This paper develops an integration of transactions costs theory and real options theory that leads to a more complete representation of the problem of economic organizing. By recognizing the opportunity costs associated with internalization of specific-use assets when flexible assets are also...

Product competition in a growing number of markets is undergoing a profound transformation. Some firms are now beginning to use new kinds of 'flexible designs' for products and organizations to pursue innovative product strategies that generate unprecedented levels of product variety and change....

Many industries are now evolving new kinds of competitive environments which are not adequately explained by traditional strategy theory. This article introduces a movement to make strategy theory more relevant to contemporary forms of competition by rethinking both the content and process of...

This paper addresses modularity as a basis for organizing economic activity. We first define the key concepts of architecture and of modularity as a special form of architecture. We then suggest how modular systems of all types may exhibit several properties of fundamental importance to the...

This paper investigates several issues regarding the nature, domain, conceptual foundations, and practical challenges of knowledge management and organizational learning. The paper first identifies and contrasts two fundamental philosophical orientations to knowledge management -- the personal...

This paper seeks to explain the evolution of human systems of exchange through the emergence of both fundamental forms of organization (such as firms and markets) and specific instances of organization (such as individual firms and other economic or social entities) for engaging in exchange. We...

This comprehensive and groundbreaking Handbook integrates economic and organization theories to help elucidate the design and evolution of economic organization. Economic organization is regarded both as a subject of inquiry and as an emerging disciplinary field in its own right, integrating...

This paper explains two fundamental approaches to knowledge management. The tacit knowledge approach emphasizes understanding the kinds of knowledge that individuals in an organization have, moving people to transfer knowledge within an organization, and managing key individuals as knowledge...