From manufacturing to design : an essay on the work of Kim B. Clark. Harvard Business School Working Paper- 07-057

Sylvain Lenfle (1) , Carliss Y. Baldwin (1)

1 CRG - Centre de recherche en gestion

In this paper, we describe Clark's research and discuss his contributions to management scholarship and economics. We look at three distinct bodies of work. In the first, Clark (in conjunction with Robert Hayes and Steven Wheelwright) argued that the abandonment by U.S. managers of manufacturing as a strategic function exposed U.S. companies to Japanese competition in terms of the cost and quality of goods. In the second, conducted with Wheelwright, Bruce Chew, Takahiro Fujimoto, Kent Bowen and Marco Iansiti, Clark made the case that product development could be managed in new ways that would lead to significant competitive advantage for firms. Finally, in work conducted with Abernathy, Rebecca Henderson and Carliss Baldwin, Clark placed product and process designs at the center of his explanation of how innovation determines the structure and evolution of industries.

Mots clés: project management; Automotive Industry; Kim Clark; Design Structure Matrix; Design Theory; Product Architecture; Modularity; Computer Industry; New Product Development; Management systems; Innovation Management

Domaines: Gestion et management

Sylvain Lenfle, Carliss Y. Baldwin. From manufacturing to design : an essay on the work of Kim B. Clark. Harvard Business School Working Paper- 07-057. 2007. ⟨hal-00263358⟩