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WP 05-1

Johann Peter Murmann, Koen Frenken. Toward a Systematic Framework for Research on Dominant Designs…

Keywords: Dominant Designs, Evolution of Artifacts, Architecture of Complex Systems, Product Life Cycle.

Abstract:

The concept of a dominant design has taken on a quasi-paradigmatic status in the analysis of the link between technological and industrial dynamics. A review of the empirical literature reveals that a variety of interpretations exist about some aspects of the phenomenon such as its underlying causal mechanisms and its level of analysis. To stimulate further progress in empirical research on dominant designs, we advocate a standardization of terminology by conceptualizing products as complex artifacts whose technological evolution proceeds in the form of a nested hierarchy of technology cycles. Such a nested complex system perspective provides both unambiguous definitions of dominant designs (stable core components which can be stable interfaces) and the inclusion of multiple levels of analysis (system, subsystems, components). We introduce the concept of an operational principle and offer a systematic definition of core and peripheral subsystems based on the concept of pleiotropy. The paper concludes with a discussion of how our proposed terminological standardization can stimulate cumulative research on dominant designs.

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