IP modularity
Subtitle: profiting from innovation by aligning product architecture with intellectual property
By: Joachim Henkel, Carliss Y. Baldwin, Willy C. Shih
Contributors: Baldwin, Carliss Y. (Carliss Young); Shih, Willy C.; Harvard Business School
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 13-012; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 13-012.
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2012
Place of publication: [Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 24
Description: Distributed value creation can boost the overall value created, but may create serious challenges for capturing value. In order to draw in external contributors, an innovator often waives legal exclusion rights or reveals formerly exclusive knowledge. But as a result, contributors may appropriate a large share of the jointly created value. In turn, integrating external contributions entails the risk of becoming dependent on outside owners of IP. To address this tension we propose the concept of "IP modularity." We argue that, by managing a system's modular structure in conjunction with its IP, firms can reconcile distributed innovation with value capture.
Notes: "August 2012" -- Publisher's website.

Includes bibliographical references.