The paper analyzes the Italian auto industry investments in Industry 4.0 technologies and firms' ... more The paper analyzes the Italian auto industry investments in Industry 4.0 technologies and firms' perceived risks, constraints and limits to new technologies adoption. Results show that firms 4.0 are those at the higher level of the supply pyramid and closer to the final market, and are among the most innovative, dynamic and performing companies. Particularly firms invested to improve the Production, Quality, Logistics and Maintenance areas. The study also analyzes the relevance of the Italian Government's plan for sustaining innovative investments and overall the main risks and constraints that could hinder the activation of Industry 4.0 initiatives in this setting.
Obiettivo del paper: In un contesto generale di crisi economica si discute l'impatto che il contr... more Obiettivo del paper: In un contesto generale di crisi economica si discute l'impatto che il contratto di rete può avere sulla performance delle piccole e medie imprese del settore automotive che vi aderiscono. Metodologia: L' analisi empirica proposta in questo articolo si basa sull' analisi quantitativa dei dati di performance delle imprese italiane del settore automotive. È stata sviluppata una regressione lineare robusta utilizzando i dati di Infocamere sulle imprese in rete e i dati provenienti dalla banca dati AIDA sulle loro performance. Risultati: I risultati dello studio indicano che le imprese in rete registrano performance superiori rispetto alle imprese non in rete e che la relazione tra adesione alla rete e performance è più forte all' aumentare degli anni di collaborazione; un interessante risultato suggerisce come tale effetto positivo si riduca all' aumentare del numero di imprese aderenti al contratto di rete. Limiti della ricerca: Le imprese in rete del settore auto sono ancora un numero esiguo e appartengono a diversi settori produttivi. Inoltre, la finestra temporale su cui è stata sviluppata l' analisi empirica risulta piuttosto ristretta vista la recente introduzione dello strumento normativo del contratto di rete. Implicazioni pratiche: Il lavoro di ricerca suggerisce di strutturare la rete privilegiando un numero contenuto di partner e di dare alla rete un orizzonte sufficientemente lungo per permetterle di raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati e per permettere alle imprese coinvolte di individuare i meccanismi di coordinamento più adatti. Originalità del paper: Lo studio è uno dei primi contributi che evidenzia la relazione tra il contratto di rete e la performance delle imprese, aggiungendo una maggiore comprensione anche delle dimensioni organizzative rilevanti. Parole chiave: contratto di rete; reti di imprese; industria automotive The "network contract" in the automotive industry: a performing means in a turbolent setting Purpose of the paper: The paper debates the relevance of the 'network contract' during the economic crisis in enhancing SMEs' performance in the automotive industry. Methodology: We explore through a quantitative analysis the correlation between having signed a 'network contract' and the firms' performance by developing a linear robust regression analysis and relying on the Infocamere (for network contracts) and AIDA (for firms' performance) datasets.
Ricerche per l’innovazione nell’industria automotive
La collana rappresenta un importante strumento d’indagine del settore autoveicolare. È realizzato... more La collana rappresenta un importante strumento d’indagine del settore autoveicolare. È realizzato, in collaborazione, da ANFIA (Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica), Camera di commercio di Torino, e il CAMI (Center for Automotive and Mobility Innovation dell’Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia). Raccoglie i rapporti annuali dell’Osservatorio sulla componentistica automotive italiana, che offre un quadro complessivo sull’intera filiera autoveicolare. In particolare, sono indagati aspetti sia di carattere strutturale (classificazione per sistemi di prodotto, standard qualitativi, eventuale decentramento produttivo, livello di subfornitura, internazionalizzazione, innovazione, relazioni interorganizzative, ecc.) sia congiunturale (andamento della produzione, andamento delle esportazioni, previsioni, ecc.) relativi al settore.
This Working Paper is published under the auspices of the Department of Management at Università ... more This Working Paper is published under the auspices of the Department of Management at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not those of the Department or the University. The Working Paper series is designed to divulge preliminary or incomplete work, circulated to favour discussion and comments. Citation of this paper should consider its provisional nature.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates service modularity and inter-organizational coupling in knowledg... more ABSTRACT This paper investigates service modularity and inter-organizational coupling in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). While KIBS literature traditionally emphasizes tight client–provider interactions with service customization, modularity literature emphasizes inter-organizational decoupling with service standardization. We disentangle this tension by exploring how KIBS firms utilize service modularity and shape their client–provider relationships in terms of information and knowledge sharing. Conducting two in-depth case studies of third-party logistics (TPLs), we show that TPLs extensively rely on service modularity with standard procedures as their constitutive element. We also demonstrate that service modularity and inter-organizational decoupling are aligned for knowledge sharing but not for information sharing, which remains high regardless of the service architecture. Overall, we suggest that modularity in KIBS differs in many aspects from modularity in products and that these differences significantly impact the organizational design consequences of service modularity. Theoretical and managerial implications are drawn.
This paper, building on R&D integration and improvisation literature, explores how firms organize... more This paper, building on R&D integration and improvisation literature, explores how firms organize to jointly develop common product platforms if their integration process is still in progress. In order to address our exploratory research question, we draw on a unique set of empirical data gathered during the Fiat-Chrysler R&D integration process and during the development of their first shared product platform. We show that, how due to fierce competition on time in the industry, the two companies did not have time to complete the planned R&D integration. As a consequence, the first shared platform development project represented the real locus of technological, knowledge, and organizational integration between the two firms. In line with the R&D integration literature, this paper identifies a set of planned integration mechanisms: a centralized R&D area, two teams that mirror each other, integrator roles and shared technical norms. This organization was designed to help Fiat and Chrysler exploiting their complementarities. Furthermore, building on the improvisational literature, we show that the planned organization did not suffice: interstices between the two firms exist and planning and improvisation are complementary. Improvisation should be built upon a minimum structure and firms willing to accelerate their integration process can rely upon NPD activities.
ABSTRACT While the mainstream literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) has long... more ABSTRACT While the mainstream literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) has long emphasized their customized nature and their role in exploring new knowledge to satisfy each client's needs, recent research has argued that competition is inducing KIBS firms to standardize their offer. In this paper, we concentrate on a particular type of KIBS firms, third-party logistic service providers (TPLs), and analyze how two TPLs face the customization-standardization trade-off by using service architectures. We find that TPLs do not trade off customization for standardization, instead they manage to pursue both simultaneously relying on modular services, which constitutive elements are standard procedures. Service modularity enables the TPL to exploit its existing knowledge base while only some knowledgeable clients prompt TPLs to explore new procedures. Overall, our results suggest that service customization and knowledge exploration can be separated. TPLs should manage their customer relationships using a portfolio approach, balancing supply relationships in which they replicate existing services with partnership-based relationships with competent customers in which they develop new procedures. Managing the temporal separation between exploration and exploitation consequently becomes a core competence.
This study investigates how component technological change affects the relationship between produ... more This study investigates how component technological change affects the relationship between product modularity and organizational modularity (the across-firm mirroring hypothesis). Studying the air conditioning industry, we show that the across-firm mirroring hypothesis does not hold for technologically dynamic components and the associated supply relationships. In this case, the mirror gets "misted up" with buyers and suppliers having recourse to information sharing even in the presence of highly modular components. Our study contributes to the debate on the organizational implications of modularity and its ramifications for the theory of the firm.
ABSTRACT This study explores whether, to what extent, and under which conditions modular products... more ABSTRACT This study explores whether, to what extent, and under which conditions modular products are associated with modular organizations (the "mirroring" hypothesis). We analyze the product and organizational architectures of three firms in the air conditioning industry through an original data set of 100 components and supply relationships. Applying a variety of regression methods, we show that, under the condition of product architecture stability at the component level, supplier relations for loosely coupled components are characterized by less information sharing, which implies that the degree of coupling of product components varies directly with the degree of coupling of organizations (the "mirroring" hypothesis). Also, the performance of supply relationships depends on the amount of buyer—supplier information sharing but not on the degree of component modularity, which supports the relational view and confirms that product modularity does not have unambiguous effects on organizational performance. Moreover, the degree of component modularity negatively moderates the impact of buyer—supplier information sharing on supplier-relationship performance, which confirms that component modularity works as an ex ante, embedded substitute for high-powered interorganizational integration mechanisms. Finally, contingent on firms' strategies, organizational structures, and capabilities, we argue that at the firm level, higher product modularity may be associated either with less information sharing with suppliers, which implies that the mirroring effect might hold also at the firm level, or with more information sharing with suppliers, which implies that there may be increasing returns to modularity in design efforts because of interorganizational integration (the "complementarity" hypothesis).
The paper analyzes the Italian auto industry investments in Industry 4.0 technologies and firms' ... more The paper analyzes the Italian auto industry investments in Industry 4.0 technologies and firms' perceived risks, constraints and limits to new technologies adoption. Results show that firms 4.0 are those at the higher level of the supply pyramid and closer to the final market, and are among the most innovative, dynamic and performing companies. Particularly firms invested to improve the Production, Quality, Logistics and Maintenance areas. The study also analyzes the relevance of the Italian Government's plan for sustaining innovative investments and overall the main risks and constraints that could hinder the activation of Industry 4.0 initiatives in this setting.
Obiettivo del paper: In un contesto generale di crisi economica si discute l'impatto che il contr... more Obiettivo del paper: In un contesto generale di crisi economica si discute l'impatto che il contratto di rete può avere sulla performance delle piccole e medie imprese del settore automotive che vi aderiscono. Metodologia: L' analisi empirica proposta in questo articolo si basa sull' analisi quantitativa dei dati di performance delle imprese italiane del settore automotive. È stata sviluppata una regressione lineare robusta utilizzando i dati di Infocamere sulle imprese in rete e i dati provenienti dalla banca dati AIDA sulle loro performance. Risultati: I risultati dello studio indicano che le imprese in rete registrano performance superiori rispetto alle imprese non in rete e che la relazione tra adesione alla rete e performance è più forte all' aumentare degli anni di collaborazione; un interessante risultato suggerisce come tale effetto positivo si riduca all' aumentare del numero di imprese aderenti al contratto di rete. Limiti della ricerca: Le imprese in rete del settore auto sono ancora un numero esiguo e appartengono a diversi settori produttivi. Inoltre, la finestra temporale su cui è stata sviluppata l' analisi empirica risulta piuttosto ristretta vista la recente introduzione dello strumento normativo del contratto di rete. Implicazioni pratiche: Il lavoro di ricerca suggerisce di strutturare la rete privilegiando un numero contenuto di partner e di dare alla rete un orizzonte sufficientemente lungo per permetterle di raggiungere gli obiettivi prefissati e per permettere alle imprese coinvolte di individuare i meccanismi di coordinamento più adatti. Originalità del paper: Lo studio è uno dei primi contributi che evidenzia la relazione tra il contratto di rete e la performance delle imprese, aggiungendo una maggiore comprensione anche delle dimensioni organizzative rilevanti. Parole chiave: contratto di rete; reti di imprese; industria automotive The "network contract" in the automotive industry: a performing means in a turbolent setting Purpose of the paper: The paper debates the relevance of the 'network contract' during the economic crisis in enhancing SMEs' performance in the automotive industry. Methodology: We explore through a quantitative analysis the correlation between having signed a 'network contract' and the firms' performance by developing a linear robust regression analysis and relying on the Infocamere (for network contracts) and AIDA (for firms' performance) datasets.
Ricerche per l’innovazione nell’industria automotive
La collana rappresenta un importante strumento d’indagine del settore autoveicolare. È realizzato... more La collana rappresenta un importante strumento d’indagine del settore autoveicolare. È realizzato, in collaborazione, da ANFIA (Associazione Nazionale Filiera Industria Automobilistica), Camera di commercio di Torino, e il CAMI (Center for Automotive and Mobility Innovation dell’Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia). Raccoglie i rapporti annuali dell’Osservatorio sulla componentistica automotive italiana, che offre un quadro complessivo sull’intera filiera autoveicolare. In particolare, sono indagati aspetti sia di carattere strutturale (classificazione per sistemi di prodotto, standard qualitativi, eventuale decentramento produttivo, livello di subfornitura, internazionalizzazione, innovazione, relazioni interorganizzative, ecc.) sia congiunturale (andamento della produzione, andamento delle esportazioni, previsioni, ecc.) relativi al settore.
This Working Paper is published under the auspices of the Department of Management at Università ... more This Working Paper is published under the auspices of the Department of Management at Università Ca' Foscari Venezia. Opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not those of the Department or the University. The Working Paper series is designed to divulge preliminary or incomplete work, circulated to favour discussion and comments. Citation of this paper should consider its provisional nature.
ABSTRACT This paper investigates service modularity and inter-organizational coupling in knowledg... more ABSTRACT This paper investigates service modularity and inter-organizational coupling in knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS). While KIBS literature traditionally emphasizes tight client–provider interactions with service customization, modularity literature emphasizes inter-organizational decoupling with service standardization. We disentangle this tension by exploring how KIBS firms utilize service modularity and shape their client–provider relationships in terms of information and knowledge sharing. Conducting two in-depth case studies of third-party logistics (TPLs), we show that TPLs extensively rely on service modularity with standard procedures as their constitutive element. We also demonstrate that service modularity and inter-organizational decoupling are aligned for knowledge sharing but not for information sharing, which remains high regardless of the service architecture. Overall, we suggest that modularity in KIBS differs in many aspects from modularity in products and that these differences significantly impact the organizational design consequences of service modularity. Theoretical and managerial implications are drawn.
This paper, building on R&D integration and improvisation literature, explores how firms organize... more This paper, building on R&D integration and improvisation literature, explores how firms organize to jointly develop common product platforms if their integration process is still in progress. In order to address our exploratory research question, we draw on a unique set of empirical data gathered during the Fiat-Chrysler R&D integration process and during the development of their first shared product platform. We show that, how due to fierce competition on time in the industry, the two companies did not have time to complete the planned R&D integration. As a consequence, the first shared platform development project represented the real locus of technological, knowledge, and organizational integration between the two firms. In line with the R&D integration literature, this paper identifies a set of planned integration mechanisms: a centralized R&D area, two teams that mirror each other, integrator roles and shared technical norms. This organization was designed to help Fiat and Chrysler exploiting their complementarities. Furthermore, building on the improvisational literature, we show that the planned organization did not suffice: interstices between the two firms exist and planning and improvisation are complementary. Improvisation should be built upon a minimum structure and firms willing to accelerate their integration process can rely upon NPD activities.
ABSTRACT While the mainstream literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) has long... more ABSTRACT While the mainstream literature on knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS) has long emphasized their customized nature and their role in exploring new knowledge to satisfy each client's needs, recent research has argued that competition is inducing KIBS firms to standardize their offer. In this paper, we concentrate on a particular type of KIBS firms, third-party logistic service providers (TPLs), and analyze how two TPLs face the customization-standardization trade-off by using service architectures. We find that TPLs do not trade off customization for standardization, instead they manage to pursue both simultaneously relying on modular services, which constitutive elements are standard procedures. Service modularity enables the TPL to exploit its existing knowledge base while only some knowledgeable clients prompt TPLs to explore new procedures. Overall, our results suggest that service customization and knowledge exploration can be separated. TPLs should manage their customer relationships using a portfolio approach, balancing supply relationships in which they replicate existing services with partnership-based relationships with competent customers in which they develop new procedures. Managing the temporal separation between exploration and exploitation consequently becomes a core competence.
This study investigates how component technological change affects the relationship between produ... more This study investigates how component technological change affects the relationship between product modularity and organizational modularity (the across-firm mirroring hypothesis). Studying the air conditioning industry, we show that the across-firm mirroring hypothesis does not hold for technologically dynamic components and the associated supply relationships. In this case, the mirror gets "misted up" with buyers and suppliers having recourse to information sharing even in the presence of highly modular components. Our study contributes to the debate on the organizational implications of modularity and its ramifications for the theory of the firm.
ABSTRACT This study explores whether, to what extent, and under which conditions modular products... more ABSTRACT This study explores whether, to what extent, and under which conditions modular products are associated with modular organizations (the "mirroring" hypothesis). We analyze the product and organizational architectures of three firms in the air conditioning industry through an original data set of 100 components and supply relationships. Applying a variety of regression methods, we show that, under the condition of product architecture stability at the component level, supplier relations for loosely coupled components are characterized by less information sharing, which implies that the degree of coupling of product components varies directly with the degree of coupling of organizations (the "mirroring" hypothesis). Also, the performance of supply relationships depends on the amount of buyer—supplier information sharing but not on the degree of component modularity, which supports the relational view and confirms that product modularity does not have unambiguous effects on organizational performance. Moreover, the degree of component modularity negatively moderates the impact of buyer—supplier information sharing on supplier-relationship performance, which confirms that component modularity works as an ex ante, embedded substitute for high-powered interorganizational integration mechanisms. Finally, contingent on firms' strategies, organizational structures, and capabilities, we argue that at the firm level, higher product modularity may be associated either with less information sharing with suppliers, which implies that the mirroring effect might hold also at the firm level, or with more information sharing with suppliers, which implies that there may be increasing returns to modularity in design efforts because of interorganizational integration (the "complementarity" hypothesis).
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