Competenze per l'innovazione e confini dell'impresa: il caso dell'industria dell'auto

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Outsourcing design and engineering tasks in innovation processes is increasingly popular. However, the outsourcing of design and engineering tasks to external sources might have negative impacts on the firm's innovation competences. To what extent design and engineering tasks can be outsourced before such negative consequences occur? So far no satisfactory answer exists to this question. Thus, the article discusses the limits of design and engineering outsourcing in product development, and the sources of these limits. To this end, it draws on empirical evidences gathered at Fiat, a major European car maker, and its network of suppliers. The article identifies the sources of problems with outsourcing design and engineering tasks in product development, and sheds light on the limits of design and engineering outsourcing.