Measuring Modularity and Related Effects for Services, Products, Networks, and Software -- A Comparative Literature Review and a Research Agenda for Service Modularity

Abstract

Modularity is a key principle for the design of a variety of systems, such as products, software, organisations, and, as of late, services. Service research has adopted the concepts of service modularity and service architecture to identify novel ways for achieving various effects, i.e. efficiently meeting heterogeneous demand. In order to advance research on service modularity, we argue that researchers need to be clear about key concepts, such as a characterisation of service modularity and its related effects. Thus, this paper presents findings from a comprehensive and comparative review of extant measurements of modularity and its related effects in key areas of application of the modularity principle, such as networked organisations, product and software development, and services. By surveying extant knowledge on service modularity vs. other contexts, we develop propositions for future research on service modularity.

Developing a New Technique for Determining Service Modularity Level

“…This information is needed to make management decisions and to ensure that the intended changes in the design of modular service systems are reasonable. Unfortunately, there is a significant gap in the ways to measure the modularity level in services (Dörbecker et al, 2015). The literature proposes number of tools and techniques for measuring the modularity of physical products.…”

A multi-dimensional decision framework for modular value transfer activity

“…suppliersResearch into modularity is largely influenced by the papers detailed in table 1 and referred to in an extensive literature review conductedDörbecker, Böhm & Böhmann. (2015)) ().…”