چشمانداز مدیریت صنعتی (May 2024)
Explaining the Effect of Customer Knowledge Management on Innovation Quality through Strategic Agility with the Moderating Role of Competition Intensity: A Study in Medical Equipment Manufacturing Firms
Abstract
Introduction: Complex competition has prompted firms to focus more on strategic decisions regarding products and services to survive and improve performance. One way for firms to survive is by enhancing the quality of innovation in their products and services, as high-quality innovation can lead to improved company performance. Knowledge is a crucial resource for firms in the modern economy, digital society, and information age, where customer satisfaction and competitive advantage are achieved through valuable, knowledge-based products. Therefore, focusing on customer knowledge management to handle customer demands and transform them into positive elements for the company's success is of great importance. Providing most health and medical services depends on appropriate tools and equipment. Thus, Iranian manufacturing firms in the medical equipment sector need precise knowledge to innovate and improve quality, playing a significant role in the efficiency of the country's health system. This study aims to investigate the effect of customer knowledge management on innovation quality, with the mediating role of strategic agility and the moderating role of competition intensity.Methods: This research is quantitative, hypothesis-driven, and applied. The study population includes Iranian knowledge-based firms active in producing medical devices and equipment. A sample size of 192 was estimated from a population of 382 firms using Cochran's formula. A questionnaire was used for data collection, with validity and reliability ensured by experts in the field. Several hypotheses were presented and evaluated using structural equation modeling and partial least squares. Result and Discossion: The results show that customer knowledge management positively and significantly impacts strategic agility and innovation quality in medical equipment manufacturing firms. Additionally, strategic agility has a direct significant effect on innovation quality in these firms. The mediating role of strategic agility between customer knowledge management and innovation quality was also found to be significant. Finally, the analysis indicates that competition intensity negatively moderates the relationship between customer knowledge management and innovation quality.Conclusion: This research, by presenting a new conceptual model for improving innovation quality in medical equipment manufacturing firms, contributes to the literature and fills a gap not previously addressed. Overall, the results suggest that to improve innovation quality, these firms need to make strategic decisions in customer knowledge management. Possessing the right customer knowledge enhances firms' agility in facing internal and external challenges, making market competition and business continuity more controllable. Therefore, customer knowledge management is a key factor for improving innovation quality in Iranian medical equipment manufacturing firms, influencing variables such as strategic agility and competition intensity. Based on the findings, practical suggestions and recommendations for future research are provided.
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