The concept of modularity in management studies: A literature review

International Journal of Management Reviews

Volumn 12, Issue 3, 2010, Pages 259-283

  Campagnolo, Diego ^a   Camuffo, Arnaldo ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF PADOVA   (Italy)

^b BOCCONI UNIVERSITY   (Italy)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 77955239233     PISSN: 14608545     EISSN: 14682370     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00260.x     Document Type: Review

References (126)

1. Alexander C. Notes on the Synthesis of Form 1964, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press
2. Antonio KWL, Yam RCM, Tang E. The impacts of products modularity on competitive capabilities and performance: an empirical study. International Journal of Production Economics 2007, 105:1-20. pp
3. Argyres NS. The impact of information technology on coordination: evidence from the B-2 'Stealth' bomber. Organization Science 1999, 10:162-180. pp
4. Arora A, Gambardella A, Rullani E. Division of labour and the locus of inventive activity. Journal of Management and Governance 1997, 1:123-140. pp
5. Baldwin CY, Clark KB. Managing in an age of modularity. Harvard Business Review 1997, 75:84-93. pp
6. Baldwin CY, Clark KB. Design Rules. Volume 1: The Power of Modularity 2000, Cambridge, MA, MIT Press
7. Baldwin CY, Clark KB. The value, costs and organizational consequences of modularity. Working Paper. Available at. 2003, http://www.people.hbs.edu/cbaldwin/DR1/descrip.html
8. Berger S. How We compete. What Companies around the World Are Doing to Make it in Today's Global Economy 2006, New York, NY, Currency Doubleday
9. Brusoni S. The limits to specialization: problem solving and coordination in 'Modular Networks'. Organization Studies 2005, 26:1885-1907. pp
10. Brusoni S, Fontana A. Modularity as an entry strategy: the invasion of new niches in the LAN equipment industry. CESPRI Working Paper 171. Available at. 2005, http://www.cespri.unibocconi.it
11. Brusoni S, Prencipe A. Unpacking the black box of modularity: technologies, products and organizations. Industrial and Corporate Change 2001, 10:179-205. pp
12. Brusoni S, Prencipe A. Making design rules: a multidomain perspective. Organization Science 2006, 17:179-189. pp
13. Brusoni S, Prencipe A, Pavitt K. Knowledge specialization, organizational coupling, and the boundaries of the firm: why do firms know more than they make? Administrative Science Quarterly 2001, 46:587-621. pp
14. Calcagno M. Dynamics of modularity. A critical approach. Paper presented at the Euram Conference, 9-11 May. 2002, Stockholm
15. Cainarca GC, Colombo MG, Mariotti S. Computer-based automation and the governance of vertical transactions. Industrial and Corporate Change 1993, 2:73-89. pp
16. Campagnolo D, Camuffo A. The use of modular organizational forms in Italy: an industry level analysis: Paper presented at Academy of Management Meeting 'Knowledge, Action and the Public Concern'. 2006, Atlanta, GA, 11-16 August
17. Campagnolo D, Costa G. Modularità e business process outsourcing. Sviluppo & Organizzazione 2006, 214:97-114. pp
18. Camuffo A. Rolling out a 'world car': globalization, outsourcing and modularity in the auto industry. Korean Journal of Political Economy 2004, 2:183-224. pp
19. Chesbrough HW. Towards a dynamics of modularity: a cyclical model of technical advance. The Business of Systems Integration 2003, 174-200. Prencipe ADavies AHobday H., Oxford, Oxford University Press
20. Chesbrough HW, Kusunoki K. The modularity trap: innovation, technology phase-shifts and the resulting limits of virtual organizations. Managing Industrial Knowledge 2001, 202-230. Nonaka I, David T., London, Sage
21. Daft RL, Lewin AY. Where are the theories of 'new' organizational forms? An editorial essay. Organization Science 1993, 4:i-vi. pp
22. DiMarco P, Eubanks CF, Ishii K. Compatibility analysis of product design for recyclability. Proceedings of the 1994 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences, 14th International Conference on Computers in Engineering, Minneapolis, MN 1994, New York, ASME
23. Djelic ML, Ainamo A. The coevolution of new organizational forms in the fashion industry: a historical and comparative study of France, Italy, and the United States. Organization Science 1999, 10:622-637. pp
24. Erixon G. Modular Function Deployment - A Method for Product Modularization 1998, Stockholm, The Royal Institute of Technology, Dept. of Manufacturing Systems, Assembly System Division
25. Erixson G, Erlandsson A, Ostgren B, von Yxkull A. Modular products for major leadtime reductions and development planning. Proceedings of the 1994 International Forum on DFMA, Kingston, RI 1994, Wakefield, RI, Boothroyd Dewhurst
26. Ernst D. Limits to modularity: reflections on recent developments in chip design. Industry and Innovation 2005, 12:303-335. pp
27. Ethiraj SK, Levinthal D. Bounded rationality and the search for organizational architecture: an evolutionary perspective on the design of organizations and their evolvability. Administrative Science Quarterly 2004a, 49:404-437. pp
28. Ethiraj SK, Levinthal D. Modularity and innovation in complex systems. Management Science 2004b, 50:159-173. pp
29. Ethiraj SK, Levinthal D, Roy RR. The dual role of modularity: innovation and imitation. Management Science 2008, 54:939-955. pp
30. Fine CH. Clockspeed: Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage 1998, Cambridge, MA, Perseus Books
31. Fixson SK. The multiple faces of modularity - a literature analysis of a product concept for assembled hardware products. 2003, Technical Report 03-05, Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan
32. Fixson SK. Product architecture assessment: a tool to link product, process, and supply chain design decisions. Journal of Operations Management 2005, 23:345-369. pp
33. Fixson SK. A roadmap for product architecture costing. Product Platform and Product Family Design: Methods and Applications 2006a, 305-334. Simpson TWSiddique ZJiao RJ., New York, Springer
34. Fixson SK. What exactly is product modularity? The answer depends on who you ask. 2006b, MIT Sloan School Working Paper 4631-06, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA
35. Fixson SK. Modularity and commonality research: past developments and future opportunities. Concurrent Engineering: Research and Application 2007, 15:85-111. pp
36. Fixson SK, Park JK. The power of integrality: linkages between product architecture, innovation and industry structure. Research Policy 2008, 37:1296-1316. pp
37. Fixson SK, Ro Y, Liker JK. Modularization and outsourcing: who drives whom? - A study of generational sequences in the U.S. Cockpit Industry. International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 2005, 5:166-183. pp
38. Fleming L, Sorenson O. The dangers of modularity. Harvard Business Review 2001, 79:20-21. pp
39. Fourcade F, Midler C. Vehicle modularization: challenges facing level-1 suppliers and prerequisites for its implementation. 2003, Paper presented at the 11th Gerpisa International Colloquium 'Company actors on the look out for new analytical schema', 11-13 June, Paris
40. Fourcade F, Midler C. Modularisation in the auto industry: can manufacturer's architectural strategies meet supplier's sustainable profit trajectories? International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 2004, 4:240-260. pp
41. Frigant V, Talbot D. Technological Determinism and modularity: lessons from a comparison between aircraft and auto industries in Europe. Industry and Innovation 2005, 12:337-355. pp
42. Fujimoto T. Architecture-based comparative advantage - a design information view of manufacturing. Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review 2007, 4:55-112. pp
43. Fujimoto T, Takeishi A. Modularization in the auto industry: interlinked multiple hierarchies of product, production and suppliers systems. 2001, CIRJE-F-107 discussion paper, Tokyo University, March
44. Galunic DC, Eisenhardt KM. Architectural innovation and modular corporate forms. Academy of Management Journal 2001, 44:1229-1249. pp
45. Galvin P, Morkel A. The effect of product modularity on industry structure: the case of the world bicycle industry. Industry and Innovation 2001, 8:31-47. pp
46. Garud R, Kumaraswamy A. Technological and organizational designs for realizing economics of substitutions. Strategic Management Journal 1995, 16(Special Issue):93-109. pp
47. Managing in the Modular Age. Architectures, Networks, and Organizations. 2003, Garud RKumaraswamy ALanglois RN. (eds), Oxford, Blackwell
48. Gereffi G, Humphrey J, Sturgeon T. The governance of global value chains. Review of International Political Economy 2005, 12:78-104. pp
49. Gershenson JK, Prasad GJ, Allamneni S. Modular product design: a life-cycle view. Journal of Integrated Design and Process Science 1999, 3:13-26. pp
50. Gershenson JK, Prasad GJ, Zhang Y. Product modularity: definitions and benefits. Journal of Engineering Design 2003, 14:295-313. pp
51. Gottfredson M, Puryear R, Phillips S. Strategic sourcing. From periphery to the core. Harvard Business Review 2005, 132-139. February
52. He D, Kusiak A. Design of assembly systems for modular products. IEEE Transactions on Robotics and Automation 1997, 13:646-655. pp
53. He DW, Kusiak A. Performance analysis of modular products. International Journal of Product Research 1996, 34:253-272. pp
54. Helfat CE, Eisenhardt KM. Inter-temporal economies of scope, organizational modularity, and the dynamics of diversification. Strategic Management Journal 2004, 25:1217-1232. pp
55. Henderson RM, Clark KB. Architectural innovation: the reconfiguration of existing product technologies and the failure of established firms. Administrative Science Quarterly 1990, 35:9-30. pp
56. Hill CWL, Hitt MA, Hoskinsson RE. Cooperative versus competitive structures in related and unrelated diversified firms. Organization Science 1992, 3:501-521. pp
57. Hillstrom F. Applying axiomatic design to interface analysis in modular product development. Advances in Design Automation 1994, 69:67-76. pp
58. Hoetker G. Do modular products lead to modular organizations? Strategic Management Journal 2006, 27:501-518. pp
59. Hoetker G, Swaminathan A, Mitchell W. Modularity and the impact of buyer-supplier relationships on the survival of suppliers. Management Science 2007, 53:178-191. pp
60. Holweg M, Pil F. The Second Century: Reconnecting Customer and Value Chain Through Build-to-Order 2004, Cambridge, MA, The MIT Press
61. Huang CC, Kusiak A. Modularity in design of products and systems. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man and Cybernetics 1998, 28:66-77. pp
62. Ikeda M, Nakagawa Y. Two ways of modularization strategy in Japan. Toyota-Honda vs Nissan-Mazda. 2001, Paper presented at the IX Gerpisa Colloquium, Paris, 7-9 June
63. Ishii K. Modularity: a key concept in product life-cycle engineering. Handbook of Life-cycle Enterprise 1998, 511-531. Molina AKusiak A., Dordrecht, Kluwer
64. Ishii K, Yang TG. Modularity: international industry benchmarking and research roadmap. 2003, Paper presented at ASME 2003, Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference, Chicago, Illinois USA, 2-6 September
65. Ishii K, Juengel C, Eubanks CF. Design for product variety: key to product line structuring. Proceedings of the 1995 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences, 7th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology, Boston, MA 1995, New York, ASME
66. Jacobides MG. Industry change through vertical disintegration: how and why markets emerged in mortgage banking. Academy of Management Journal 2005, 48:465-498. pp
67. Jacobides MG, Knudsen T, Augier M. Benefiting from innovation: value creation, value appropriation and the role of industry architectures. Research Policy 2006, 35:1200-1221. pp
68. Karim S. Modularity in organizational structure: the reconfiguration of internally developed and acquired business units. Strategic Management Journal 2006, 27:799-823. pp
69. Katz ML, Shapiro C. Systems competition and network effects. Journal of Economic Perspectives 1994, 8(2):93-115. pp
70. Kinutani H. Modular assembly in mix-model production at Mazda. Transforming Auto Assembly. International Experiences with Automation and Work Organization 1997, Fujimoto TShimokawa KJuergens U., Frankfurt, Springer. 94-108
71. Langlois RN. External economies and economic progress: the case of the microcomputer industry. Business History Review 1992, 66:1-50. pp
72. Langlois RN. Modularity in technology and organization. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 2002, 49:19-37. pp
73. Langlois RN. The Vanishing Hand: the changing dynamics of industrial capitalism. Industrial and Corporate Change 2003, 12:351-385. pp
74. Langlois RN. Networks and innovation in a modular system: lessons from the microcomputer and stereo component industries. Research Policy 1992, 21:297-313. pp
75. Lei D, Hitt MA, Goldhar JD. Advanced manufacturing technology: organizational design and strategic flexibility. Organization Studies 1996, 17:501-523. pp
76. Levitt T. Exploit the product life cycle. Harvard Business Review 1965, 81-94. November-December
77. MacDuffie JP. Modularity and the automobile: what happened when the concept hit the road. 2006, Working Paper, Wharton School, U. Pennsylvania and International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP)
78. Macher JT, Mowery DC. Vertical specialization and industry structure in high technology industries. Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 21 - Business Strategy over the Industry Life Cycle 2004, 317-355. Baum JAC, McGahan A., Amsterdam, Elsevier
79. Marshall R, Leaney PG, Botterell P. Enhanced product realization through modular design: an example of product/process integration. Journal of Integrated Design and Process Technology 1998, 3:143-150. pp
80. Martin JA, Eisenhardt KM. Cross-business synergy: recombination, modularity and the multi-business team. 2002, Herb Kelleher Center for Entrepreneurship Working Paper Series, No. 2
81. Martin JA, Eisenhardt KM. Coping with decline in dynamic markets: corporate entrepreneurship and the recombinative organizational form. Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 21 - Business Strategy over the Industry Life Cycle 2004, 357-382. Baum JAC, McGahan A., Amsterdam, Elsevier
82. Mikkola JH. Capturing the degree of modularity embedded in product architectures. Journal of Product Innovation Management 2006, 23:128-146. pp
83. Handbook of Life-cycle Enterprise 1998, Molina AKusiak A. (eds), Dordrecht, Kluwer
84. Nadler DA, Tushman ML. The organization of the future: strategic imperatives and core competencies for the 21st century. Organizational Dynamics 1999, 28:45-60. pp
85. Nelson R, Winter S. An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change 1982, Cambridge, MA, Beknap Press
86. Newcomb PJ, Bras B, Rosen DW. Implications of modularity on product design for the life cycle. Journal of Mechanical Design 1998, 120:483-491. pp
87. Pil FK, Cohen SK. Modularity: implications for imitation, innovation, and sustained advantage. Academy of Management Review 2006, 31:995-1011. pp
88. Pimmler TU, Eppinger SD. Integration analysis of product decompositions. Proceedings of the 1994 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conferences, 6th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology, Minneapolis, MN 1994, New York, ASME
89. The Business of Systems Integration 2003, Prencipe ADavies AHobday M. (eds), Oxford, Oxford University Press
90. Ro YK, Liker JK, Fixson SK. Modularity as a strategy for supply chain coordination: the case of U.S. Auto. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 2008, 54:172-189. pp
91. Rogers GG, Bottaci L. Modular production systems: a new manufacturing paradigm. International Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing 1997, 8:147-156. pp
92. Sako M. Modularity and outsourcing. The Business of Systems Integration 2003, 229-253. Prencipe ADavies AHobday M., Oxford, Oxford University Press
93. Sako M, Murray F. Modular strategies in cars and computers. Financial Times 1999a, 6 December
94. Sako M, Murray F. Modules in design, production and use: implications for the global automotive industry. 1999b, Paper prepared for the IMVP Annual Forum, MIT Boston, 6-7 October
95. Salvador F, Forza C, Rungtusanatham M. Modularity, product variety, production volume, and component sourcing: theorizing beyond generic prescriptions. Journal of Operations Management 2002, 20:549-575. pp
96. Salvador F. Towards a product modularity construct: literature review and reconceptualization. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management 2007, 54:219-240. pp
97. Sanchez R. Strategic flexibility in product competition. Strategic Management Journal 1995, 16:135-159. pp
98. Sanchez R. Strategic product creation: managing new interactions of technology, markets, and organizations. European Management Journal 1996, 14:121-138. pp
99. Sanchez R, Mahoney JT. Modularity, flexibility, and knowledge management in product and organization design. Strategic Management Journal 1996, 17:63-76. pp
100. Schilling MA. Towards a general modular systems theory and its application to inter-firm product modularity. Academy of Management Review 2000, 25:312-334. pp
101. Schilling MA. Commentary to 'Toward a general modular systems theory and its application to interfirm product modularity'. Managing in the Modular Age. Architectures, Networks, and Organizations 2003, 203-216. Garud RKumaraswamy ALanglois RN., Oxford, Blackwell
102. Schilling MA, Steensma HK. The use of modular organizational forms: an industry-level analysis. Academy of Management Journal 2001, 44:1149-1168. pp
103. Siddique Z, Rosen DW. On the applicability of product variety design concepts to automotive platform commonality. Proceedings of the 1998 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, Atlanta, GA 1998, New York, ASME
104. Siddique Z, Rosen DW. Product platform design: a graph grammar approach. Proceedings of the 1999 ASME Design Engineering Technical Conference, 11th International Conference on Design Theory and Methodology, Las Vegas, NV 1999, New York, ASME
105. Simon HA. Near decomposability and the speed of evolution. Industrial and Corporate Change 2002, 11:587-599. pp
106. Simon HA. The architecture of complexity. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 1962, 106:467-482. pp
107. Sosa ME, Eppinger SD, Rowles CM. Designing modular and integrative systems. Proceeding of the 2000 ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences, 10-13 September, Baltimore, MD 2000, New York, ASME
108. Sosa ME, Eppinger SD, Rowles CM. The misalignment of product architecture and organizational structure in complex product development. Management Science 2004, 50:1674-1689. pp
109. Sosale S, Hashemian M, Gu P. Product modularization for reuse and recycling. Concurrent Product Design and Environmentally Conscious Manufacturing 1997, (5):195-206. ASME, DE-94/MED
110. Sturgeon TJ. Modular production networks: a new American model of industrial organization. Industrial and Corporate Change 2002, 11:451-496. pp
111. Sturgeon TJ. Modular production's impact on Japan's electronics industry. Recovering from Success, Innovation, and Technology Management in Japan 2006, 47-69. Whittaker HDCole R., Oxford, Oxford University Press
112. Takeishi A. Knowledge partitioning in the interfirm division of labor: the case of automotive product development. Organization Science 2002, 13:321-338. pp
113. Takeishi A, Fujimoto T. Modularization in the car industry: Interlinked multiple hierarchies of product, production and supplier systems. The Business of Systems Integration 2003, 254-278. Prencipe A, Davies AHobday M., Oxford, Oxford University Press
114. Thyssen J, Israelsen P, Jorgensen B. Activity-based costing as a method for assessing the economics of modularization. A case study and beyond. International Journal of Production Economics 2006, 103:252-270. pp
115. Tsukune H, Tsukamoto M, Matsushita T, Tomita F, Okada K, Ogasawara T, Takase K, Yuba T. Modular manufacturing. International Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing 1993, 4:163-181. pp
116. Ulrich K. The role of product architecture in the manufacturing firm. Research Policy 1995, 24:419-440. pp
117. Ulrich K, Tung K. Fundamentals of product modularity. 1991, Working Paper WP 3335-91-MSA, MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA
118. Utterback J. Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation 1994, Boston, Harvard Business School Press
119. Voordijk H, Meijboom B, de Haan J. Modularity in supply chains: a multiple case study in the construction industry. International Journal of Operations & Production Management 2006, 26:600-618. pp
120. Weick KR, Orton JD. Loosely coupled systems: a reconceptualization. Academy of Management Review 1990, 16(2):203-223. pp
121. Whitney D, Heller DA, Higashi H, Fukuzawa M. Production engineering as system integrator? A research note based on a study of door engineering and assembly at Toyota motor corporation. 2007, Working Paper, MMRC Discussion Paper No. 169, University of Tokyo
122. Williamson OE. The Economic Institutions of Capitalism: Firms, Markets, Relational Contracting 1985, New York, The Free Press
123. Worren N, Moore K, Cardona P. Modularity, strategic flexibility, and firm performance: a study of the home appliance industry. Strategic Management Journal 2002, 23:1123-1140. pp
124. Global Production Networking and Technological Change in East Asia 2004, Yusuf SAltaf ANabeshima K. (eds), Oxford, Oxford University Press
125. Zenger T, Hesterly W. The disaggregation of corporations: selective intervention, high-powered incentives and molecular units. Organization Science 1997, 8:209-222. pp
126. Zirpoli F, Becker M. Organizing Complex Product Development: Outsourcing, Performance Integration and the Role of Product Architecture. 2008, http://ssrn.com/abstract=1087236, 25 January). Available at SSRN: