Hidden structure
Subtitle: using network methods to map system architecture
By: Carliss Baldwin, Alan MacCormack, John Rusnak
Contributors: MacCormack, Alan; Rusnak, John; Harvard Business School
Edition: Revised edition
Series: Working paper / Harvard Business School -- 13-093; Working paper (Harvard Business School) -- 13-093
Publisher: Harvard Business School
Published: 2013
Place of publication: Boston]
Language: eng
Number of pages: 39
Description: In this paper, we describe an operational methodology for characterising the architecture of technical systems and demonstrate its application to a sample of software releases. Our methodology is based on network graphs and allows us to identify define three fundamental architectural patterns, which we label core-periphery, multi-core, and hierarchical. Applying our methodology to a sample of 1,286 software releases from 17 applications, we find that 67 -- 89% of releases possess a "core-periphery" architecture under our classification scheme. This architecture is characterized by having a single dominant cyclic group (the Core) that is large relative to other cyclic groups and above a threshold with respect to system size. We find that the size of the Core varies widely, even for systems that perform the same function. These differences appear to be associated with different models of development -- open, distributed organizations develop systems with smaller Cores, while closed, co-located organizations develop systems with larger Cores. Our findings represent a first step in establishing some "stylized facts" about the fine-grained structure of large, real-world technical systems.
Notes: "May 2013. (Revised June 2013, July 2013.)"--Publisher's Web site.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 37-39).