Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
  • Browse All
    Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis
    27 Mar 2008Working Paper Summaries

    Exploring the Duality between Product and Organizational Architectures: A Test of the Mirroring Hypothesis

    by Alan D. MacCormack, John Rusnak and Carliss Y. Baldwin
    Products are often said to "mirror" the architectures of the organization from which they come. Is there really a link between a product's architecture and the characteristics of the organization behind it? The coauthors of this working paper chose to analyze software products because of a unique opportunity to examine two different organizational modes for development, comparing open-source with proprietary "closed-source" software. The results have important implications for development organizations given the recent trend toward "open" approaches to innovation and the increased use of partnering in research and development projects. Key concepts include:
    • A product's architecture tends to mirror the structure of the organization within which it is developed.
    • New organizational arrangements can have a distinct impact on the nature of the resulting design, and hence may affect product performance in unintended ways.
    • There are substantial differences in relative levels of modularity between software systems of similar size and function.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    A variety of academic work asserts that a relationship exists between the structure of a development organization and the architecture of the products that this organization produces. Specifically, products are often said to "mirror" the architectures of the organizations from which they come. Such a link, if confirmed empirically, would be important, given that product architecture has been shown to be an important predictor of, among other things: product performance; product variety; process flexibility; and future industry evolution. We explore this relationship in the software industry by use of a technique called Design Structure Matrices (DSMs), which allows us to visualize the architectures of different software products and to calculate metrics to compare their levels of modularity. We use DSMs to analyze a number of matched-pair products--products that fulfill the same function but that have been developed via contrasting modes of organization; specifically, closed-source (or proprietary) versus open-source (or distributed) development. Our results reveal significant differences in modularity, consistent with a view that distributed teams tend to develop more modular products. We conclude by highlighting some implications of this result and assessing how future work in this field should proceed, based upon these first steps in measuring "design."

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: March 2008
    • HBS Working Paper Number: 08-039
    • Faculty Unit(s): Technology and Operations Management; Finance
      Trending
        • 31 May 2023
        • HBS Case

        From Prison Cell to Nike’s C-Suite: The Journey of Larry Miller

        • 23 May 2023
        • Research & Ideas

        Face Value: Do Certain Physical Features Help People Get Ahead?

        • 31 May 2023
        • HBS Case

        Why Business Leaders Need to Hear Larry Miller's Story

        • 30 May 2023
        • Research & Ideas

        Can AI Predict Whether Shoppers Would Pick Crest or Colgate?

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

    Carliss Y. Baldwin
    Carliss Y. Baldwin
    William L. White Professor of Business Administration, Emerita
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Alan D. MacCormack
    Alan D. MacCormack
    MBA Class of 1949 Adjunct Professor of Business Administration
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Infrastructure
    • Strategy

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College