IDENTIFYING THE ‘RIGHT’ SUPPLIER FOR MODULE DEVELOPMENTS — A CROSS-INDUSTRIAL CASE ANALYSIS

Justus Erich Eggers, Erwin Hofman (), Holger Schiele () and Elmar Holschbach ()
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Justus Erich Eggers: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan, 5, 7522 NB Enschede, Netherlands
Erwin Hofman: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan, 5, 7522 NB Enschede, Netherlands
Holger Schiele: University of Twente, Drienerlolaan, 5, 7522 NB Enschede, Netherlands
Elmar Holschbach: #x2020;University of Applied Sciences South Westphalia, Lindenstr 53, 59872 Meschede, Germany

International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), 2017, vol. 21, issue 03, 1-33

Abstract: Relational view argues that buying companies should integrate supplier resources in new product development (NPD) projects to realise competitive advantages. Due to decoupling of modules and the associated opportunity to allocate development activities to upstream suppliers, modular product architectures are considered to be a driving factor for the integration of supplier resources. Module developments are associated with substantial investments, long-term orientation and risks across product families for the buying firm. Therefore, supplier integration for module development is highly critical. Regardless of the relevance, research has not yet analysed, which supplier competence are considered as antecedents for successful module developments with suppliers. To close the identified gap, this paper analysed case companies from the automotive, agriculture equipment and rail vehicle industry. Technical, organisational and relationship aspects are identified as critical success factors. The results contribute to theory by adding to relational view the finding that competences for successful collaborations differ in accordance to the level of interaction between suppliers and buying firms. Moreover, this study provides a model and an evaluation scheme that helps practitioners to allocate the best suitable development role to suppliers within module developments.

Keywords: Relational view; module development; supplier integration; supplier characteristics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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DOI: 10.1142/S1363919617500268

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