Linking Cyclicality and Product Quality

Manuel E. Sosa (), Jürgen Mihm () and Tyson R. Browning ()
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Manuel E. Sosa: Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD, Singapore 138676
Jürgen Mihm: Technology and Operations Management, INSEAD, 77300 Fontainebleau, France
Tyson R. Browning: Department of Information Systems and Supply Chain Management, Neeley School of Business, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas 76129

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2013, vol. 15, issue 3, 473-491

Abstract: This paper examines the impact of architectural decisions on the level of defects in a product. We view products as collections of components linked together to work as an integrated whole. Previous work has established modularity (how decoupled a component is from other product components) as a critical determinant of defects, and we confirm its importance. Yet our study also provides empirical evidence for a relationship between product quality and cyclicality (the extent to which a component depends on itself via other product components). We find cyclicality to be a determinant of quality that is distinct from, and no less important than, modularity. Extending this main result, we show how the cyclicality–quality relationship is affected by the centrality of a component in a cycle and the distribution of a cycle across product modules. These findings, which are based on an analysis of open source software development projects, have implications for the study and design of complex systems.

Keywords: product architecture; cycles; modularity; iterative problem solving; defects (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:15:y:2013:i:3:p:473-491

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