IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormsom/v17y2015i2p177-190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Dynamic Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Development for Product and Process Design Teams

Author

Listed:
  • Gülru F. Özkan-Seely

    (Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30308)

  • Cheryl Gaimon

    (Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30308)

  • Stylianos Kavadias

    (Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB1 8PU, United Kingdom)

Abstract

We consider a manager who invests in knowledge development of a product and a process design team as well as knowledge transfer between teams throughout a new product development (NPD) project. Knowledge development at a particular time (e.g., prototyping and experimentation) increases a team’s level of knowledge at that time. In contrast, the recipient’s benefits from knowledge transfer may be lagged because of the difficulties in articulating and documenting knowledge as well as the challenges regarding its interpretation and application. Over time, as each team embeds knowledge in the NPD project, the levels of product and process performance increase, thereby increasing the net revenue earned at the product launch time. In a key contribution to the literature, analytic conditions are given that characterize the dynamic rates at which knowledge development and knowledge transfer occur throughout the project. We show that the investment in knowledge development for each team and knowledge transfer between teams may be constant, front-loaded, back-loaded, U-shaped, or the peak rate may be delayed over time. As such, we show how concurrent engineering is optimally pursued throughout the NPD project.

Suggested Citation

  • Gülru F. Özkan-Seely & Cheryl Gaimon & Stylianos Kavadias, 2015. "Dynamic Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Development for Product and Process Design Teams," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 17(2), pages 177-190, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:17:y:2015:i:2:p:177-190
    DOI: 10.1287/msom.2014.0507
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/msom.2014.0507
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/msom.2014.0507?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jürgen Mihm & Christoph Loch & Arnd Huchzermeier, 2003. "Problem--Solving Oscillations in Complex Engineering Projects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 733-750, June.
    2. Robert M. Grant, 1996. "Prospering in Dynamically-Competitive Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 375-387, August.
    3. Lin, Jun & Chai, Kah Hin & Wong, Yoke San & Brombacher, Aarnout C., 2008. "A dynamic model for managing overlapped iterative product development," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 185(1), pages 378-392, February.
    4. Morris A. Cohen & Jehoshua Eliashberg & Teck H. Ho, 2000. "An Analysis of Several New Product Performance Metrics," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 2(4), pages 337-349, July.
    5. Carrillo, Janice E. & Franza, Richard M., 2006. "Investing in product development and production capabilities: The crucial linkage between time-to-market and ramp-up time," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 171(2), pages 536-556, June.
    6. Szulanski, Gabriel, 2000. "The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 9-27, May.
    7. Indranil Bardhan & Vish V. Krishnan & Shu Lin, 2013. "Team Dispersion, Information Technology, and Project Performance," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 22(6), pages 1478-1493, November.
    8. Martine R. Haas & Morten T. Hansen, 2007. "Different knowledge, different benefits: toward a productivity perspective on knowledge sharing in organizations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(11), pages 1133-1153, November.
    9. Christian Terwiesch & Christoph H. Loch, 1999. "Measuring the Effectiveness of Overlapping Development Activities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(4), pages 455-465, April.
    10. Janice E. Carrillo & Cheryl Gaimon, 2004. "Managing Knowledge-Based Resource Capabilities Under Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(11), pages 1504-1518, November.
    11. Janice E. Carrillo & Cheryl Gaimon, 2000. "Improving Manufacturing Performance Through Process Change and Knowledge Creation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 46(2), pages 265-288, February.
    12. Thomas A. Roemer & Reza Ahmadi, 2004. "Concurrent Crashing and Overlapping in Product Development," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 52(4), pages 606-622, August.
    13. Christoph H. Loch & Christian Terwiesch, 1998. "Communication and Uncertainty in Concurrent Engineering," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(8), pages 1032-1048, August.
    14. Viswanathan Krishnan & Steven D. Eppinger & Daniel E. Whitney, 1997. "A Model-Based Framework to Overlap Product Development Activities," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(4), pages 437-451, April.
    15. Michael A. Lapré & Luk N. Van Wassenhove, 2001. "Creating and Transferring Knowledge for Productivity Improvement in Factories," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 47(10), pages 1311-1325, October.
    16. Ikujiro Nonaka, 1994. "A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 5(1), pages 14-37, February.
    17. Nadia Bhuiyan & Donald Gerwin & Vince Thomson, 2004. "Simulation of the New Product Development Process for Performance Improvement," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(12), pages 1690-1703, December.
    18. Christian Terwiesch & Christoph H. Loch & Arnoud De Meyer, 2002. "Exchanging Preliminary Information in Concurrent Engineering: Alternative Coordination Strategies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 402-419, August.
    19. Jeffrey T. Macher, 2006. "Technological Development and the Boundaries of the Firm: A Knowledge-Based Examination in Semiconductor Manufacturing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(6), pages 826-843, June.
    20. Dennis Epple & Linda Argote & Kenneth Murphy, 1996. "An Empirical Investigation of the Microstructure of Knowledge Acquisition and Transfer Through Learning by Doing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 44(1), pages 77-86, February.
    21. Paul S. Adler, 1995. "Interdepartmental Interdependence and Coordination: The Case of the Design/Manufacturing Interface," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 6(2), pages 147-167, April.
    22. Cheryl Gaimon, 1997. "Planning Information Technology--Knowledge Worker Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(9), pages 1308-1328, September.
    23. Raul O. Chao & Stylianos Kavadias & Cheryl Gaimon, 2009. "Revenue Driven Resource Allocation: Funding Authority, Incentives, and New Product Development Portfolio Management," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(9), pages 1556-1569, September.
    24. Albert Y. Ha & Evan L. Porteus, 1995. "Optimal Timing of Reviews in Concurrent Design for Manufacturability," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 41(9), pages 1431-1447, September.
    25. Jürgen Mihm, 2010. "Incentives in New Product Development Projects and the Role of Target Costing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(8), pages 1324-1344, August.
    26. Robert S. Huckman & Bradley R. Staats, 2011. "Fluid Tasks and Fluid Teams: The Impact of Diversity in Experience and Team Familiarity on Team Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 13(3), pages 310-328, July.
    27. Cheryl Gaimon & Gülru F. Özkan & Karen Napoleon, 2011. "Dynamic Resource Capabilities: Managing Workforce Knowledge with a Technology Upgrade," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1560-1578, December.
    28. Paul R. Carlile, 2002. "A Pragmatic View of Knowledge and Boundaries: Boundary Objects in New Product Development," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 442-455, August.
    29. Argote, Linda & Ingram, Paul, 2000. "Knowledge Transfer: A Basis for Competitive Advantage in Firms," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 150-169, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mengyang Pan & Aravind Chandrasekaran & James Hill & Manus Rungtusanatham, 2022. "Multidisciplinary R&D project success in small firms: The role of multiproject status and project management experience," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(7), pages 2806-2821, July.
    2. Cheryl Gaimon & Manpreet Hora & Karthik Ramachandran, 2017. "Towards Building Multidisciplinary Knowledge on Management of Technology: An Introduction to the Special Issue," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 567-578, April.
    3. Narayan Ramasubbu & Jennifer Shang & Jerrold H. May & Youxu Tjader & Luis Vargas, 2019. "Task Interdependence and Firm Performance in Outsourced Service Operations," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 658-673, July.
    4. Cheryl Gaimon & Janice Carrillo, 2022. "Successful innovation and the alignment of knowledge workers at the executive, management, and technical specialist levels," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(12), pages 4589-4598, December.
    5. Morvarid Rahmani & Guillaume Roels & Uday S. Karmarkar, 2017. "Collaborative Work Dynamics in Projects with Co‐Production," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 686-703, April.
    6. Stylianos Kavadias & Karl T. Ulrich, 2020. "Innovation and New Product Development: Reflections and Insights from the Research Published in the First 20 Years of Manufacturing & Service Operations Management," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 84-92, January.
    7. Morvarid Rahmani & Guillaume Roels & Uday S. Karmarkar, 2018. "Team Leadership and Performance: Combining the Roles of Direction and Contribution," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(11), pages 5234-5249, November.
    8. Linda Argote & Manpreet Hora, 2017. "Organizational Learning and Management of Technology," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 579-590, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Cheryl Gaimon & Manpreet Hora & Karthik Ramachandran, 2017. "Towards Building Multidisciplinary Knowledge on Management of Technology: An Introduction to the Special Issue," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 567-578, April.
    2. Lin, Jun & Chai, Kah Hin & Brombacher, Aarnout C. & Wong, Yoke San, 2009. "Optimal overlapping and functional interaction in product development," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 196(3), pages 1158-1169, August.
    3. Lin, Jun & Qian, Yanjun & Cui, Wentian & Miao, Zhanli, 2010. "Overlapping and communication policies in product development," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 201(3), pages 737-750, March.
    4. Jeremy Hutchison-Krupat, 2018. "Communication, Incentives, and the Execution of a Strategic Initiative," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(7), pages 3380-3399, July.
    5. Qian, Yanjun & Xie, Min & Goh, Thong Ngee & Lin, Jun, 2010. "Optimal testing strategies in overlapped design process," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 206(1), pages 131-143, October.
    6. Lin, Jun & Chai, Kah Hin & Wong, Yoke San & Brombacher, Aarnout C., 2008. "A dynamic model for managing overlapped iterative product development," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 185(1), pages 378-392, February.
    7. Valle, Sandra & Vázquez-Bustelo, Daniel, 2009. "Concurrent engineering performance: Incremental versus radical innovation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 119(1), pages 136-148, May.
    8. Laura J. Kornish & Jeremy Hutchison‐Krupat, 2017. "Research on Idea Generation and Selection: Implications for Management of Technology," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(4), pages 633-651, April.
    9. Cheryl Gaimon & Gülru F. Özkan & Karen Napoleon, 2011. "Dynamic Resource Capabilities: Managing Workforce Knowledge with a Technology Upgrade," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(6), pages 1560-1578, December.
    10. Victoria L. Mitchell & Barrie R. Nault, 2007. "Cooperative Planning, Uncertainty, and Managerial Control in Concurrent Design," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(3), pages 375-389, March.
    11. Nagesh N. Murthy & Haikady N. Nagaraja & Hossein Rikhtehgar Berenji, 2023. "Managing concurrency in cyclical projects under stochastic task environments: Vaccine development projects during pandemics," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 32(3), pages 951-971, March.
    12. Rajiv D. Banker & Indranil Bardhan & Ozer Asdemir, 2006. "Understanding the Impact of Collaboration Software on Product Design and Development," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(4), pages 352-373, December.
    13. Paul R. Carlile & Eric S. Rebentisch, 2003. "Into the Black Box: The Knowledge Transformation Cycle," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1180-1195, September.
    14. Linda Argote & Sunkee Lee & Jisoo Park, 2021. "Organizational Learning Processes and Outcomes: Major Findings and Future Research Directions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(9), pages 5399-5429, September.
    15. Christian Terwiesch & Christoph H. Loch & Arnoud De Meyer, 2002. "Exchanging Preliminary Information in Concurrent Engineering: Alternative Coordination Strategies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 402-419, August.
    16. Annika Lorenz & Michael Raven & Knut Blind, 2019. "The role of standardization at the interface of product and process development in biotechnology," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 1097-1133, August.
    17. Fascia, Michael, 2019. "The role of religious experience in the knowledge transfer process," OSF Preprints bm7s3, Center for Open Science.
    18. Joglekar, Nitindra R., 2003. "Performance of coupled product development activities with a deadline," Working papers WP 4122-00., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management.
    19. Jürgen Mihm & Christoph Loch & Arnd Huchzermeier, 2003. "Problem--Solving Oscillations in Complex Engineering Projects," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(6), pages 733-750, June.
    20. Katherine C. Kellogg & Wanda J. Orlikowski & JoAnne Yates, 2006. "Life in the Trading Zone: Structuring Coordination Across Boundaries in Postbureaucratic Organizations," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 22-44, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormsom:v:17:y:2015:i:2:p:177-190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.