Modular Architectures in the Marketing Process

Modular product architectures are being adopted as the basis for new product designs in a growing number of markets. In this article, the author explains how adoption of modular product architectures makes possible new kinds of processes for creating and realizing products, as well as new approaches to identifying and managing organizational knowledge used in product creation and realization. When managed strategically, modular product, process, and knowledge architectures enable firms to create greater product variety, introduce technologically improved products more rapidly, bring new products to market more quickly, and lower costs of product creation and realization. This article investigates the ways in which the strategic use of modular architectures can affect the marketing process. It explains ways in which modular architectures change the technologically determined possibilities for product creation and realization in the marketing process, create new market dynamics, and lead to new objectives and methods for the marketing process.

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