An empirical study on the correlation between the knowledge management method and new product development strategy on product performance in Taiwan's industries

Due to the advances in science and technology and the rapid changes in the market, a product's life cycle has become much shorter than before. Enterprises must constantly innovate and conduct research on new products, choose appropriate products with new technology, cope with customer demands and the threat from new competitors. A new product development (NPD) strategy is an important activity that helps enterprises to survive and make continuous improvements. This study will conduct a performance analysis for Taiwanese high technology companies implementing knowledge management (KM) and new product development strategy. The following results were obtained: (1) There is a positive effect on new product development performance for those companies that strongly implement knowledge management method; (2) Different new product development strategies taken by companies lead to variations in performance; (3) The innovation is more effective than a copying strategy. High technology companies that use an effective knowledge management method to establish NPD strategies will have success. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.