Coordination des activités innovantes et transformation de l'industrie.. L'exemple du ‘common rail' dans l'industrie automobile

In order to buffer a growing competition, carmakers have to be increasingly more efficient. Their favourite strategy to maintain their competitive position seems to be the innovation. However, the strategy results in an increasingly delegation of activities toward very specialized firm that cause a ?complexification? of the productive process which implies a reorganization of the whole automotive industry. We propose in this paper to analyse the new forms of coordination set up to manage these constraints but also the reasons of the recombining of the industry. Indeed, we will see that the increased delegation of productive activities, by the carmakers towards their equipment suppliers, takes part of a broad adaptation movement of the industry to a changing environment.