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Architecture-Based Comparative Advantage — A Design Information View of Manufacturing

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Abstract

This paper explores basic concepts of architecture-based comparative advantage, based on a hypothesis that dynamic fit between organizational capability in manufacturing and productprocess architecture tends to result in international competitive advantage of an industry. First, the paper discusses elements of this framework such as design-based approach to manufacturing (monozukuri in Japanese), field of manufacturing (genba in Japanese), organizational capability in manufacturing, evolution of organizational capabilities, hierarchy of competitive performance, and product-process architecture (integral, modular, closed, and open types). Evolutionally framework indicates that organizational capability in manufacturing goes through a process of multi-path system emergence, which results in uneven distribution of certain types of organizational capabilities across countries and regions. Second, we discuss the definition, classification, and measurement of productprocess architecture. Third, these components of the present framework are synthesized into a hypothesis that Japan tends to enjoy higher comparative advantage (i.e., higher export ratio) in those products with a more integral architecture. A simple statistical analysis is conducted, and the results are generally consistent with the hypothesis. As a result, our data analysis indicates that, particularly in the area of assembled products, production bases located in Japan are still enjoying export competitiveness in multi-skilled-labor-intensive products with integral architecture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Takahiro Fujimoto

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  1. Takahiro Fujimoto
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Correspondence to Takahiro Fujimoto.

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Fujimoto, T. Architecture-Based Comparative Advantage — A Design Information View of Manufacturing. Evolut Inst Econ Rev 4, 55–112 (2007). https://doi.org/10.14441/eier.4.55

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