Marketing involvement in product platform creation: The role of personal and structural coordination mechanisms

Abstract

Integrating market knowledge in the architecture of product platforms can be a challenge for firms. In this study, we draw on knowledge‐based theory to propose the importance of bilateral knowledge: a marketer's knowledge of product platforms and a platform architect's knowledge of the market opportunity for securing marketing involvement and platform success. Along with these two personal coordination mechanisms, we examine the impact of a marketing department's level of product platform knowledge as a structural coordination mechanism and account for its moderating effects on these personal mechanisms. To test our model, we conducted a survey at a multinational electronics company, with the architects of product platforms as key informants. Our results show that an architect's knowledge of market opportunities for the product platform fuels marketing's involvement and improves financial performance, as does the marketer's knowledge of product platforms, although this is entirely mediated by marketing's involvement. A marketing department's product platform knowledge has a strong, direct and moderating impact; it acts as a substitute for the individual marketer's personal knowledge, yet enhances the impact of the architect's knowledge of the market opportunity. Therefore, innovation managers are advised to foster their marketing department's understanding of product platforms.

Digital technologies and knowledge processes: new emerging strategies in international business. A systematic literature review

“…Additionally, van Bommel et al (2021) bring the traditional organizational debate on the need to integrate the domains of technical and marketing knowledge to the topic of product platform design, which thus becomes a vehicle for implementing the firm’s strategy. Future studies should consider the integration of different knowledge domains and logic, not only marketing and technical but also, for example, SC management in platform design, but also its implementation and exploitation.…”

Organizational learning for implementing product platforms: A case study of an automotive manufacturer

“…However, managerial concerns about product platform development have not received the same attention (Karandikar & Nidamarthi, 2007; Sköld & Karlsson, 2013). As van Bommel et al (2021) note, ‘developing platforms requires strong intra‐organizational collaboration from different functions in a firm.’ Our study confirms that organizational learning is crucial in developing product platforms for different performance objectives (Tuna et al, 2019), and the organizational learning approach differs from architectural knowledge embedded in product platforms. Besides, this study reveals that product platform development associated with organizational learning not only facilitates a reduction in the cost of goods for product lines but also provides opportunities to leverage current product technology and functionality into new markets and innovations.…”

“…Furthermore, architectural knowledge can be defined as knowledge about ‘the entities of a system and how they are related’ (Baldwin, 2010; Baldwin & Clark, 2006; Henderson, 1992). Architectural knowledge embedded in product platforms can be divided into the following three dimensions: (1) how product platforms perform their functions (function‐to‐component mapping); (2) how the components are linked (the interfaces); and (3) the behaviour of product platforms, both planned and unplanned, in different environments (Baldwin, 2010; van Bommel et al, 2021). Seeing platform development as a foundation for and enabler of product development, spanning from next‐generation products to product families, derivatives, and enhancement products, platform development with different architectural knowledge may range from incremental to radical development and changes (Sköld & Karlsson, 2013).…”

Business-to-business platform ecosystem practices and their impacts on firm performance: evidence from high-tech manufacturing firms

“…Although market innovativeness is expected to lead to an improvement in product platform strategy (Meyer and Lehnerd, 1997), it may depend on technological innovativeness (Kang and Montoya, 2014; van Bommel et al. , 2021) in a manner that complements the applicability of market innovativeness for product platform strategy formation (van Bommel et al. , 2021).…”

“…Although market innovativeness is expected to lead to an improvement in product platform strategy (Meyer and Lehnerd, 1997), it may depend on technological innovativeness (Kang and Montoya, 2014;van Bommel et al, 2021) in a manner that complements the applicability of market innovativeness for product platform strategy formation (van Bommel et al, 2021). Indeed, the success of a product platform is dependent on how platform firms form external linkages and implement innovation, requiring more technological innovativeness to identify the state-of-the-art techniques required to increase product platform operations (Cusumano and Gawer, 2002).…”