Toward a General Modular Systems Theory and Its Application to Interfirm Product Modularity
构建了一个跨学科的通用模块化系统理论，并据此推导出企业间产品模块化的模型，包含可检验的研究命题，有助于预测技术发展路径。
Many systems migrate toward increasing or decreasing modularity, yet no explicit causal models exist to explain this process. In this article the author builds a general theory of modular systems, drawing on systems research from many disciplines, and then uses this general theory to derive a model of interfirm product modularity, including testable research propositions. The product model provides a valuable tool for predicting technological trajectories, and it demonstrates how the general theory can be applied to specific systems.