Knowledge sharing in collaborative new product development: a study of grey box supplier involvement configuration

Matheus Kleber,Néstor Fabián Ayala,Marie-Anne Le Dain,Érico Marcon,Alejandro Germán Frank

doi:10.1590/0103-6513.20180070

Abstract

Abstract Paper aims To shed light on how knowledge is shared between companies during a collaborative new product development (NPD) process. Originality It is the first study of different knowledge sharing levels for each stage of the NPD process in an inter-organizational context. Research method A research framework was created based on the literature. Guided by this framework, an in-depth case study was performed in a multinational company analyzing the knowledge sharing with the company’s supplier during a collaborative NPD process. Main findings Different levels of knowledge sharing were found at each stage of the NPD process. Implications for theory and practice The results complement previous works demonstrating that this phenomenon should not be considered as a binary state. By clearly presenting how knowledge sharing occurs at each phase of the NPD process, managers can be prepared and correctly implement tools to support NPD teams from both buyer and supplier companies.

Highlights

Knowledge management is not an easy task for organizations (Gonzalez & Martins, 2015)
The average knowledge transfer measured by the sixty boundary objects proposed by Le Dain & Merminod (2014) were evaluated in Company A and 55 boundary objects of the theoretical model were found on the case studied
Our findings showed how knowledge transfer occurs with suppliers alongside the New Product Development (NPD) stages, considering specific boundary objects for this aim

Summary

Introduction

Knowledge management is not an easy task for organizations (Gonzalez & Martins, 2015). Several authors have studied how to integrate suppliers in the New Product Development (NPD) process and how knowledge sharing within the supply chain can add value to a company to the buyer by improving products and processes (Büyüközkan & Arsenyan, 2012; Frank & Echeveste, 2012; Frank & Ribeiro, 2014; Le Dain & Merminod, 2014; Samuel et al, 2011; Yoo et al, 2015). Extant authors have considered the knowledge sharing in collaborative NPD as a singular process, as if throughout the whole. There is a lack of clarity on how the knowledge sharing permeates the product development process among different organizations

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Results

Conclusion