TY - CONF

T1 - A Learning Process for NPD in Business Networks

AU - Liu, Rebecca Ru-Yuh

AU - Hart, Susan

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - The point of departure for the research presented in this paper is that although there is muchevidence that a firm’s product development often requires resources beyond the boundaries ofa single firm, the question of how knowledge resources are accessed and learning takes placein product development is much less understood. For the success of product development,practitioners have devoted much interest to building relationships with other firms thatcontribute to mutual benefits; scholars too have highlighted the importance of ‘collaborativelearning’, ‘innovation networks’ (e.g. Håkansson et al. 1999; Gnyawali and Madhavan 2001;Pyka 2002; Powell et al. 2005). To improve product development performance, learning inbusiness networks is not optional, but a compulsory action (Jabar et al. 2010; Moenaert et al.2000; Narver et al. 2004). Nonetheless, how such learning occurs remains under-researched.Research on network learning includes the work of Beamish and Berdraw (2003) and Nonakaand Toyama (2005), who identify respectively the models of transfer – transformationharvestingand the SECI process – socialisation, externalisation, combination, andinternalisation. Other ideas of importance to emerge in the field of learning include‘protectiveness’, (Hamel 1991, McEvily et al. 2004; Saunders et al. 2014), whilst the termsexploitation and exploration of learning (March 1991), explain how firms learn either fromthe refinement and extension of existing competences or from the experimentation with newalternatives. Yet these studies and others in their wake have not been focused on productdevelopment management per se and their insights remain unsynthesised in this context suchthat we still do not know ‘how does learning happen in product development networks?’ Inorder to find out the answer, we commenced a cross-industry multiple-case study to explorethe empirical practices.The organising framework for this research is addressed through examination of learning inthree broad stages of the NPD process, namely, the idea management, product developmentand launch cycles. In order to meet the challenge of finding appropriate samples in networkresearch (Andersson and Dahlqvist 2001; Håkansson and Johanson 2001), a ‘snow-balling’approach was adopted, with the unit of analysis being a completed product developmentproject within a network. In total, three case studies were compiled by 48 in-depth interviewsand direct observations in 11 product development business forums, together with archivalrecords and documents.The findings were derived using NVivo analysis of transcripts as well as documentaryanalysis and allowed the development of a learning framework in product developmentnetworks, comprising syndicated, situated, synergised selected modes of learning whichoccur at and throughout different stages of the NPD process, as summarised in figure 1. Theanalysis, emergence of terms, their definitions and implications will be the focus of the fullpaper.

AB - The point of departure for the research presented in this paper is that although there is muchevidence that a firm’s product development often requires resources beyond the boundaries ofa single firm, the question of how knowledge resources are accessed and learning takes placein product development is much less understood. For the success of product development,practitioners have devoted much interest to building relationships with other firms thatcontribute to mutual benefits; scholars too have highlighted the importance of ‘collaborativelearning’, ‘innovation networks’ (e.g. Håkansson et al. 1999; Gnyawali and Madhavan 2001;Pyka 2002; Powell et al. 2005). To improve product development performance, learning inbusiness networks is not optional, but a compulsory action (Jabar et al. 2010; Moenaert et al.2000; Narver et al. 2004). Nonetheless, how such learning occurs remains under-researched.Research on network learning includes the work of Beamish and Berdraw (2003) and Nonakaand Toyama (2005), who identify respectively the models of transfer – transformationharvestingand the SECI process – socialisation, externalisation, combination, andinternalisation. Other ideas of importance to emerge in the field of learning include‘protectiveness’, (Hamel 1991, McEvily et al. 2004; Saunders et al. 2014), whilst the termsexploitation and exploration of learning (March 1991), explain how firms learn either fromthe refinement and extension of existing competences or from the experimentation with newalternatives. Yet these studies and others in their wake have not been focused on productdevelopment management per se and their insights remain unsynthesised in this context suchthat we still do not know ‘how does learning happen in product development networks?’ Inorder to find out the answer, we commenced a cross-industry multiple-case study to explorethe empirical practices.The organising framework for this research is addressed through examination of learning inthree broad stages of the NPD process, namely, the idea management, product developmentand launch cycles. In order to meet the challenge of finding appropriate samples in networkresearch (Andersson and Dahlqvist 2001; Håkansson and Johanson 2001), a ‘snow-balling’approach was adopted, with the unit of analysis being a completed product developmentproject within a network. In total, three case studies were compiled by 48 in-depth interviewsand direct observations in 11 product development business forums, together with archivalrecords and documents.The findings were derived using NVivo analysis of transcripts as well as documentaryanalysis and allowed the development of a learning framework in product developmentnetworks, comprising syndicated, situated, synergised selected modes of learning whichoccur at and throughout different stages of the NPD process, as summarised in figure 1. Theanalysis, emergence of terms, their definitions and implications will be the focus of the fullpaper.

M3 - Abstract

T2 - Innovation and Product Development Management

Y2 - 12 June 2017

ER -