Capability for Networking and Integrating PART I

Capability for Networking and Integrating PART I

System integration has “two faces” similar to the two research and development (R&D) faces identified by Cohen and Levinthal (1989). The first face relates to the internal activities of companies as they develop and integrate the inputs they need to produce new products. The second face, which has become more important in recent years, refers to the external activities of companies as they integrate components, skills, and knowledge from other organizations to produce increasingly complex products and services. External organizations include suppliers, users, government bodies, regulators, production partners and, sometimes, competitors as companies cooperate and compete on projects. Network capabilities – “the ability to initiate, maintain and leverage relationships with various external partners” (Walter et al. 2006, p. 546) To illustrate how product system integration can be limited to analytical purposes, first i.e. provide a simple typology of technological systems. It then outlines the American military’s origins of system integration, identifying the factors and organizations that drove its development initially as a technical discipline within, and later outside, the defence sector. After that, switch to non-military products on the grounds that, here too, system integration has become a widespread strategic activity, not just an operational or engineering task. Then, compare the evidence from two high-volume industries, namely automobiles and HDDs, to show how companies use system integration capabilities to improve technology from one product to another. It further addresses the latest trends of the chosen high-value capital goods industry, to reveal how large companies are starting to use system integration capabilities to combine services together with hardware and software to gain a competitive advantage. The latter points to the future direction of the study and its conclusions summarize the main findings.

Reference:

Hobday, Michael. et al. (2005). Systems integration: a core capability of the modern corporation. Volume 14, Number 6, Pages 1109-1143

Mitrega, Maciej. et al. (2011). Networking capability, networking outcomes, and company performance. Submitted for Review. 2011 IMP Conference, Glasgow

Molina, Arturo. et al. (2007). Enterprise Integration and Networking: challenges and trends. Volume 16, Number 4, Pages 353-368