Enhancement of product development capabilities of OEM suppliers: inter‐ and intra‐organisational learning

Abstract

PurposeFaced with increased global competition, suppliers must continually update their technology and capabilities to effectively respond to the rapid changes in customer requirements. In the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) supply relationships, it is particularly important for suppliers to enhance their product development capabilities by learning from customers. However, few existing studies have empirically explored this issue. This paper aims to fill some of the gaps.Design/methodology/approachBased on the organisational learning perspective, this paper investigates learning between the suppliers and customers of OEM relations as well as its impact on suppliers' product development capabilities. Structure equation modelling was used with data collected from 147 OEM supply relations of 117 Taiwanese information technology (IT) companies. The relationships among learning intent, interactive learning, internalised learning, and product development capabilities were examined.FindingsResults show that suppliers with a high learning intent are able to facilitate inter‐organisational and intra‐organisational learning to enhance their product development capabilities.Originality/valueThe paper proposes and empirically tests a model to explain how the OEM suppliers' product development capabilities are enhanced by the relationships between learning intent, inter‐organisational learning, and intra‐organisational learning.

Human Capital and New Product Development Performance Efficiency- The Mediating Role of Organizational Learning Capability

“…Based on the discussion above can say that organizational learning capability affects NPDP efficiency. Matt and Razak (2011);Land et al (2011);Jabar et al (2010) and Huang;Chu (2009); Alegre and Chiva (2008) and Tsai and Huang (2008) contended that there is relationship between OLC and NPDP efficiency. The results of data analysis in present study confirm discussion above.…”

Knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product development projects

“…Second, the customer can be a co-creator of new products (Nambisan, 2002). This implies that both the customer and the supplier are interacting as active partners (Huang and Chu, 2010;Wu and Lin, 2013). In this type of relationship, the customer is recognized as an important source of knowledge and the employees from the customer are highly involved into the supplier's problemsolving logic and process (Rosell and Lakemond, 2012).…”

“…(Okhuysen and Eisenhardt, 2002). Consequently, knowledge integration can be described as a process that is highly socially embedded, requiring interactive dialogues among individuals (Huang and Chu, 2010;Wu and Lin, 2013). This interaction is especially important when the integration of tacit knowledge is required.…”

“…Compared to the Mono project, which shows that knowledge integration is based on joint efforts in problem-solving (Huang and Chu, 2010), in the Solar project, the customer's activities occurred mainly in the early and late phases of the development project. The main customer's knowledge contribution was related to product specifications, evaluation of the optimization of the physical product, and refinements based on testing.…”

“…Consequently, the creation of new knowledge often requires a search for knowledge beyond the firm's own boundaries, through inter-organizational collaboration (Huang and Chu, 2010;Zanini and Musante, 2013). Consequently, "the primary role of the firm […] is the integration of knowledge" (Grant, 1996, p. 375).…”