Premium
Bridging inter‐ and intra‐firm boundaries: management of supplier involvement in automobile product development
Author(s) -
Takeishi Akira
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
strategic management journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 11.035
H-Index - 286
eISSN - 1097-0266
pISSN - 0143-2095
DOI - 10.1002/smj.164
Subject(s) - outsourcing , competitor analysis , automotive industry , industrial organization , business , new product development , bridging (networking) , order (exchange) , division of labour , marketing , product (mathematics) , economics , computer science , market economy , computer network , geometry , mathematics , finance , engineering , aerospace engineering
Outsourcing has become an important strategy for many firms. Yet, firms need to compete with their competitors who also outsource and may share the same suppliers. This article explores how a firm could outperform others in managing the division of labor with a supplier in product development. Drawing on the empirical data collected from the Japanese auto industry, this paper shows that an automaker needs capabilities to coordinate various activities both externally with a supplier and internally within its own organization, in order to gain better component development performance. Overall, the results imply that outsourcing does not work effectively without extensive internal effort. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.