Value Chain Reconfiguration in Highly Disaggregated Industrial Systems: Examining the Emergence of Health Care Diagnostics

Many industries have witnessed the progressive disaggregation of their value chains as firms focus on internal advantages and exploit evolving external capabilities. While previous industry studies provide rich narratives on the changes to vertical scope, this study applies evolutionary and configuration theories to explore disaggregation in a subsector of health care, namely in vitro diagnostics, with its unique combination of multiple technology-intense platforms, distributed information and revenue models within a highly regulated environment. The research provides a framework for exploring value chain disaggregation by examining actor variation, selection, and retention patterns, and the reconfiguration of information, material, and revenue flows between industrial actors. Results suggest disaggregation is driven by fragmented operating models supporting novel capabilities in addition to efficiency-driven capability redistribution.