Publications

27 Mar 2007
First Look

First Look: March 27, 2007

Working PapersFrom Manufacturing to Design: An Essay on the Work of Kim B. Clark Authors:Sylvain Lenfle and Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract Kim Clark occupies a unique place in... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

17 Oct 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, October 17, 2017

Digital Agility: The Impact of Software Portfolio Architecture on IT System Evolution By: MacCormack, Alan, Robert Lagerström, Martin Mocker, and Carliss Y. Baldwin... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Oct 1999
News

The View from the Pit

Illustration by Steve Bjorkman When the Class of 1974 returns to campus to celebrate its 25th Reunion, at least three of its members won't have far to travel. From their base of operations at Soldiers Field, faculty members and classmates... View Details

Keywords: Judith A. Ross

23 Feb 2010
First Look

First Look: Feb. 23

innovation in clusters should account for these links. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/10-064.pdf The Strategic Use of Architectural Knowledge by Entrepreneurial Firms Author:Carliss Y.... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

03 Aug 2010
First Look

First Look: August 3

of emissions tests, we find empirical support for our hypotheses that particular forms of firm governance and product portfolios can mitigate moral hazard. Download the paper: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/11-004.pdf Cases & Course MaterialsRoche's Acquisition... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

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

01 Oct 2000
News

Books

Design Rules: The Power of Modularity (Volume 1) by Carliss Y. Baldwin and Kim B. Clark (The MIT Press) Today's fast-paced global economy often... View Details

18 Sep 2007
First Look

First Look: September 18, 2007

Synthesis Author:Carliss Y. Baldwin Abstract This paper constructs a unified theory of the location of transactions and the boundaries of firms. It proposes that systems of production can be viewed as... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

June 1990 (Revised August 1990)
Case

Sun Microsystems, Inc.--1987 (A)

An integrated sequence of three cases on the financing of a technical workstation manufacturer. This case focuses on Sun's competitive strategy which requires an inordinately high rate of growth (over 20% per quarter) and commensurate amounts of working capital.... View Details

Keywords: Cash Flow; Competitive Strategy; Financing and Loans; Capital; Financial Strategy; Public Equity; Corporate Finance; Information Technology Industry

Educators

Purchase

2020
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 3 Transaction Free Zones

In Chapter 2 we saw that the most economical locations for transactions in a task network are the so-called thin crossing points—places where transfers are easy to define, count and pay for. However, in many places in the task network, transfers of material, energy,... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Information Technology; Organizations

2020
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 2 Transactions in a Task Network

From the 1930s through today, many economists have conceived of large technical systems for the production of goods and services as a series of transactions. This point of view has led eminent economists to assert that transactions are the fundamental unit of analysis... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Information Technology; Organizations

2018
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 6 The Value Structure of Technologies, Part 1: Mapping Functional Relationships

Organizations are formed in a free economy because a person or group perceives value in carrying out a technical recipe that is beyond the capacity of a single person. Technology specifies what must be done, what resources must be assembled, what actions taken, and... View Details

Keywords: Language; Information Technology; System; Relationships

2015
Chapter

Modularity and Organizations

Modularity describes the degree to which a complex system can be broken apart into subunits (modules) that can be recombined in various ways. Modularity is important for organizations and the economy because the boundaries of organizational units and corporations are... View Details

Keywords: Complexity; Organizations

Purchase

8 Jul 2013
Lecture

The Impact of Modularity on Intellectual Property and Value Appropriation

17 Jun 2013 - 18 Jun 2013
Conference Presentation

Design as a Commons: Lessons from Teacher's Participation in the Design of New Schools

Aug 2012
Talk

Investigating Architectures and Knowledge

Aug 2012
Conference Presentation

Organizational Design in Business Ecosystems

8 Jun 2012 - 12 Jun 2012
Lecture

Legal Challenges of Distributed Innovation

2012
Article

Organization Design for Business Ecosystems

The modern corporation has long been the central focus of the field of organization design. Such firms can be likened to nation-states: they have boundaries that circumscribe citizen-employees, and they engage in production and trade. But individual corporations are... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Business Ecosystems; Distributed Innovation; Problem Solving; Property Rights; Organization Design; Networks; Integration; Competition; Organizational Design; Innovation and Management