Exploring the Collaborative Integration of Service
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EXPLORING THE COLLABORATIVE INTEGRATION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS PETER TOBIAS MEHRLE A thesis submitted to The University of Gloucestershire in accordance with the requirements of the degree of Doctorate of Business Administration in the School of Business and Technology. August 2020 Word Count: 92.937 Abstract This Doctorate of Business Administration thesis examines the collaborative integration of engineering service providers (ESPs) in the new product development (NPD) process of automobile manufacturers. Through 11 qualitative key informant interviews with leading suppliers and buyers and the analysis of two case studies with a total of 22 interviewees, the explorative study analyses collaboration models, risks, motives, barriers and best practice guidelines for the identified two most important cooperation models in the field. The thesis draws on the literature of NPD processes, collaborative NPD, early supplier involvement, knowledge management, and relationship management in the automotive sector. The theory provides an introduction and serves as a basis for the developed guideline model. The provided best practice guidelines, sorted into the categories of ‘people’, ‘process’, ‘collaboration technology’, and ‘product technology’, are expected to improve collaboration in the joint NPD of complex products or technologies if these are applied by the management. Thus, the guideline model serves as a managerial tool to set priorities in the different phases of joint development, facilitate joint activities, and optimize NPD efficiency. Insights from this research are broadly applicable in the context of outsourced development of highly complex products or technologies to service providers. The thesis concludes with the discussion of its contribution to practice and theory and with an outlook on future developments in the ESP market. Declaration of Original Content I declare that the work in this thesis was carried out in accordance with the regulations of the University of Gloucestershire and is original except where indicated by specific reference in the text. No part of the thesis has been submitted as part of any other academic award. The thesis has not been presented to any other education institution in the United Kingdom or overseas. Any views expressed in the thesis are those of the author and in no way represent those of the University. Signed: Peter Tobias Mehrle Date: 16.10.2020 DOI: 10.46289/MKLP2514 Acknowledgement I would like to express my gratitude to my first supervisor, Dr Stuart Hanmer-Lloyd, and to my second supervisor, Dr John Wargin, for their insightful comments and clarifications as well as their valuable contributions and feedback during this study. I would like to thank all research participants who provided their experience and knowledge which made this research possible. I would also like to thank Dr Philippa Ward for always being there. My thanks also to my loving parents Rosemarie and Ernst for their support, to my brother Stefan, for his insights and guidance, as well as to my cousin Dieter and my aunt Ann for the very helpful revision of the thesis. I am deeply thankful to Greta Schubert, Yasmin Ayyash, Nikita Schick, and Felix Stiller for their support. Moreover, I would like to thank the management of the AKKA group for allowing me the freedom to conduct this research—especially to Nathalie Bühnemann, Régis Sandrin, Nicolas Valtille, Mauro Ricci, Jean-Franck Ricci, Christian Hagen, Lars Krambeer, Florian Edinger, and Jean-Philippe Carbonel for their understanding and support during my limited availability. I would also like to thank all of my friends who supported me in writing, and incanted me to strive towards my goal. Last but not least, I would like express appreciation to my beloved wife Jennifer, who provided tremendous support and unbelievable understanding throughout my studies. Words cannot express how grateful I am for all of the sacrifices that you’ve made on my behalf. ‘Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.’ George Santayana Collaborative Integration of ESPs in automotive NPD Contents EXPLORING THE COLLABORATIVE INTEGRATION OF SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS OF AUTOMOBILE MANUFACTURERS _____________________________ 1 ABSTRACT ________________________________________________________________________ 2 DECLARATION OF ORIGINAL CONTENT _________________________________________________ 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT _______________________________________________________________ 4 CONTENTS ________________________________________________________________________ 7 ABBREVIATIONS __________________________________________________________________ 10 LIST OF FIGURES __________________________________________________________________ 12 LIST OF TABLES ___________________________________________________________________ 15 1 CONTEXT, MOTIVATION, AND TOPIC RELEVANCE __________________________________ 16 1.1 TOWARDS A THIRD REVOLUTION IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY _____________________________ 16 1.1.1 The first revolution of the automotive industry: Mass production. _______________ 17 1.1.2 The second revolution of the automotive industry: Lean production. _____________ 18 1.1.3 The third revolution of the automotive industry: Efficient product variety. ________ 20 1.2 THE ROLE OF ENGINEERING SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THIS CONTEXT ____________________________ 28 1.3 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK AND SHORTCOMINGS OF EXISTING RESEARCH _______________________ 44 1.4 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS ______________________________________ 47 1.5 THESIS STRUCTURE ____________________________________________________________ 49 2 LITERATURE REVIEW __________________________________________________________ 52 2.1 NPD, COLLABORATIVE NPD, AND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY ____________ 53 2.1.1 NPD models in the automobile industry. ___________________________________ 54 2.1.2 IT as an enabler for collaborative NPD. ____________________________________ 59 2.1.3 Software development in the automobile industry. ___________________________ 63 2.2 DISCUSSION OF THE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW ON COLLABORATION IN AUTOMOTIVE NPD ______ 83 DBA – Peter Tobias Mehrle 7 Collaborative Integration of ESPs in automotive NPD 2.2.1 Complexity aspects of NPD. _____________________________________________ 83 2.2.2 NPD organization. _____________________________________________________ 84 2.2.3 Motivation and risks of outsourcing NPD (A). _______________________________ 88 2.2.4 General recommendations for collaborative NPD projects (B). _________________ 94 2.2.5 Recommendations in the field of early supplier involvement (C). ________________ 98 2.2.6 Recommendations in the field of knowledge management (D). _________________ 99 2.2.7 Recommendations in the field of relationship management (E). _______________ 100 2.3 CONCLUSIONS ON LITERATURE REVIEW AND PRELIMINARY RECOMMENDATION MODEL FOR COLLABORATIVE NPD PROJECTS __________________________________________________________________ 102 3 RESEARCH METHODS AND METHODOLOGY ______________________________________ 109 3.1 ONTOLOGICAL AND EPISTEMOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW __________________________________ 109 3.2 APPLIED METHODS AND METHODOLOGIES __________________________________________ 114 3.2.1 Narrative literature review on NPD, collaborative NPD, and software development in the automobile industry. ______________________________________________________ 114 3.2.2 Systematic literature review on collaboration in automotive development. ______ 115 3.2.3 Methodological context for qualitative research. ___________________________ 128 3.2.4 Data gathering. ______________________________________________________ 131 3.2.5 Data analysis. _______________________________________________________ 151 3.2.6 Bias. _______________________________________________________________ 155 3.3 RESEARCH ETHICS ___________________________________________________________ 157 4 RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION _________________________________________ 158 4.1 KEY INFORMANT INTERVIEWS ___________________________________________________ 158 4.1.1 Internal and external motives. __________________________________________ 159 4.1.2 Risks, recommendations, barriers, and best practices by category. _____________ 183 4.1.3 Conclusion on key informant interviews. __________________________________ 287 4.2 CASE STUDIES ______________________________________________________________ 299 4.2.1 First case study: Serial development project of an SuV coupe under the lead of an ESP. 299 8 DBA – Peter Tobias Mehrle Collaborative Integration of ESPs in automotive NPD 4.2.2 Second case study: Agile software development of a new functionality in the field of autonomous driving for serial application. ________________________________________ 340 4.2.3 Conclusion on case studies. _____________________________________________ 378 5 CONCLUSION _______________________________________________________________ 382 5.1 CONTRIBUTION TO PRACTICE ____________________________________________________ 388 5.2 CONTRIBUTION TO THEORY _____________________________________________________ 394 5.3 VALUE CO-CREATION IN KNOWLEDGE-INTENSIVE BUSINESS SERVICES _________________________ 396 5.4 LIMITATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH ________________________________ 400 REFERENCES _____________________________________________________________________ 403 ANNEX I: LIST OF RESEARCH DATABASES USED FOR THE SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE