سرمایه فکری چگونه کارایی نوآوری محصول را تحت تاثیر قرار می دهد؟ How does intellectual capital affect product innovation performance? Evidence from China and India

1. Introduction Intellectual capital refers to the knowledge stock embedded in a firm (Nahapiet and Ghoshal, 1998; Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005). Empirical evidence exists that intellectual capital positively affects innovation (Lee et al., 2011; Menor et al., 2007; Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005) and firm performance (Hsu and Wang, 2012; Youndt et al., 2004). Knowledge sourced from suppliers can stimulate creativity and effectively address the interdependence among product, process, and supply chain designs (Cousins et al., 2011; Petersen et al., 2003). Intellectual capital and supplier knowledge integration thus enable a manufacturer to implement and exploit the existing knowledge resided internally and externally in supply networks for product innovation (Youndt et al., 2004; Hult et al., 2006). Although researchers argue that existing knowledge enables a manufacturer to acquire and integrate external knowledge (Cohen and Levinthal, 1990; Szulanski, 1996), the majority of empirical studies take an internal perspective and focus on intellectual capital’s direct effects on performance outcomes (e.g. Lee et al., 2011; Subramaniam and Youndt, 2005). By exploring the effect of intellectual capital on supplier knowledge integration and how they jointly influence product innovation performance, this study enhances current understandings on how existing knowledge contributes to new product development. Although researchers argue that knowledge acquired from suppliers enhances new product development (Cousins et al., 2011; Petersen et al., 2003; Un et al., 2010), some empirical studies fail to support a direct and positive relationship between learning from suppliers and product innovation performance (Tavani et al., 2013; Jean et al., 2014). Integrating the knowledge sourced from suppliers, such as technical know-how, changes in factor markets, and suggestions for process improvement, can assist manufacturers in adapting supply chain designs and reconfiguring supply chain resources to deal with unexpected and unpredicted changes and events (Braunscheidel and Suresh, 2009; Lee, 2004). Supply chain adaptability helps manufacturers identify shifts in environments which facilitates the manufacturers to develop new or adjust existing products in a timely and cost-effective manner (Swafford et al., 2006; Blome et al., 2013).