Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore and characterize knowledge integration approaches for integrating external knowledge of suppliers into new product development projects.

This paper is based on a multiple, in-depth case study of six product development projects at three knowledge-intensive manufacturing firms.

Firms make purposeful choices to devise knowledge integration approaches when working in collaborative buyer – supplier projects. The knowledge characteristics of the supplier input guide the choice of either coupling knowledge sharing and combining across firms or decoupling knowledge sharing (across firms) and knowledge combining (within firms).

This study relies on a limited number of case studies and considers only one supplier relationship in each project. Further studies could examine the challenge of knowledge integration in buyer – supplier relationships in different contexts, i.e. in relation to innovation complexity and uncertainty.

Managers need to make choices when designing knowledge integration approaches in collaborative product development projects. The use of coupled and decoupled approaches can help balance requirements in terms of joint problem-solving across firms, the efficiency of knowledge integration and the risks of knowledge leakage.

The conceptualization of knowledge integration as knowledge sharing and knowledge combining extends existing perspectives on knowledge integration as either a transfer of knowledge or as revealing the presence of pertinent knowledge without entirely transmitting it. The findings point to the complexity of knowledge integration as a process influenced by knowledge characteristics, perspectives on knowledge, openness of firm boundaries and elements of knowledge sharing and combining.

Many manufacturing firms source components and subsystems from suppliers. Consequently, the suppliers' product and manufacturing knowledge is a central concern at the interface between R&D and manufacturing. This paper aims to specifically investigate how supplier knowledge is integrated and what role trust plays in knowledge integration with suppliers at the R&D-manufacturing interface.

The study is based on qualitative case studies of two different collaborations with suppliers at one firm.

Two distinct processes are identified. First, capturing represents knowledge integration through decoupling, for which a basic level of trust specifically with regard to the competence of the supplier is necessary. Capturing can take place through interactions that are limited in time and scope. Second, joint learning represents a coupled knowledge integration process and takes place during a more extended period of time preceding and following the R&D-manufacturing interface and builds on relational-based trust.

The interface between R&D and manufacturing needs to be extended to include a focus on suppliers' contributions in terms of product and manufacturing knowledge. The choice for suitable knowledge integration processes needs to be guided by concerns about the level of trust and the character of the supplier contributions.

The paper adds new insights to previous literature by distinguishing between different types of knowledge integration processes and levels of trust. It bridges the gap between innovation and operations management and clearly shows that the interface between R&D and manufacturing crosses organizational borders.

Intellectual capital reflects the sum of existing knowledge a manufacturer is able to leverage and plays a critical role in new product development. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the mechanisms through which intellectual capital enhances product innovation performance and how economic and institutional environments affect the mechanisms.

Using a knowledge-based view and institutional theory, this study proposes a model on the relationships among intellectual capital, supplier knowledge integration, supply chain adaptability, and product innovation performance. The hypotheses are empirically tested using multiple group structural equation modelling and data collected from 300 Chinese and 200 Indian manufacturers.

The authors find that intellectual capital improves product innovation performance both directly and indirectly through supplier knowledge integration. However, the effects are different in China and India. In particular, the direct effect of intellectual capital on product innovation performance is significantly higher in China than that in India, and intellectual capital improves product innovation performance indirectly through supplier knowledge integration only in India. The authors also find that supplier knowledge integration improves product innovation performance indirectly through supply chain adaptability in both China and India.

Using a moderated mediation model, this study provides insights into the joint effects of intellectual capital, supplier knowledge integration, and supply chain adaptability on product innovation performance. The findings enhance current understandings of how supply chain management helps a manufacturer develop new products using existing knowledge and the influences of economic and institutional environments on knowledge and supply chain management.

The relationship between buyers and suppliers over the years – social practices – facilitate the development of social capital (SC), and it contributes to the relationship performance (RP) for both parties. The purpose of this paper is to examine the mechanisms that transform SC into RP. By exercising the relationship learning (joint sense-making, information sharing, and knowledge integration), this paper proposes that SC will transform into RP.

Quantitative study was employed in this study. Questionnaires were distributed to first-tier supplier of Astra Group (Astra International) in Indonesia. In total, 211 questionnaires were used for data analysis in this study.

The results exhibit that cognitive and structural SC contribute to the development of relational SC. Further, relational SC was positively associated with joint sense-making, which then goes through information sharing, knowledge integration, and finally RP.

The cross-sectional data in a specific context (a firm) in Indonesia serve as a major limitation of this study. The development of SC and learning as a social process might not be captured well by using the current method – surveys. Furthermore, a major problem is caused by a one-sided survey that depends on the suppliers’ perceptions and judgments of relationship learning and performance.

The results suggest that managers and other relationship actors would benefit from the competency to develop practices and activities with suppliers regarding developing trust. The trust development is facilitated by having common understanding and interactions regularly, either by participating in formal and/or informal activities with suppliers. Building consensus – joint sense-making, between buyers and suppliers are crucial practices in relationship learning before knowledge sharing and knowledge integration practices are in place. And finally, managers should actively integrate this knowledge in order to increase their RP.

This study empirically tests the supply chain practice view as a new theoretical perspective in the supply chain management literature. It also extends the utilization of social practices – SC – since it is crucial in a buyer-supplier relationship. It also presents that relationship learning is a mechanism that could transform SC into RP, and thus bridge the SC and collaborative learning theory. Finally, this study indicates that inside relational learning, there are sequences of joint sense-making-information sharing-knowledge integration, before it moves on to RP.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze knowledge integration in manufacturing technology development projects required to build competitive advantages.

A longitudinal case study has been conducted at a Swedish manufacturing company by following a manufacturing technology development project in real time during a two-year period.

The results show that three different knowledge integration processes exist when developing unique manufacturing technology: processes for capturing, for joint learning, and for absorb learning. The findings of the current research suggest that the three knowledge integration processes are highly interrelated with each knowledge integration process affecting the other two.

The major limitation of the research is primarily associated with the single case, which limits generalizability outside the context that was studied.

The findings are particularly relevant to manufacturing engineers working with the development of new manufacturing technologies. By using relevant knowledge integration processes and capabilities required to integrate the knowledge in manufacturing technology development projects, companies can improve design and organize the development of manufacturing technology.

Previous research has merely noted that knowledge integration is required in the development of unique manufacturing technology, but without explaining how and in what way. This paper’s contribution is the identification and analysis of three knowledge integration processes that contribute to the building of competitive advantages by developing unique manufacturing technology and new knowledge.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the area of knowledge integration between relations based upon the assumption that if you do not integrate knowledge between the different relations, the possibility of maintaining, improving or adjusting your product portfolio through your offshore working relationships will either disappear or be severely reduced.

The experienced journey of four small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) within the textile and wood industries are presented regarding how they change their direction and organisational routines due to challenges concerning knowledge integration within their respective supply relations.

Different approaches are shown of how to combine different knowledge dimensions within the supply chain and how the demands towards relations management capabilities are affected by the challenges of mainly knowledge transfer and translation created by the strategic offshore sourcing decisions.

As the conclusions are based upon a limited number of cases studied within a limited time frame, further investigations to confirm the findings, especially with case companies that integrate more complex knowledge types, would be interesting.

The paper proposes that when making strategic offshore sourcing decisions, companies should consider more classic variables like cost, quality and flexibility in much more detail and the different knowledge dimensions (knowledge characteristics, learning capability, knowledge flow, cultural characteristics and stickiness) identified in the paper and thereby the longer‐term demands regarding knowledge integration in offshore supply relations.

The paper identifies different approaches of how to combine different knowledge dimensions within the supply chain and how relations management capabilities are affected by the knowledge integration challenges of mainly knowledge transfer and translation created by the strategic offshore sourcing decisions in SMEs in the manufacturing industry.

Despite the importance of green supply chain integration (GSCI) in advancing green innovation (GI) is recognized, it remains unclear how firms can translate their GSCI efforts into GI. Therefore, this study aims to understand how GSCI affects GI, with its dimensions (exploitative GI and exploratory GI), as well as to investigate the mediating role of green knowledge integration capability (GKIC) and the moderating role of blockchain technology (BCT) adoption.

On the basis of data collected from 247 managers working in Indian firms in the automotive industry, the authors tested the proposed model using the PROCESS macro tool via SPSS software.

The empirical results indicate that GSCI is positively associated with both exploitative and exploratory GI, with a higher effect on exploitative GI. In addition, GKIC mediates the link between GSCI and exploitative GI in contrast to exploratory GI. Notably, the relationship between GSCI and GKIC is stronger when BCT adoption is high.

This study opens the black box of how GSCI affects exploitative and exploratory GI by revealing the mediating role of GKIC and the moderating role of BCT adoption. It provides valuable insights for practitioners to translate GSCI efforts into GI through developing GKIC and adopting BCT.

The role of supply managers in driving corporate performance is changing, with an increased emphasis on supply market intelligence, collaboration, inter‐organizational partnerships, and operational integration with supply partners. These traits are also mirrored in the research on entrepreneurial settings and firms. The purpose of this paper is to explore the parallels between supply management roles, and the entrepreneurial skill sets and mechanisms that have been identified in prior research.

A structural equation model, using a sample of 151 manufacturing and service firms based in the UK, tests this hypothesised model.

The theoretical framework was supported, with results indicating that entrepreneurial behaviours (supply market intelligence and supply management influence) contribute to integration within the firm and with suppliers, in order to drive performance improvement.

The results provide support for purchasing managers seeking to improve performance by changing the recruitment and culture of the supply management function toward an entrepreneurial orientation.

Although the application of organizational entrepreneurship thinking to supply management theory is nascent, this paper's results suggest that further research along these lines may provide a resilient platform for utilisation of entrepreneurial constructs to explain supply management principles in buyer‐supplier collaboration, relational capital, and organisational outcomes.

The current paper aims at contributing to the understanding of interorganizational knowledge integration by highlighting the role of individuals' understandings of the task and how they shape knowledge integrating behaviours.

The paper presents a framework of knowledge integration as heedful interrelating. Knowledge integration is conceptualized as help seeking, help giving and reflective reframing, and the paper discusses how these knowledge integrating behaviors are shaped by actors' representations of the situation and their role in it. The framework is illustrated and refined in relation to a qualitative case study of an IT outsourcing project.

Narrow and separating representations of actors' roles, partly based on institutionalized ideas of the proper behaviors of “buyers” and “suppliers”, impede knowledge integration. Such representations render the knowledge integrating behaviors help seeking, help giving and reflective reframing illegitimate.

Results call for attention to actors' representations of the situation and their role in it in order to understand knowledge integration. The interorganizational setting, with its institutionalized roles, provides unique challenges that need to be investigated further. As findings are based on a single case study, further research needs to extend the findings to other kinds of interorganizational collaboration.

The paper adds to the understanding of interorganizational knowledge integration by drawing attention to the importance of individual actors' representations and behaviors. Hereby, the dominant organizational and network levels of analysis in the literature on interorganizational knowledge integration are complemented by an individual level of analysis.

Drawing upon social capital theory, this research aims to explore the influence of three dimensions of green intellectual capital (GIC) (i.e. green human capital [GHC], green structural capital and green relational capital) on green supply chain integration (GSCI) (i.e. green supplier, internal and customer integration), and the mediating effect of supply chain transformational leadership (SCTL).

To verify the hypothesized relationships, the authors conduct hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping method with two-waved survey data collected from 317 Chinese manufacturing firms.

The findings suggest that both green structural and relational capital positively influence three dimensions of GSCI, while GHC only positively affects green internal and customer integration. In addition, SCTL mediates the impacts of green structural and relational capital on three dimensions of GSCI and mediates the impacts of GHC on green supplier and internal integration.

This research contributes to the GSCI literature and practice by deeming GIC as an intangible resource that can enhance GSCI and revealing the mediating role of SCTL.