Modular Components, Integrated Practices: Managing Inter-Organizational Collaborations and the Challenges of Coordination and Cooperation

Collaboration in large-scale projects introduces challenges involving both coordination (the ability to collaborate) as well as cooperation (the willingness to do so). Existing research has shown how modular designs can improve the challenge of coordination by concentrating interdependencies within rather than between different subsystems. Based on an in-depth case study of collaboration in a large-scale infrastructure project, our study highlights an effect of modularity on collaboration that previously has been overlooked. Specifically, we show that while modular designs may help overcome coordination challenges by reducing interdependencies between modules, it can in turn hamper cooperation by emphasizing specialization within modules. Therefore, though existing work typically perceives modularity and integration as opposites, we show how they can act as complements. Specifically, we show how firms need to complement modular designs with integration practices that stimulate cooperation. Overall, we contribute to the literature on collaboration and modularity by showing when and how organizations can combine modularity and integration in the context of complex collaboration.