Modularisation and the changing nature of automotive design capabilities

This paper uses an analysis of developments in the automotive sector to examine the implications of modularisation upon organisational design and the changing nature of design capabilities within product development relationships. A case study is presented and the findings illustrate that product and knowledge boundaries are difficult to synchronise and that misalignment at the vehicle system level can lead to knock-on effects of misalignment at the level of the organisation. This misalignment can be further complicated by competing approaches towards product modularisation, a re-distribution of engineering responsibilities and a limited understanding of the social and relational dimensions of knowledge integration in the context of systems integration.

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