Complementarities and fit strategy, structure, and organizational change in manufacturing☆

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Abstract

The theories of supermodular optimization and games provide a framework for the analysis of systems marked by complementarity. We summarize the principal results of these theories and indicate their usefulness by applying them to study the shift to ‘modern manufacturing’. We also use them to analyze the characteristic features of the Lincoln Electric Company's strategy and structure.

Keywords

Methodology
Supermodularity
Organizational strategy
Lincoln Electric Co

JEL classification

D20
C60
L23

Cited by (0)

☆

This paper was begun while the authors were Fellows of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford. The hospitality of the Center, the research assistance of Susan Athey, Joshua Gans, and Scott Schaefer, the financial support of Booz, Allen, and Hamilton, Inc. and the National Science Foundation, the comments of Lorne Carmichael, Michael Gibbs, and Edward Lazear, and the suggestions of the referees and Glenn M. MacDonald (the editor) are gratefully acknowledged.

Copyright © 1995 Published by Elsevier B.V.