the applicative tools for managing the normative flow developed by scholars and legal practitioners; and by proposing a critical and prospective point of view relating to this approach.