Corporations exist because coordination within the corporation less costly than external partnerships that must be defined and managed contractually but modern connections make these outside costs lower if managed carefully.
Over the past decade there has been profound change in how manufacturing is done by modern high-tech companies. What used to be an important functional competence, such as assembling and testing state-of-the-art printed circuit boards, has transformed into the management and optimization of a process done by business partners.
In important ways this makes the manufacturing mission much crisper and relevant to the business while at the same time emphasizing the importance of understanding the dynamics of partnership much…
