Nicolette Lakemond

Interfaces between technology development, product development and production: critical factors and a conceptual model

Interfaces between technology development, product development, and production must be managed in order to avoid misfits between technology and product concepts and ensure the fit of the product design and the production process. In this paper, critical challenges related to these interfaces are studied based on in-depth case studies of ten product development projects at five manufacturing firms, two workshops and a questionnaire. Our findings indicate that factors related to synchronisation and transfer management are most critical. A tentative model is formulated as an instrument to reduce risk and uncertainty related to the interfaces.

Open to a Select Few? Matching Partners and Knowledge Content for Open Innovation Performance

The purpose of the paper is to illuminate the costs and benefits of crossing firm boundaries in inbound open innovation (OI) by determining the relationships among partner types, knowledge content and performance. The empirical part of the study is based on a survey of OI collaborations answered by R&D managers in 415 Italian, Finnish and Swedish firms. The results show that the depth of collaboration with different partners (academic/consultants, value chain partners, competitors and firms in other industries) is positively related to innovation performance, whereas the number of different partners and size have negative effects. The main result is that the knowledge content of the collaboration moderates the performance outcomes and the negative impact of having too many different kinds of partners. This illustrates how successful firms use selective collaboration strategies characterized by linking explorative and exploitative knowledge content to specific partners, to leverage the benefits and limit the costs of knowledge boundary crossing processes.

Collaborative innovation with suppliers: a conceptual model for characterising supplier contributions to NPD

It is widely acknowledged that suppliers contribute positively to innovation in New Product Development (NPD). However, it remains rather unclear what suppliers actually contribute to innovation. B ...

Sustainable supply management as a purchasing capability: A power and dependence perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use the relative power and total interdependence concepts as an intervening theoretical lens to explain why and how sustainable supply management (SSM) initiatives by manufacturing firms differ across the Kraljic matrix according to purchasing capability. Design/methodology/approach – Tested hypotheses by subjecting survey data from 338 manufacturers on buyer-supplier relationships in Europe and North America to regression analysis. Findings – Shows three situations where relative power and total interdependence determine the effectiveness of purchasing capabilities. First, sustainability programs impact supplier compliance in all Kraljic categories but bottleneck items. Second, there are significant trade-offs between lower cost and higher social and environmental supplier compliance for noncritical components. Third, strategic alignment of sustainability objectives between corporate and supply function levels only leads to improved financial performance for stra...

Exploiting supplier innovativeness through knowledge integration

Firms are increasingly involving and relying on networks of suppliers and other external partners in their innovation processes. A successful exploitation of suppliers’ technology and competencies is however challenging, not least in situations characterised by technological uncertainty. The main purpose of this study is to analyse how supplier innovativeness may be leveraged through internal knowledge integration capabilities in involving suppliers. The analysis is based on a survey of firms in Europe and North America. The study shows that innovative suppliers do contribute to a firm’s innovation performance in terms of time-to-market and level of innovation in products/services. The main result is that an internal knowledge integration capability in terms of proficiency in supplier management and cross-functional decision making boosts innovation performance, in particular when technological uncertainty is high.

Assessing interface challenges in product development projects

OVERVIEW: Product development projects are exposed to a number of challenges, and the significance of different challenges differs among projects. To prepare for these challenges, project managers may benefit from assessing them at an early stage of the project. This paper presents a method that can be used to assess product development challenges in terms of technological and market uncertainty, product and production complexity, and geographical and organizational dispersion. Project managers can use the results from such assessments to justify preventive action, negotiate resources and specifications, and devise processes that fit the specific characteristics of individual development projects.

Knowledge integration with customers in collaborative product development projects

Driven by rapid technological developments, greater customer expectations, and increased product complexity,product development processes increasingly rely on the integration of dispersed specialis ...

Variation of purchasing’s involvement: case studies of supplier collaborations in new product development

Firms are increasingly involving suppliers in new product development (NPD) and one reason for this is to access technological knowledge. Previous research argues that purchasing fulfils an important role in involving the suppliers in NPD. However, purchasings role under technological uncertainty has not been investigated in detail. The purpose of this paper is to explore purchasings role in technology selection, supplier selection and level of participation in NPD projects involving suppliers. Three NPD projects at one large high-tech firm are studied. The results show that purchasing has limited influence in the technology selection process, but fulfils an important role in the selection of the supplier and has a role as a trouble-shooter throughout the collaborative NPD projects. Purchasing does not necessarily need to be involved in solving daily, routine problems, but serves as a trouble-shooter to solve problems related to the suppliers strategy, the relationship with the supplier, and commitment issues.

Counterbalancing Exploitative Knowledge Search during Environmental Dynamism: Reinforcing New Ideas for Existing Products

Established firms face the challenge of counterbalancing their predominant focus on exploitation with exploration. This paper explores how these firms can reinforce new exploratory ideas for existing products, especially during periods of environmental dynamism. The study is based on an action research study at a new product development (NPD) department at an international manufacturing firm operating in a cyclical market. The results show that increased environmental dynamism opens new opportunities for counterbalancing exploitative approaches by building exploratory skills. The action contributed specifically to breaking with old traditions in the NPD organization, and resulted in actionable knowledge in terms of an ideation approach. However, the study also shows that fast industry cycles that do not match the remote returns of exploratory knowledge searches diminish the possibility to sustain exploratory knowledge searches in organizations. The paper identifies important problems related to the long-time horizon of exploration and the cyclical nature of industries.

In pursuit of control: involving suppliers of critical technologies in new product development

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamics of management and control in collaborations with suppliers of critical technology.Design/methodology/approach – Three collaborative pr ...