When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change

© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group In the modularity literature, an architectural decomposition and ‘mirroring’ between task boundaries, knowledge boundaries, and firm boundaries has been suggested as a way to enhance managerial efficiency and as a source of potential...

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Main Authors: Burton, N., Galvin, Peter
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67642
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author Burton, N.
Galvin, Peter
author_facet Burton, N.
Galvin, Peter
author_sort Burton, N.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group In the modularity literature, an architectural decomposition and ‘mirroring’ between task boundaries, knowledge boundaries, and firm boundaries has been suggested as a way to enhance managerial efficiency and as a source of potential strategic advantage. Despite its intuitive appeal, empirical support for ‘mirroring’ is significant but mixed. In this paper, we utilise an industrial economics and knowledge-based perspective to hypothesise how the combined effects of product architecture type, product complexity and the rate of product component change may influence task, knowledge and firm boundaries and hence be associated with either phases of mirroring or non-mirroring (‘misting’). We suggest that whether mirroring or misting is an efficient strategic choice is influenced by the characteristics of both the product architecture and the rate of technological change at the product component level, and changes across time as products evolve. Our framework helps to reconcile existing mixed evidence and provides the foundation for further empirical research.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-676422018-05-18T08:05:01Z When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change Burton, N. Galvin, Peter © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group In the modularity literature, an architectural decomposition and ‘mirroring’ between task boundaries, knowledge boundaries, and firm boundaries has been suggested as a way to enhance managerial efficiency and as a source of potential strategic advantage. Despite its intuitive appeal, empirical support for ‘mirroring’ is significant but mixed. In this paper, we utilise an industrial economics and knowledge-based perspective to hypothesise how the combined effects of product architecture type, product complexity and the rate of product component change may influence task, knowledge and firm boundaries and hence be associated with either phases of mirroring or non-mirroring (‘misting’). We suggest that whether mirroring or misting is an efficient strategic choice is influenced by the characteristics of both the product architecture and the rate of technological change at the product component level, and changes across time as products evolve. Our framework helps to reconcile existing mixed evidence and provides the foundation for further empirical research. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67642 10.1080/09537325.2018.1437259 restricted
spellingShingle Burton, N.
Galvin, Peter
When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title_full When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title_fullStr When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title_full_unstemmed When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title_short When do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? The combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
title_sort when do product architectures mirror organisational architectures? the combined role of product complexity and the rate of technological change
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/67642