In this comprehensive original reference work, the editors have brought together an unrivalled group of distinguished scholars and practitioners to comment on the historical and contemporary role of industrial districts (IDs).

Much of the literature on the changing face of US manufacturing acknowledges that successful governance of decentralized production is vital to its future but questions whether in practice firms will engage in the collaborative relationships envisaged by optimistic theorists of a "new production...

The nature of buyer‐supplier relationships has been closely linked to nation specific explanations and concern has been expressed in literature regarding the transferability of co‐design best practices to different firms and countries. On the other hand, many attempts to isolate best...

The paper analyses the organization of the new product development process at FIAT from a resource‐based perspective. The focus is on organizational resources for integrating dispersed specialist knowledge required in the development of complex products. The analysis shows how the application...

This book showcases advanced empirical research that applies the concept of organizational routines to understanding organizations and how they change and evolve.

In the last two decades, the auto industry has shown a steady increase of vehicle development outsourcing and a shift of both product development tasks and knowledge from carmakers to suppliers. This trend has increased the interest toward product modularity as a tool to ease the integration of...