Product architecture, modularity and product market internationalisation

The product modularity literature has burgeoned in recent years. However, there has been limited focus on how product modularity may potentially facilitate product market internationalisation strategies. The focus of this conceptual paper is in exploring whether open and modular product architectures may be associated with increasing product market internationalisation, and whether therefore the relationship between product architecture and product market internationalisation can be hypothesised as an extension of the so-called mirroring hypothesis – that there exists an architectural mapping between product, firm and industry architectures. Our propositions may provide the basis for future empirical research.