Product and Organization Design for Dynamic Environments

This thesis consists of three studies that are all centered around questions of product and organization design and that are all explicitly considering dynamic environments. In the first study, we discuss how the product design decision of making a product backward compatible can be used to sustain market dominance over multiple technological generations. The second study and the third study are closely related, as they are both motivated by the question: 'What is the optimal...
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This thesis consists of three studies that are all centered around questions of product and organization design and that are all explicitly considering dynamic environments. In the first study, we discuss how the product design decision of making a product backward compatible can be used to sustain market dominance over multiple technological generations. The second study and the third study are closely related, as they are both motivated by the question: 'What is the optimal organization design for new product development if the environment is dynamic?' In the second study we combine the dimensions of product and organization design to analyze how the degree of vertical integration influences a firm's product development capabilities in complex and uncertain environments. Our third study extends the second study and assesses how the scope of uncertainty influences the relative performance advantage of vertical integration.