Document Type
Journal Article
Publication Title
Journal of Business Research
Volume
151
First Page
635
Last Page
650
Publisher
Elsevier
School
School of Business and Law
RAS ID
52118
Abstract
The mirroring hypothesis suggests a correspondence between product, firm and industry architecture, however, empirical support to date has been mixed. Drawing upon an inductive study of the UK pensions industry, we break new ground by investigating the extent to which product, firm and industry architectures correspond in the face of changing institutional dynamics – most notably dynamic regulatory change. In considering periods of both correspondence and non-correspondence at the aggregate sector level, our results show that firms in the sector seek the efficiency benefits of product component-level mirroring, but only to the extent that the component has low value. In contrast, where components provided an opportunity to capture value, managers strategically chose non-correspondence by developing stronger relational ties with suppliers and, in a later period, through vertical (re)integration, despite the systemic modularity of the product.
DOI
10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.023
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Burton, N., & Galvin, P. (2022). Modularity, value and exceptions to the mirroring hypothesis. Journal of Business Research, 151, 635-650. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.07.023