knowledge integration and innovation

Knowledgeintegrationandinnovation:SecuringnewproductadvantageinhightechnologyindustryJieYangTCollegeofBusiness,UniversityofSouthernMississippi-GulfCoast,730EastBeachBlvd,LongBeach,MS39560,UnitedStatesAvailableonline25July2005AbstractThispaperexaminestheimpactoftwoprocessesofknowledgemanagement,knowledgeintegrationandinnovation,onnewproductperformanceinChinesehightechnologyindustry.Theresultsshowthatknowledgeintegrationandinnovationexertsignificantpositiveeffectsonnewproductperformance.Theknowledgeintegration–performanceconnectioniscontingentonmarketingandmanufacturingcompetencesandanothertwoknowledgemanagementprocesses:knowledgeacquisitionanddissemination.Thispaperconcludeswithadiscussionoftheimplicationsandlimitationsoftheresearch.D2005ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.Keywords:Knowledgeintegration;Knowledgeinnovation;Knowledgemanagement;Newproductperformance1.IntroductionKnowledgemanagementisagrowingfieldofinterestinbusinesstoday.Ithasbecomethebasicframeworkofasuccessfulbusiness(Davenport&Grover,2001)andacriticalsourceofcompetitiveadvantage(Dutta,1997).Knowledgemanagementimpactsfirmperformancethroughitsefficiencyindevelopingtheintellectualassetsthatareasourceofcompetitiveadvantage(Ndlela&duToit,2001).Intheknowledgemanagementprocess,knowledgeintegrationandinnovationhavebeenthecentralpartin1047-8310/$-seefrontmatterD2005ElsevierInc.Allrightsreserved.doi:10.1016/j.hitech.2005.06.007TTel.:[phone].E-mailaddress:[e-mail]anagementResearch16(2005)121–135developingnewproducts(Lee&Yang,2000).Knowledgeintegrationisafundamentalprocessbywhichfirmsgainthebenefitsofknowledgeandcreatecompetitiveadvantage.Effectsofsimplestructuresonthemicro-levelinteractionsamongindividualscanresultinachangedknowledgeintegrationprocessandimprovedknowledgeintegration.Inenhancingnewproductperformance,knowledgeintegrationdependsonhowmembersintegratetheirindividuallyheldknowledge.Formalinterventionsthatfocusontheimprovementofthegroupprocessareapotentialwaytoachievesuperiorknowledgeintegration(Eisenhardt&Okhuysen,2002).Usefulknowledgehasbecomemorewidespreadandideasshouldbeusedwithenthusiasm,thusinnovatorsofsuchideasmustbeabletointegratethem.Firmsthatcanharnessoutsideideastoadvancetheirownbusinesseswhileleveragingtheirinternalideasoutsidetheircurrentoperationswilllikelythriveinthisneweraofopeninnovation(Chesbrough,2003).KnowledgeinnovationisdescribedbyPatterson(1998)astheenginethatdrivesrevenuegrowth.Innovationisalsothebasefororganizationalsurvival(Hurley&Hult,1998).AccordingtoNonakaandTakeuchi(1995),anorganizationcannotcreateknowledgewithoutindividuals.Theorganizationsupportscreativeindividualsorprovidescontextsforthemtocreateknowledge.Therefore,organizationalknowledgeinnovationshouldbeunderstoodasaprocessofknowledgebeingcreatedbyindividualsandamplifiedasapartoftheknowledgenetworkoftheorganization.Inparticular,knowledgeintegrationandinnovationplayacrucialroleindevelopinganewproductinhightechnologyindustry.Ontheotherhand,thefirm’smarketingandmanufacturingcompetencesandknowledgeacquisitionanddisseminationfacilitateknowledgeinnovationandintegrationduringnewproductdevelopment.Fornewproductdevelopment,themostimportantfactorsofthefirmitselfshouldbemarketingandmanufacturingcompetencesofthefirmsincethecompetencesgiverisetocompetitiveadvantageinfirmsthrougheffectiveknowledgeintegrationandinnovation(Pisano&Wheelwright,1995).Asthetwoendpointsoftheknowledgemanagementprocess,knowledgeacquisitionanddisseminationhavebeenregardedastheoutletsofknowledgewhichareessentialforknowledgeinnovationandintegration(Yang,Yu,&Lee,2002).Thisstudyintendstoexplorethemannerofknowledgemanagementonnewproductperformance.Itaimstoaddresstheresearchquestions:bDoknowledgeintegrationandinnovationpositivelyrelatetonewproductperformance?QandbAretherelationshipsbetweenknowledgeintegrationandinnovationandnewproductperformancecontingentonmarketingandmanufacturingcompetencesandknowledgeacquisitionanddissemination?Q2.LiteraturereviewEder(1997)suggestedthatknowledgeinnewproductdevelopmentisprimarilytacit,suchasknowledgeaboutthestrategicdesignapproach,andknowledgeabouttacticsandmethodsfordesigning.Severalscholarsdescribenewproductdevelopmentasaknowledge-intensiveactivity(DavenportandPrusak,1993;Iansiti&MacCormack,1997;NonakaandTakeuchi,1995;Song&Montoya-Weiss,1998).Newproductdevelopmentinvolvescross-departmentalfunctioning,thatis,employeesfromdifferentunitsformateamwithdifferentviewpoints.InastudybyCourt(1997),threecategoriesofknowledgewereidentifiedthatareusedintheprocessofnewproductdevelopment:general,domainspecific,andprocedural.Generalknowledgeisthatwhichpeoplegainthrougheverydayexperiencesandapplywithoutregardtoanyspecificdomainthattheymightbeworkingin.Domainspecificknowledgeisthatwhichisgainedthroughstudyandexperiencewithinaspecificdomain.Thisisgenerallyimprovedastheperson(s)involvedinprojectsgainsmoreexperience.Finally,thereisproceduralJ.Yang/JournalofHighTechnologyManagementResearch16(2005)121–135122knowledgewhichCourt(1997)suggestedisacombinationofth