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- Faculty Publications (34)
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- All HBS Web (115)
- Faculty Publications (34)
- 2010
- Working Paper
The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-periphery Structures Dominate?
By: Alan MacCormack, Carliss Y. Baldwin and John Rusnak
Any complex technological system can be decomposed into a number of subsystems and associated components, some of which are core to system function while others are only peripheral. The dynamics of how such "core-periphery" structures evolve and become embedded in a... View Details
Keywords: Innovation and Management; Product Design; Practice; Core Relationships; Software; Information Technology Industry
MacCormack, Alan, Carliss Y. Baldwin, and John Rusnak. "The Architecture of Complex Systems: Do Core-periphery Structures Dominate?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 10-059, January 2010.
- 2017
- Other Article
Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance
By: Alan MacCormack and Robert Lagerstrom
The modern industrial corporation encompasses a myriad of different software applications, each of which must work in concert to deliver functionality to end-users. However, the increasingly complex and dynamic nature of competition in today’s product-markets dictates... View Details
Keywords: Applications and Software; Design; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Performance Effectiveness
MacCormack, Alan, and Robert Lagerstrom. "Designing an Agile Software Portfolio Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Performance." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2017). (doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2017.297, ISSN 2151-6561.)
- August 1995
- Case
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges
By: Richard L. Nolan
Presents the outcome of Air Products ICON decentralization projects. New issues are explored, including the challenges of having a decentralized MIS staff, global network, client/server architecture, new data center issues, outsourcing, a new highly strategic customer... View Details
Keywords: Information Technology; Information Infrastructure; Applications and Software; Organizational Design; Problems and Challenges
Nolan, Richard L. "Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.: IT Organization and Architecture Challenges." Harvard Business School Case 196-017, August 1995.
- 05 Jul 2006
- Working Paper Summaries
Exploring the Structure of Complex Software Designs: An Empirical Study of Open Source and Proprietary Code
- 16 Jul 2013
- Working Paper Summaries
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case
- 2013
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and David Dreyfus
We test a method that was designed and used previously to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software systems. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover new facts about the components and their relationships in an enterprise... View Details
Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and David Dreyfus. "Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Architecture: An Exploratory BioPharma Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-105, June 2013.
- 2013
- Working Paper
Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case
By: Robert Lagerstrom, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack and Stephan Aier
We test a method for visualizing and measuring enterprise application architectures. The method was designed and previously used to reveal the hidden internal architectural structure of software applications. The focus of this paper is to test if it can also uncover... View Details
Keywords: Communication Technology; Complexity; Applications and Software; Product Design; Telecommunications Industry
Lagerstrom, Robert, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, and Stephan Aier. "Visualizing and Measuring Enterprise Application Architecture: An Exploratory Telecom Case." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-103, June 2013.
- 27 Mar 2008
- Working Paper Summaries
Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis
- March 1994 (Revised July 1995)
- Case
Lotus Development Corp. in 1994
Jim Manzi, president and CEO of Lotus, must decide whether to position the firm as a provider of network applications or of the architectural programs required to support network applications. The decision will have lasting implications for Lotus's position in both... View Details
Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Competitive Advantage; Applications and Software; Industry Structures; Information Technology Industry
McGahan, Anita M. "Lotus Development Corp. in 1994." Harvard Business School Case 794-114, March 1994. (Revised July 1995.)
- October 2016
- Article
Technical Debt and System Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Defect-related Activity
By: Alan MacCormack and Daniel J. Sturtevant
Technical debt is created when design decisions that are expedient in the short-term increase the costs of maintaining and adapting this system in future. An important component of technical debt relates to decisions about system architecture. As systems grow and... View Details
Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Performance Efficiency; Applications and Software; Infrastructure
MacCormack, Alan, and Daniel J. Sturtevant. "Technical Debt and System Architecture: The Impact of Coupling on Defect-related Activity." Journal of Systems and Software 120 (October 2016): 170–182. (Received 31 May 2015. Revised 28 May 2016. Accepted 4 June 2016.)
- January 2004
- Background Note
Beyond the IT Monolith
By: Marco Iansiti and Gregg Rotenberg
Leading companies are employing a radical new approach to IT--an approach that points the way to a new model of software architecture and deployment. These companies' successes seem to indicate that the problems IT critics have correctly identified are not, in fact,... View Details
The Truth About Open Offices
It’s never been easier for workers to collaborate—or so it seems. Open, flexible, activity-based spaces are displacing cubicles, making people more visible. Messaging is displacing phone calls, making people more accessible. Enterprise social media tools are displacing... View Details
- December 2005
- Case
IBM and Eclipse (A)
IBM faces a collective action problem: It open sourced its $40 million application platform and has to convince other companies to contribute. Explores the events leading up to IBM's decision to make the Eclipse platform available as an Open Source project. In 1998,... View Details
Keywords: Digital Platforms; Open Source Distribution; Cooperation; Adoption; Computer Industry; Information Technology Industry
O'Mahony, Siobhan, Fernando Cela Diaz, and Evangelos Mamas. "IBM and Eclipse (A)." Harvard Business School Case 906-007, December 2005.
- 2008
- Working Paper
Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis
By: Alan D. MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin
A variety of academic studies argue that a relationship exists between the structure of an organization and the design of the products that this organization produces. Specifically, products tend to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations in which they are... View Details
Keywords: Open Source Distribution; Product Design; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Performance Effectiveness; Information Technology Industry
MacCormack, Alan D., John Rusnak, and Carliss Y. Baldwin. "Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-039, March 2008. (Revised October 2008, January 2011.)
- 2023
- Working Paper
Data Governance, Interoperability and Standardization: Organizational Adaptation to Privacy Regulation
By: Sam (Ruiqing) Cao and Marco Iansiti
The increasing availability of data can afford dynamic competitive advantages among data-intensive
corporations, but governance bottlenecks hinder data-driven value creation and increase regulatory risks.
We analyze the role of two technological features of data... View Details
Keywords: Organizations; Information Technology; Performance Productivity; Growth and Development; Transformation
Cao, Sam (Ruiqing), and Marco Iansiti. "Data Governance, Interoperability and Standardization: Organizational Adaptation to Privacy Regulation." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-122, May 2021. (Revised November 2023.)
- 02 Nov 2010
- First Look
First Look: November 2, 2010
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPREMNET/Resources/EP31.pdf Working PapersWhen Open Architecture Beats Closed: The Entrepreneurial Use of Architectural Knowledge Authors:Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract... View Details
Keywords: Sean Silverthorne
- December 2021 (Revised January 2023)
- Case
Katerra (A)
By: Lindsay N. Hyde, Thomas R. Eisenmann and Tom Quinn
In April 2020, Katerra executives struggled with a series of decisions that would determine the fate of one of the best-funded construction startups in history. Katerra was founded in 2015 by technology-industry executive Michael Marks and commercial real estate... View Details
Keywords: Business Startups; Insolvency and Bankruptcy; Entrepreneurship; Failure; Construction; Real Estate Industry; Technology Industry; United States
Hyde, Lindsay N., Thomas R. Eisenmann, and Tom Quinn. "Katerra (A)." Harvard Business School Case 822-021, December 2021. (Revised January 2023.)
- 02 Dec 2002
- Research & Ideas
The Secret of How Microsoft Stays on Top
the company has built over time, which is largely embedded in its software code libraries. This base is critical to internal innovation, as it makes product development more efficient and powerful. Additionally, it spawns external... View Details
Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne
- 06 Jun 2005
- Research & Ideas
Microsoft vs. Open Source: Who Will Win?
it), the development cycle is significantly shorter. Proponents of OSS claim that if this demand-side learning (as we call it) is sufficiently strong, OSS will oust traditional software. In addition, software engineers claim that the... View Details
- 22 Oct 2007
- Research & Ideas
Bringing ‘Lean’ Principles to Service Industries
order of tasks. A complementary tool, the SCE (system complexity estimator), ranks a software module based on its complexity and compares its actual architecture with its ideal (simplest) View Details