Antonio K.W. Lau

Supplier and customer involvement on new product performance

Purpose – Recent studies have found inconsistent findings on the impact of supplier and customer involvement on new product development. This study thus aims to explore what contextual factors affect supplier and customer involvement altogether and how such involvement affects new product performance.Design/methodology/approach – The study used structural equation modelling to analyze empirical survey data from 251 manufacturers in Hong Kong.Findings – The study found that modular design, product innovation, and internal coordination are positively correlated with the supplier and customer involvement. Such involvement and product innovation lead to better new product performance.Research limitations/implications – The study is limited to the use of cross‐sectional data and a single key informant approach, and the industry structure of the sampled industries.Practical implications – The study examines the contextual factors of supplier and customer involvement and how such involvement relates to new produ...

Factors influencing the relationship between product modularity and supply chain integration

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between product modularity (PM) and supply chain integration (SCI), and to identify factors influencing this relationship.Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach involving in‐depth interviews on three modular and two non‐modular design projects in the Hong Kong and Pearl River Delta region was conducted. Within and cross‐case analyses were adopted.Findings – Results support the current view that modular design is related to a loosely coordinated supply chain, whereas integrated design is associated with a tightly coordinated supply chain. However, this relationship is affected and explained by four contingency factors: new module/component development, technological knowledge leakage and creation, project team size and supply chain efficiency.Research limitations/implications – The paper used a case study approach so the generalizability of the study is limited. This approach, however, enabled us to examine explicitly the relat...

The effects of innovation sources and capabilities on product competitiveness in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta

It is widely recognized in the theoretical literature that firms need to use both internal and external sources of innovation to gain a competitive advantage. However, although it is assumed that internal and external sources of innovation have distinct relationships with firm capabilities, it is not clear how various innovation sources affect such capabilities, or how or to what extent such relationships affect product competitiveness. This paper examines the effect of diverse sources of innovation on a firms technological innovation capabilities and the extent to which such capabilities mediate the improvement of product competitiveness. Based on a survey of 200 manufacturing firms in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region, we identify internal departments as a major source of innovation for improving a range of firm capabilities. Acquiring disembodied technology improves learning, resource allocation and organizing capabilities, whereas acquiring embodied technology enhances learning and manufacturing capabilities. We use a hierarchical regression analysis to demonstrate that some sources of innovation, such as internal departments, can lead directly to superior product competitiveness, whereas innovations acquired through conferences and competitors contribute to competitiveness through the mediation effects of resource allocation, marketing and organizing capabilities.

Teaching supply chain management using a modified beer game: an action learning approach

The Beer Game is a famous business simulation game in logistics management courses. This paper provides a teaching method that integrates the games concept into the curriculum of a course, helping students not only to understand the challenges of managing supply chains, but also to apply knowledge learnt from the course to solve complex logistics problems. Adopting an action learning approach, the teaching method was used in an undergraduate supply chain course with 254 undergraduate students. The results show that by using this strategy, students can actively acquire supply chain knowledge. Using a combination of lectures and tutorial sessions the students proactively adopted new techniques, such as collaborative forecasting systems, vendor-managed inventory and strategic partnering, to improve supply chain performance. This paper introduces a new teaching method and evaluates it in a supply chain programme to make teaching of supply chain management challenging and interesting.

Innovation activities, sources of innovation and R&D cooperation: evidence from firms in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, China

In a globalised and knowledge-based economy, companies must innovate continuously. Recent studies suggest that companies create multiple types of innovation and should expand the boundaries of their knowledge-production processes to cooperate with external organisations for innovation. Extant empirical studies of relationships between internal and external innovation activities, R&D cooperation, and types of innovation in developed countries have yielded mixed results. As a prominent Asian newly industrialising economy (NIE), Hong Kong’s innovation and technology management has rarely been studied. This study explores the innovation activities and performance of Hong Kong companies with operations in Guangdong. Using a survey – based on the community innovation survey 4 (CIS4) – of 492 companies, we have found that intramural and extramural R&D, acquisition of machinery, and R&D cooperation are important for product, process, organisational, or marketing innovation. A notable result is that market-related efforts play a key role in most innovation undertaken by firms under study.

The impact of innovation management techniques on product innovation performance: An empirical study

New product development (NPD) is a great challenge for manufacturers. However, empirical research on the impact of innovation management techniques (IMT) on innovation performance is seldom reported. An industrial survey is therefore conducted to verify the perceived usefulness of 41 IMT and their impact on innovation performance in Hong Kong electronics and electrical appliances industry. After 153 out of 527 manufacturers were surveyed and their data analyzed, the results show that 39 IMT are positively related to new product performance. However, only 8 out of them are positively related to new products in the product categories, whereas only 10 related to sales due to new products. The findings of this study give insights on the implementation of IMT to improve firm performance.

Adopting an Open Innovation Program with Supply Chain Management in China: A Case Study

Abstract This study examines how an open innovation program can be implemented in practice by a foreign company operating in China with due consideration of traditional supply chain management practices. A case study of an open innovation initiative in a renowned global electrical appliance company in China is explored. The study has found that supply chain managers can play an important role in innovation sourcing, provided an open innovation perspective is adopted. In addition, an open innovation framework complemented by an open innovation funnel is presented. The framework provides new practical insights for engineering managers seeking to implement open innovation programs. The study bridges the gap between academic studies and industrial practice regarding the roles of different functional units in an environment of open innovation.

An exploratory study of Purchasing and Supply Management in Hong Kong industries

The importance of Purchasing and Supply Management (PSM) for business performance has received considerable attention in recent years. However, academic research on PSM training and education is inadequate. This paper presents initial findings from PSM practitioners in Hong Kong about current PSM training and education needs. The study identifies top five trends, skills and knowledge areas for PSM professionals. The results show that the trends of PSM focus on purchasing cost reduction, the skills focus on negotiation and communication, and the knowledge on supply analysis and relationship management. The study also finds that companies tend to adopt on-the-job training for PSM staff but lack a systematic PSM training approach. This paper provides empirical evidence on the recent PSM environment and training needs.