1. Ron Sanchez Joseph Mahoney Strategic Management Journal, 1996 A Paper Summary By Amit Darekar

2. Modularity Product design Organization design Flow of discussion Simon’s(1962) notion of “nearly decomposable” systems Investigate modularity in product and organization designs Modular product design and new knowledge management strategies

3. A system in which interactions among subsystems are weak – Simon(1962) Tasks within multidivisional firm are intentionally designed to require low levels of coordination  Quasi-independent divisions which work as loosely coupled subsystems (Weick, 1976) Environmental disturbances can be localized This paper extends the logic to product design which lead organizations which are structurally decomposed

4. Modularity – A special form of design Intentionally creates loose coupling between component designs Standardized component interface How product designing works? Product Architecture Component 1 Component 2 Component 3

5. Methodology Traditional designing Methodology of constrained optimization Highly integrated product designs Requires intensive managerial coordination Alternative designing Intentionally creates loosely coupled component designs Standardized component interfaces Effective coordination of development process with less managerial intervention

6. Modular product architecture Uses standardized interfaces between components to create flexible product architecture Allows “substitution” of components without having to redesign other components Greater ability to “mix-and-match” that can lead to ease of large number of product variations Strategic flexibility – enable firm to respond quickly to changing markets and technologies Standardized component interfaces enable coordination of loosely coupled organization structure linking geographically dispersed component developers

7. ProductsForm of modular product design AircraftsCommon wing, nose & tail component AutomobilesEngine components, interior parts Consumer ElectronicsCircuit boards, Household AppliancesModules to build up scaled products, such as dish washers Personal ComputersDell SoftwareModules of codes Test InstrumentsPhilips Power ToolsUsage of common components

8. Modular product architecture allows processes to be partitioned into tasks -> can be done autonomously and concurrently by a loosely coupled structure of development organizations

9. Modes of learning in product creation processes Incremental Learning at the component level Modular learning at the component level Architectural Learning Radical Learning at Architectural and Component levels Learning @ Component Interactions and Configurations Learning @ Component Functions and Designs ModerateSignificant Moderate Significant

10. Traditional sequential development process Information Structure is incomplete Desired o/p can’t be fully specified in the beginning Require managerial adjudication Hence tightly coupled organization structure

11. Overlapping problem solving process Possible greater sharing of current info Improves information flow, allowing some inter-related component development to proceed more quickly Has an evolving info structure Requires intensive managerial coordination for incompletely specified tasks

12. Modular Product Design Process Creates complete info structure A firm must have advanced “Architectural Knowledge” Improved component level learning

13. Creates a complete information structure – firm must have advanced architectural knowledge Improved component-level learning Improved architectural-level learning Using modular product architecture as mechanisms for coordinating organizational learning The shifting focus of knowledge management in modular product development Modular Product Design Process

14. This paper suggests that modular product architecture creates - Flexible product designs Enables the design of loosely coupled, flexible, “Modular” organization structures Reduces need for exercise of managerial authority Gives greater flexibility to undertake large number of projects While firms may develop specialized knowledge @ strategically imp modular components, the authors expect firms to develop fewer components Knowledge management may result in increasingly dynamic product markets The paper expects to extend the concept of modularity to designing marketing, distribution, and other processes as well to help attain flexibilities