Alireza Javanmardi Kashan

An Empirical Study of Capability Development within Product Innovation Projects

The objective of this paper is to develop insights into firms’ strategic capability development processes within product innovation projects. In particular, the research aims at investigating the interactions among product innovation, knowledge processes, and capability development within firms. Building on qualitative data from the auto-industry, our analysis reveals that across four product innovation projects, the case company developed architectural knowledge and capability. Findings reveal that, along with changes at each level of product architecture, “design knowledge” and “design capability” have been developed at the same level of product architecture, leading to capability development at that level. Furthermore, findings suggest that such capability transformation resulting from knowledge and capability creation over the course of case projects leads to modularization of product architecture. Overall, the research contributes to identifying and emphasizing the role of micro processes in capability development and renewal, which in turn enhances our understanding of strategic capability development processes.

Dynamics of industry architecture and firms’ knowledge and capability development: an empirical study of industry transformation

ABSTRACT There is a lack of empirical evidence supporting existing conceptualisations and particularly clarifying the underlying mechanisms involved in the role of dominant firms in industry transformation. This research undertook an in-depth single case study of how a firm managed its knowledge and capability development processes to shape the industry architecture to its benefit. We investigated how a dominant firm manipulates the interdependencies with local suppliers and positions itself at higher levels of the industry architecture hierarchy. Findings suggest that such processes take place over the course of several product innovation projects and across different levels of the product architecture. Such findings contribute to helping firms to manage their knowledge and capability development processes and transform the industry architecture to their advantage.

The Role of Knowledge Integration in Capability Development and Emergence of Innovation Ecosystem

This paper investigates the interrelationships between knowledge integration (KI), product innovation and capability development to enhance our understanding of the processes and outcomes of capability development within firms. One of the critical underlying mechanisms for capability building identified in the literature is the role of knowledge integration, which operates within innovation projects and contributes to dynamic capability development. Findings of this study demonstrate that the emergence of knowledge specialization from the part level up to the architectural level lead to emergence of innovation ecosystem within the auto industry as a response to learning and innovation within the firm.