The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence and Exceptions

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that the organizational patterns of a development project (e.g. communication links, geographic collocation, team and firm co-membership) will correspond to the technical patterns of dependency in the system under development. Scholars in a range of disciplines have argued that mirroring is either necessary or a highly desirable feature of development projects, but evidence pertaining to the hypothesis is widely scattered across fields, research sites, and methodologies. In this paper, we formally define the mirroring hypothesis and review 102 empirical studies spanning three levels of organization: within a single firm, across firms, and in open community-based development projects. The hypothesis was supported in 69% of the cases. Support for the hypothesis was strongest in the within-firm sample, less strong in the across-firm sample, and relatively weak in the open collaborative sample. Based on a detailed analysis of the cases in which the mirroring hypothesis was not supported, we introduce the concept of actionable transparency as a means of achieving coordination without mirroring. We present examples from practice and describe the more complex organizational patterns that emerge when actionable transparency allows designers to 'break the mirror.'Modularity, innovation, product and process development, organization design, design structure, organizational structure, organizational ties

The mirroring hypothesis: theory, evidence, and exceptions

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical dependencies in the work being performed. This article presents a unified picture of mirroring in terms of theory, evidence, and exceptions. First, we formally define mirroring and argue that it is an approach to technical problem-solving that conserves scarce cognitive resources. We then review 142 empirical studies, divided by organizational form into (i) industry studies, (ii) firm studies, and (iii) studies of open collaborative projects. The industry and firm studies indicate that mirroring is a prevalent pattern but not universal. However, in technologically dynamic industries, partial mirroring, where knowledge boundaries are drawn more broadly than operational boundaries, is likely to be a superior strategy. Firms can also strategically ‘break the mirror’ by implementing modular partitions within their boundaries, or by building relational contracts across their boundaries. Finally, studies of open collaborative projects, most of which focused on software, were not supportive of the hypothesis. We argue that digital technologies make possible new modes of coordination that enable groups to deviate from classical mirroring as seen in firms

Three essays on the structure of technical collaboration

This dissertation presents three essays on the structure of technical collaboration in the development of new products and innovations. The first essay examines the mirroring hypothesis, or the claim that the structure of a product development organization "mirrors" the architecture of the product it develops. The mirroring hypothesis posits that independent contributors develop largely independent components, while richly interacting contributors develop richly interacting components. I report the results of a systematic review of the evidence on mirroring and draw from those results to explain when and how real-world organizations violate the mirroring hypothesis. I focus on the case in which independent contributors make richly connected contributions. To explain this phenomenon, I introduce the concept of actionable transparency. I also elaborate the more complex organizational patterns that emerge in lieu of genuine mirroring when people apply actionable transparency to "break the mirror." The second essay examines the generality of the mirroring hypothesis in the context of open collaborative software development. Specifically, it investigates the question: "Are most open collaborative software development projects large enough to exhibit support for the mirroring hypothesis, insofar as it implies that projects with more, and more equally contributing, developers beget more modular codebases?" The study employs conventional statistical methods and focuses on the initial product releases of 142 C/C++ projects from SourceForge. Contra conventional wisdom, results indicate that mirroring is not a strong general property of open collaborative development, but rather that it is only present to any substantive degree in exceptionally large projects. The third essay is co-authored. It presents quantitative and qualitative evidence regarding the evolution of technical collaboration networks. Specifically, it explores why the collaborative ties between inventors in Silicon Valley aggregated into one massive regional network more quickly than the ties of peers in Boston. In interviews with a theoretically motivated sample of inventors, we found that Silicon Valley inventors identified more specific examples of firm-spanning knowledge flows, but inventors in both regions reported similar experiences and attitudes more generally. Results suggest a unique institutional explanation: a single post-doctoral program at IBM explains about 30% of the Valley's early network aggregation

The mirroring hypothesis: theory, evidence, and exceptions

Detail, curtain walling with custom louvered window vents, bolted glass assemblies and brise soleil manufactured by Schuco; Built by the Glasgow office of BDP. A key objective of the project was to create a landmark building which demonstrates environmental excellence in all aspects of design and function. The City Council headquarters achieved a BREEAM 'Very Good' rating. The building was designed with 74 key performance indicators, including solar water heating, rainwater recycling, green (grass) roofs, natural ventilation and façades designed to exceed requirements. Another key objective of the project was to create a building which allows the consolidation of several existing city services departments (some 20 buildings) under one roof in an open plan office; it houses 1600 staff. Source: Building Design Partnership (BDP) [website]; http://www.bdp.com/ (accessed 6/29/2012