The role of knowledge acquisition in facilitating customer involvement in product development: examining the mediation effect of absorptive capacity

摘要

Knowledge management has often been linked to product development, innovation, and customisation. In particular, effective exploitation of customer knowledge, through engaging customers in a process of co-creation of products, exemplifies such a link. Accordingly, this research aims to identify those dimensions of knowledge management activities believed to enable an organisation to acquire and absorb new knowledge, which may facilitate the involvement of customers/lead users in product development activities. Using empirical data from a survey of 311 UK manufacturing companies, a three-dimensional knowledge acquisition construct emerged through employing Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses (EFA) and (CFA), namely: Diverse stakeholder communication, capability-enhancing partnerships, and external knowledge assistance. Moreover, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) findings show a significant and positive relationship between the resulting knowledge acquisition construct and customer involvement. Interestingly, absorptive capacity was proven to fully mediate such a relationship, highlighting its central role in unlocking the potential of externally-acquired knowledge and incorporating it into an organisation's product development activities.