Title: Configuration and coordination of activities within a supply chain: exploring the synergy between modularity and information technology

Authors: Ki-Chan Kim, Changsoo Sohn, Thomas Roemer, Ali Yassine

Addresses: Department of Business Administration, The Catholic University of Korea, Yeouido Post Office, P.O. Box 960, 35-1 Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeoungpo-gu, Seoul 150-010, Korea. ' Department of Business Administration, The Catholic University of Korea, Yeouido Post Office, P.O. Box 960, 35-1 Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeoungpo-gu, Seoul 150-010, Korea. ' Leaders for Manufacturing Program and A. P. Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139-4307, USA. ' Product Development Research Laboratory, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA

Abstract: This research studies the impact of information technology-enabled coordination on product modularisation in the automotive industry. A structural equation model is tested based on 177 responses to questionnaires from 177 Korean first-tier automotive suppliers. The results provide support for the hypothesis that high quality of exchanged information enables better supply chain coordination, which in turn supports product modularisation.

Keywords: product development; modularity; information technology; decomposition; integration; supply chain management; SCM; LISREL analysis; supply chain coordination; supply chain configuration; Korea; automotive supply chains; automobile industry; modular products; information sharing; information exchange; product modules.

DOI: 10.1504/IJATM.2006.008933

International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management, 2006 Vol.6 No.1, pp.6 - 19

Published online: 03 Feb 2006 *

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