The effect of channel innovation knowledge management on competitive advantage: a dual-path model

ABSTRACT Drawing on organizational learning theory, we integrate channels and NPD perspectives to address whether NPD teams can acquire innovation knowledge from channel partners and apply it to gain competitive advantage. Structural equation modeling using a sample of 205 product managers in U.S. high-technology manufacturing firms illustrates organizational ambidexterity that yields competitive advantage through an exploratory route from product novelty and new market accessibility to market pioneering and an exploitative route from product meaningfulness and channel operation efficiency to product quality superiority. We further develop new measures of channel innovation knowledge acquisition capabilities, channel innovation knowledge application capabilities, and market pioneering.

[1]  Clayton M. Christensen,et al.  Marketing malpractice: the cause and the cure. , 2005, Harvard business review.

[2]  Shyh-Rong Fang,et al.  Knowledge exchange and knowledge protection in interorganizational learning: The ambidexterity perspective , 2014 .

[3]  P. K. Kannan,et al.  New Product Development Under Channel Acceptance , 2007 .

[4]  R. Calantone,et al.  Controllable Factors of New Product Success: A Cross-National Comparison , 1996 .

[5]  Peter J. Williamson,et al.  Strategy as Options on the Future , 1999 .

[6]  Justin J. P. Jansen,et al.  Managing Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity: How Do Organizational Antecedents Matter? , 2005 .

[7]  Yuan Li,et al.  Transfer of market knowledge in a channel relationship: Impacts of attitudinal commitment and satisfaction , 2010 .

[8]  Henk W. Volberda,et al.  Absorbing the Concept of Absorptive Capacity: How to Realize Its Potential in the Organization Field , 2009 .

[9]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[10]  J. Li,et al.  The influence of leadership on product and process innovations in China: The contingent role of knowledge acquisition capability , 2015 .

[11]  Malte Brettel,et al.  Innovation Culture, Collaboration with External Partners and NPD Performance , 2011 .

[12]  C. Moorman.  Organizational Market Information Processes: Cultural Antecedents and New Product Outcomes , 1995 .

[13]  M. Parry,et al.  A Cross-National Comparative Study of New Product Development Processes: Japan and the United States , 1997 .

[14]  D. Teece,et al.  DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT , 1997 .

[15]  Carmen Lages,et al.  Entrepreneurial orientation, exploitative and explorative capabilities, and performance outcomes in export markets: A resource-based approach , 2011 .

[16]  Mark T. Spriggs.  A framework for more valid measures of channel member performance , 1994 .

[17]  R. Grant.  Toward a Knowledge-Based Theory of the Firm,” Strategic Management Journal (17), pp. , 1996 .

[18]  S. Sarin,et al.  From Market Driven to Market Driving: An Alternate Paradigm for Marketing in High Technology Industries , 2003 .

[19]  William H.A. Johnson,et al.  Validating new product creativity in the eastern context of Malaysia , 2014 .

[20]  Hüseyin Tanriverdi,et al.  Information Technology Relatedness, Knowledge Management Capability, and Performance of Multibusiness Firms , 2005, MIS Q..

[21]  S. Zahra,et al.  Absorptive Capacity: A Review, Reconceptualization, and Extension , 2002 .

[22]  Douglas J. Ayers,et al.  An Exploratory Investigation of Organizational Antecedents to New Product Success , 1997 .

[23]  S. Zahra,et al.  The Role of External Knowledge Sources and Organizational Design in the Process of Opportunity Exploitation , 2013 .

[24]  J. Workman,et al.  Market Orientation, Creativity, and New Product Performance in High-Technology Firms , 2004 .

[25]  Subhash Sharma,et al.  The Role of Relational Information Processes and Technology Use in Customer Relationship Management , 2005 .

[26]  Lisa C . Troy,et al.  Innovativeness and new product success: insights from the cumulative evidence , 2007 .

[27]  R. Srivastava,et al.  Market-based capabilities and financial performance of firms: insights into marketing’s contribution to firm value , 2009 .

[28]  Roger Calantone,et al.  The Role of Knowledge in Resource Allocation to Exploration versus Exploitation in Technologically Oriented Organizations , 2003, Decis. Sci..

[29]  Stanley E. Fawcett,et al.  A Dynamic Collaboration Capability as a Source of Competitive Advantage , 2011, Decis. Sci..

[30]  Ellen Thomas,et al.  Supplier integration in new product development: Computer mediated communication, knowledge exchange and buyer performance , 2013 .

[31]  R. Grant,et al.  Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration , 2022 .

[32]  Bernard J. Jaworski,et al.  Markor: A Measure of Market Orientation , 1993 .

[33]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[34]  Gregory S. Carpenter,et al.  Reflections on “Consumer Preference Formation and Pioneering Advantage” , 1994 .

[35]  Patrick Lynch,et al.  From conflict to crisis in collaborative NPD , 2014 .

[36]  Albert H. Segars,et al.  Knowledge Management: An Organizational Capabilities Perspective , 2001, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[37]  R. Calantone,et al.  The Impact of Market Knowledge Competence on New Product Advantage: Conceptualization and Empirical Examination , 1998 .

[38]  S. Slater,et al.  Impact of Knowledge Type and Strategic Orientation on New Product Creativity and Advantage in High-Technology Firms† , 2013 .

[39]  K. Atuahene–Gima,et al.  Exploratory and Exploitative Learning in New Product Development: A Social Capital Perspective on New Technology Ventures in China , 2007 .

[40]  M. Tushman,et al.  The ambidextrous organization. , 2004, Harvard business review.

[41]  J. Steenkamp,et al.  Consumer and Market Drivers of the Trial Probability of New Consumer Packaged Goods , 2003 .

[42]  I-Chieh Hsu,et al.  Relationship between Intellectual Capital and Knowledge Management: An Empirical Investigation , 2012, Decis. Sci..

[43]  Karthik N. S. Iyer,et al.  Aligning Supply Chain Relational Strategy with the Market Environment: Implications for Operational Performance , 2014 .

[44]  Frank Q. Fu,et al.  The Moderating Effect of Perceived Product Innovativeness and Product Knowledge on New Product Adoption: An Integrated Model , 2013 .

[45]  M. Lindell,et al.  Accounting for common method variance in cross-sectional research designs. , 2001, The Journal of applied psychology.

[46]  Fred Langerak,et al.  Understanding a Two-Sided Coin: Antecedents and Consequences of a Decomposed Product Advantage , 2008 .

[47]  David I. Gilliland,et al.  When do incentives work in channels of distribution? , 2014 .

[48]  Gary L. Frankwick,et al.  A Framework for Understanding New Product Alliance Success , 2011 .

[49]  Edward F. McDonough,et al.  Managing the Exploitation/Exploration Paradox: The Role of a Learning Capability and Innovation Ambidexterity , 2013 .

[50]  Kenneth A. Bollen,et al.  The Dimension(s) of Democracy: Further Issues in the Measurement and Effects of Political Democracy , 1981 .

[51]  C. Moorman,et al.  Tradeoffs in marketing exploitation and exploration strategies: The overlooked role of market orientation , 2004 .

[52]  R. Grover,et al.  From Embedded Knowledge to Embodied Knowledge: New Product Development as Knowledge Management , 1998 .

[53]  Roger J. Calantone,et al.  The role of lean launch execution and launch timing on new product performance , 2012 .

[54]  Rajdeep Grewal,et al.  The Role of Relational Knowledge Stores in Interfirm Partnering , 2004 .

[55]  Daniel A. Levinthal,et al.  ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY: A NEW PERSPECTIVE ON LEARNING AND INNOVATION , 1990 .

[56]  Rabikar Chatterjee,et al.  Investments in Exploitation and Exploration Capabilities: Balance Versus Focus , 2014 .

[57]  M. Knudsen.  The Relative Importance of Interfirm Relationships and Knowledge Transfer for New Product Development Success , 2007 .

[58]  M. Shanley,et al.  Knowledge stock, exploration, and innovation: Research on the United States electromedical device industry , 2009 .

[59]  Rebecca J. Slotegraaf,et al.  Marketing Capabilities for B2B Firms , 2012 .

[60]  Aron O'Cass,et al.  Achieving new product success via the synchronization of exploration and exploitation across multiple levels and functional areas , 2014 .

[61]  Kristopher J Preacher,et al.  Asymptotic and resampling strategies for assessing and comparing indirect effects in multiple mediator models , 2008, Behavior research methods.

[62]  Hillbun Ho,et al.  Performance implications of marketing exploitation and exploration: Moderating role of supplier collaboration , 2015 .

[63]  Mitzi M. Montoya,et al.  Antecedents and Consequences of Creativity in Product Innovation Teams , 2013 .

[64]  J. March.  Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning , 1991, STUDI ORGANIZZATIVI.

[65]  Maggie Chuoyan Dong,et al.  Do Business and Political Ties Differ in Cultivating Marketing Channels for Foreign and Local Firms in China? , 2013 .

[66]  Hon Keung Yau,et al.  The Simultaneous Impact of Supplier and Customer Involvement on New Product Performance , 2010 .

[67]  Holger Schiele.  Early Supplier Integration: The Dual Role of Purchasing in New Product Development , 2010 .

[68]  Jenny Darroch,et al.  Knowledge management, innovation and firm performance , 2005, J. Knowl. Manag..