Knowledge Sharing in the New Product Development Process: A case study of Iran Khodro Company IKCO A Thesis Presented By: Seyed Navid Nasirpourosgoei Degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Management Royal Holloway University of London 2014 1 | P a g e DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP I Seyed Navid Nasirpourosgoei hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Seyed Navid Nasirpourosgoei 21/03/2014 2 | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In the name of God; Most Gracious & Most Merciful I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Catherine Wang and Dr Romano Dyerson, who have supervised me and helped make this research a reality. Their valuable comments, critical feedback and advice have assisted me with my research. Without their valuable help and supervision, this research would not have been possible. I would also like to thank Mr Mike Ross for his valuable help and advice, and Mr Morton Hill who has helped me during my studies. I would also like to thank Mr GholamReza Dargi, Mr Mohsen Taherkhani and Mr Alireza Tafrishi, and many other people within the IKCO, all of whom have helped and coordinated this research during my field work. I would like to thank all of my tutors, colleagues, friends and the administration staff at Royal Holloway University of London, all of whom have taught, advised and helped me during the past few years. I know this thesis would not have been possible without their help and advice. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their persistent effort to support and encourage my research. God bless you all. Seyed Navid Nasirpourosgoei 21/03/ 2014 3 | P a g e ABSTRACT This study aims to investigate issues on knowledge-sharing in the new product development process through a single embedded case study of Iran Khodro Company (IKCO). Although IKCO is a flagship automotive company in Iran, it has struggled to develop new products independently, despite its experience of jointly developing new products with international partners. This raises an important question with regard to knowledge-sharing practice within IKCO, and knowledge-transfer from international partners. Accordingly, this study investigates the way in which Western theory on knowledge-sharing and knowledge-transfer can be applied, refined or developed in the Iranian context. The empirical data are based on 40 in-depth semi- structured qualitative interviews conducted with 25 senior and middle managers from key departments relevant to the new product development process. Secondary data based on published industry reports and unpublished company reports are incorporated to support the analysis of the interview data. The findings reveal a range of factors that influence four key knowledge-sharing and knowledge transfer processes within the IKCO: (a) knowledge-sharing through a centralised knowledge repository; (b) knowledge-sharing through interaction and socialisation; (c) knowledge-transfer from international partners; and (d) knowledge acquisition, retention and creation within the Research & Development Centre. The findings highlight that, although theory on knowledge-sharing and knowledge- transfer developed in the West are applicable to the Iranian context to some extent, knowledge-sharing and knowledge-transfer processes are considerably influenced by the idiosyncratic organisational context, which in turn is influenced by the wider context, such as the political regime, industry dynamics, technological development and institutional framework. 4 | P a g e LIST OF FIGURES: Figure 1: IKCO Group Structure................................................................................. 68 Figure 2: Iran Khodro's available passenger products ................................................ 74 Figure 3: Model of Knowledge Creation .................................................................... 86 Figure 4: Example of a department-stage model ........................................................ 98 Figure 5: Activity-stages in the NPD process ............................................................. 99 Figure 6: Example of activity-stage model ............................................................... 100 Figure 7: NPD process as a conversion process........................................................ 101 Figure 8: A network model of NPD .......................................................................... 104 Figure 9: The research frame work ........................................................................... 133 Figure 10: IKCO’s organisational chart .................................................................... 159 Figure 11: Follow-up interview................................................................................. 167 Figure 12: A way of Classifying Methods in Social Research ................................. 168 Figure 13: preparation, organising and reporting process in the research. ............... 188 Figure 14: Factors affecting the research theme ....................................................... 251 Figure 15: The research frame work after discussion ............................................... 263 5 | P a g e LIST OF TABLES: Table 1: Worlds auto makers (2007–2008)................................................................. 21 Table 2: IKCO's Samand overseas reach .................................................................... 26 Table 3: The world’s top 30 automakers..................................................................... 30 Table 4: Iran Auto Sector Trade.................................................................................. 32 Table 5: Car ownership ............................................................................................... 33 Table 6: Foreign investments under FIPPA from 1993–2007 (000$)......................... 40 Table 7: Passenger vehicles production in Iran........................................................... 42 Table 8: PSA production line around world................................................................ 43 Table 9: Iranian Automakers ....................................................................................... 46 Table 10: IKCO & SAIPA .......................................................................................... 47 Table 11: The Iranian automotive production quality league table (2012)................. 51 Table 12: Explanation of (-) N point: (Negative point) .............................................. 52 Table 13: Explanation of the way the N (-) point is calculated: ................................. 52 Table 14: Quality comparison between different cars ................................................ 58 Table 15: Events that have taken place from 1966 to 2013 in IKCO ......................... 61 Table 16: Composition of IKCO’s Shareholders by 19th March 2009-2010 ............. 67 Table 17: Investments in shares of other companies (IKCO Internal Source)............ 69 Table 18: IKCO Passenger vehicle production line employees only (2011) .............. 70 Table 19: The number of employees in the R&D in IKCO (Design and NPD) ......... 71 Table 20: The IKCO’s personnel breakdown from 2006-2010 .................................. 71 Table 21: The IKCO’s personnel breakdown in passenger car section ...................... 71 Table 22: The IKCO’s organisational levels............................................................... 71 Table 23: IKCO’s sales network in global markets .................................................... 73 Table 24: IKCO’s Production sites overseas............................................................... 73 Table 25: IKCO's productions in the quality league table (2009)............................... 74 Table 26: Explanation of N (-) point: .......................................................................... 74 Table 27: Knowledge creation modes ......................................................................... 86 Table 28: Knowledge creation facilitators .................................................................. 87 Table 29: Categorisation of tacit knowledge transfer ................................................. 91 6 | P a g e Table 30: Factors influenced knowledge transfer ....................................................... 92 Table 31: Ansoff matrix .............................................................................................. 96 Table 32: Model of NPD process .............................................................................. 109 Table 33: Potential benefits of Joint Venture............................................................ 119 Table 34: Factors influencing IJVs performance ...................................................... 121 Table 35: Relevant situations for different research strategies ................................. 146 Table 36: Tests of validity, generalisability and reliability....................................... 151 Table 37: Sampling techniques ................................................................................. 157 Table 38: Sampling Designs ..................................................................................... 158 Table 39: IKCO’s Passenger production line employees (Feb 2011) ....................... 162 Table 40: The number of employees in the R&D at IKCO ...................................... 162 Table 41: List of participants for first interview (first draft)..................................... 164 Table 42: The final