Supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance

Wagner, Stephan M.

doi:10.1016/j.indmarman.2009.12.001

Cited by 99 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 126 publications

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“…The ability of firms to introduce novel products remains of utmost concern in the strategy literature because it strongly relates to firm performance and enduring competitive advantage (Köhler, Sofka, & Grimpe, 2012;Laursen & Salter, 2006;Praest Knudsen & Bøtker Mortensen, 2011;Wagner, 2010;Yannopoulos, Auh, & Menguc, 2012). Novel innovations are sometimes also called radical or architectural innovations, because they are tumultuous in nature, and stretch to the limits the current innovation-related competencies of firms that is closely tied to existing product lines (Gatignon, Tushman, Smith, & Anderson, 2002;Henderson & Clark, 1990;Leonard-barton, 1992).…”

Section: Innovation Theory and Novel Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Novel product innovation in project-based firms: explaining innovation where interdependent firms deliver complex system-level outcomes

Ford¹

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Project-based firms (PBFs) are an increasingly important firm type in today's projectdriven world. Over the next two decades, PBFs will transform nearly $60 trillion into complex product systems (CoPS) that comprise the communication, energy, and transportation infrastructure of our modern global economy. In the process, they will participate in a collective technological development process that is iterative, intensely interorganisational, and dominated by their participation in large industry projects. In this environment, PBFs will deliver components, subsystems, and CoPS, some being novel products that are new to the world. These are called CoPS-related novel products.However, the current understanding of how PBFs introduce CoPS-related novel products is lacking. In general, the existing innovation literature does not provide an adequate inter-organisational perspective, which is necessary to explain the development of new The CoPS innovation literature itself remains too focused on the role of large system integrators, and not on the broader network of firms that support innovation. This leaves unscrutinised rest of the 'project-based productive network' of firms delivering products (components, technologies, and subsystems) into the higher-level CoPS. Taken together, the current literature inadequately addresses many factors that are important to novel product innovation in PBFs. Therefore, the central research question this thesis aims to answer is: What factors facilitate PBFs' ability to introduce novel product innovations in environments where interdependent firms deliver complex system-level outcomes?Three specific challenges are imperative to understanding novel product introduction in PBFs. The first relates to the project-based nature of organising, which means that PBFs have contingent opportunities for novel product innovation, depending upon the circumstances of the projects they conduct. This is called the contingent opportunities problem. The second challenge is that PBFs have to ensure that their innovations are compatible with our technologies in their environment. This is called the technological interdependencies problem. The third challenge is that PBFs have enduring interorganisational commitments that extend across the projects they conduct. This is called the enduring relationships problem.ii Novel product innovation in project-based firms Three research studies were designed and conducted to address the three specific challenges. The research is based on survey data collected from PBFs in the Australian upstream oil and gas industry. Study 1 investigates capabilities that PBFs use to overcome the contingent opportunities problems. This study finds that firms use an adaptive problemsolving capability to recognise opportunities within projects, and are reliant on networking capabilities to bring about novel product innovations. Study 2 investigates how PBFs use both inbound and outbound non-pecuniary open innovation practices to resolve technological interdependencies. This stud...

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Section: Innovation Theory and Novel Productsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Embeddedness with customers allows firms to adapt to the inevitable changes in customer preferences, and thus adapt their innovation activities accordingly to improve chances of success (Barrett & Sexton, 2006;Bohlmann et al, 2013;Wagner, 2010).…”

Section: Customer Embeddednessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Novel product innovation in project-based firms: explaining innovation where interdependent firms deliver complex system-level outcomes

Ford¹

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“…Thus, it is challenging for firms to understand when and in what situations they can benefit most from knowledge integration with customers. Previous studies have discussed a wide range of factors that can have effects on customer collaboration in product development, such as lack of partner commitment (e.g., Krause et al, 2007), lack of internal integration (e.g., Mishra and Shah, 2009), and customer ability (e.g., Wagner, 2010). However, these studies have not specifically considered these factors from the perspective of knowledge integration.…”

Section: Due To Increasing Dynamic Markets and Technologies Which Rementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While most of the studies conducted in this period focused on the tools or methods that can be adopted to ensure that collaboration with customers is beneficial to the firm, several authors approached customer collaboration as a more multifaceted phenomenon that is influenced by many factors (Luthje and Herstatt, 2004;Lettl, 2007;Wagner, 2010). For instance, Wagner (2010) examined new product development efforts of 227 manufacturing firms and indicated that the benefits of collaborating with the customer to develop a product are positively associated with the firm's capability, whereas customer collaboration becomes less relevant for less-capable firms.…”

Section: Customer Collaboration: a Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, Wagner (2010) examined new product development efforts of 227 manufacturing firms and indicated that the benefits of collaborating with the customer to develop a product are positively associated with the firm's capability, whereas customer collaboration becomes less relevant for less-capable firms. Other researchers posited that reciprocal commitment of resources and trust will also enable a high degree of customer contribution, as this assists the firm to remain competitive in the market (Ritter and Walter, 2003;Muthusamy et al, 2008).…”

Section: Customer Collaboration: a Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product developmentproject

Eslami¹

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Driven by rapid technological developments, greater customer expectations, and increased product complexity, product development processes increasingly rely on the integration of dispersed specialist knowledge. Consequently, many industrial firms are changing the way they approach product development. Product development increasingly relies on knowledge integration across firm boundaries. Customers are one of the most indispensable sources of knowledge, and their knowledge needs to be integrated during product development. However, little is known about the processes and mechanisms used to integrate customer knowledge in product development. Therefore, firms must devise processes and mechanisms that support knowledge integration with customers. This thesis aims to investigate knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product development.The work described in this thesis combines a case study with a survey approach. More specifically, five case studies were conducted at three industrial manufacturing firms. Data were collected in 46 interviews, along with informal discussions, workshops, and secondary material. The case studies revealed the role of knowledge integration, knowledge integration mechanisms, and the importance of contextual factors related to the customer's technical capability, and the locus of initiative for the product development project. A cross-sectional survey was performed in order to ascertain the role of knowledge integration and its effect on innovation performance and the effect of firms and customers' technical capability and locus of initiative on knowledge integration with customers. The survey study generated 216 responses from firms operating in the Swedish manufacturing industry.This thesis consists of a compiled summary and five appended papers. The results in these provide the basis for modelling knowledge integration with customers. The findings confirm that integrating knowledge with customers in product development is associated with better innovation performance. Further, the results point to the dynamic characteristics of knowledge integration in product development processes. More specifically, firms tend to apply different combinations of mechanisms in different phases, depending on the intended content of the knowledge contribution of the customer and the requirements of each phase in the development process. In addition, the degree of technical capability, internal integration capability, and locus of initiative are important factors influencing knowledge integration processes. This thesis sheds new light on collaborative product development with customers by demonstrating that knowledge, and particularly the integration of knowledge across firm boundaries, is a central property of product development. The study focuses on industrial and manufacturing firms, complementing current perspectives on the role of customers in other sectors. In this particular sector, complexity and system-wide implications need to be resolved together with customers through ...

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External Integration

Gelhard

Tiemann

2017

Business Chemistry

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Supplier traits for better customer firm innovation performance

Cited by 99 publications

References 126 publications

Novel product innovation in project-based firms: explaining innovation where interdependent firms deliver complex system-level outcomes

Novel product innovation in project-based firms: explaining innovation where interdependent firms deliver complex system-level outcomes

Knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product developmentproject

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