1. The Limits of Systems Integration: Complementarity, Contingencies, and Solution Design Choices
- Author
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Federica Ceci, Andrea Prencipe, Andrea Masini, Groupement de Recherche et d'Etudes en Gestion à HEC (GREGH), Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), HEC Paris Research Paper Series, and Haldemann, Antoine
- Subjects
Engineering ,Knowledge management ,business.industry ,Modular design ,Complementarity (physics) ,systems integration ,Personalization ,Risk analysis (engineering) ,System integration ,[SHS.GESTION]Humanities and Social Sciences/Business administration ,business ,[SHS.GESTION] Humanities and Social Sciences/Business administration ,solution design ,modularity ,customization - Abstract
Whereas systems integration is recognized as an important organizational capability, the mechanisms through which it creates value as well as the environmental contingencies that delimit its effectiveness remain unclear, particularly when firms deliver integrated solutions embodying products and services. Focusing on IT solution providers, we investigate the effectiveness of systems integration with respect to three specific approaches to solution design: breadth, modularity, and customization. We find a complementarity effect between systems integration and solution design approaches: if firms pursue customization or rely on a broad set of heterogeneous knowledge bases, systems integration becomes fundamental. Conversely, if firms adopt a modular design, systems integration is redundant and even counterproductive. We also find evidence of complementarity between breadth and customization, but not between breadth and modularity nor between customization and modularity.
- Published
- 2014