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The mirroring hypothesis: theory, evidence, and exceptions

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Colfer, Lyra J., Baldwin, Carliss Y.·2016·Industrial and Corporate Change
DOI 10.1093/icc/dtw027
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Abstract

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.

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  • Open collaboration depends on visible records.

    “Open collaboration depends on visible records.”

    From Paradoxes of Openness: Trans Experiences in Open Source Software (2024) · cites this paper as [16]

    Section 7 says participants in open collaborative projects commonly see and build on each other’s work, and that this mode of collaboration requires an easily understood, transparent emerging artifact. This supports the need for visibility, but the paper does not specifically say that collaboration depends on visible records. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Colfer, L. J., & Baldwin, C. Y.
Affiliations
Harvard University (US)
Corresponding author
Baldwin, Carliss Y.
ORCID
Baldwin, Carliss Y.
Venue
Industrial and Corporate Change
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2016-09-15
Volume
25
Issue
5
Pages
709-738
ISSN
  • 0960-6491 (ISSN-L)
  • 1464-3650
DOI
10.1093/icc/dtw027
OpenAlex
W3126046907
Cited by
331
References
11
Citations by year
2026: 28 · 2025: 22 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 36 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 31 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 9 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 5 · 2012: 3
FWCI
55.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Industrial and Corporate Change (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • SSRN Electronic Journal (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard (DASH) (Harvard University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Innovation and Knowledge Management
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Management Information Systems › Outsourcing and Supply Chain Management
  • Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Strategy and Management › Business Strategy and Innovation
Keywords
mirroring hypothesis, organizational relationships, technical dependencies, cognitive resources, knowledge boundaries, relational contracts, software development, coordination, firm boundaries, industry analysis

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