This paper investigates the economic role of modularity in the design of new products and processes. We construct a formal model of the design process based on the financial theory of options, and analyze the benefits and costs of breaking apart a complex design into independent modules linked...

The existing theory of modularity explains how modular designs create value. We extend this theory to address value appropriation. A product or process design that is modular with respect to intellectual property (IP) allows firms to better capture value in situations where knowledge and value...

The boundaries and contours of design sciences continue to undergo definition and refinement. In many ways, the sciences of design defy disciplinary characterization. They demand multiple epistemologies, theoretical orientations (e.g. construction, analysis or intervention) and value...

The central role of quot;platformquot; products and services in mediating the activities of disaggregated quot;clustersquot; or quot;ecosystemsquot; of firms has been widely recognized. But platforms and the systems in which they are embedded are very diverse. In particular, platforms may exist...

This is the first of a series of papers that investigates the institutional forms that can arise and be sustained by a quot;technology of design.quot; This paper sets up our quot;model worldquot; in terms of its technology, actors and larger context. In subsequent papers, we will define three...

Every artifact has a design, and thus designs are an important class of information goods. In this paper, we establish the scope of the design valuation methodology based on real options, which we developed in Design Rules, Volume 1, The Power of Modularity (MIT Press, 2000). We argue that if an...

Much academic work asserts a relationship between the design of a complex system and the manner in which this system evolves over time. In particular, designs which are modular in nature are argued to be more quot;evolvable,quot; in that these designs facilitate making future adaptations, the...

Designs are the instructions that turn knowledge into things that people value and are willing to pay for. In human cultures, almost all value inheres in designs. Designs in turn span the whole universe of human artifacts and activities. Tangible products and their production processes,...

The last twenty years have witnessed the rise of disaggregated quot;clustersquot; or quot;networksquot; of firms. In these clusters the activities of Ramp;D, product design, production, logistics and selling may be split up among hundreds or even thousands of firms. Different firms will design...

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 ldquo;mirrorrdquo; the architectures of the organizations in which they are developed. This...