The Impacts of Organizational Slack on the Relationship between Cooperative Capacity and NPD Project’s Advantages

[[abstract]]台灣企業家積極往外佈局，在全世界產業鏈上扮演關鍵角色，高科技產業逐漸在世界嶄露頭角，主要是因為ODM (Original Design and Maunfacturing, 委託代工設計製造) 為主的新產品專案的獨特合作模式。過去研究類似聯盟合作多關注於廠商與合作夥伴之間的互動關係，本研究提出「合作能耐 (Cooperative capacity)」，強調廠商與合作夥伴的先驗能力，並非強調合作關係，此先驗能力能提供廠商在選擇合作夥伴時之重要決策因子。此外，組織資源寬裕問題亦少見於此類研究。組織寬裕資源對創新存有正向或負向的角色；寬裕資源具緩衝作用，亦是變革的資源，此寬裕資源可能影響新產品開發專案的結果。 本研究以台灣企業為研究對象，採用非隨機抽樣方式，以115 ODM新產品專案，檢驗合作能耐與合作開發新產品專案優勢(Co- Alliance NPD Advantages)的關係，並探討組織寬裕資源與新產品創新度對此關係的干擾效果。 合作能耐由互補性能力、信任、雙方文化相似性及先前合作經驗組成；實證研究發現，信任與先前合作經驗對新產品專案優勢具有顯著的直接效果，顯示信任與先前合作經驗有助於提升共同開發新產品專案的優勢。組織寬裕資源干擾信任、雙方文化相似性與先前合作經驗對新產品專案優勢之效果。新產品創新程度亦干擾互補能力、先前合作經驗與新產品專案優勢之關係。顯示組織寬裕資源、新產品創新度與合作能耐彼此交互影響新產品專案優勢。本研究結果可供廠商在選擇合作夥伴時，除了考量雙方的合作能耐之外，可加入組織寬裕資源與新產品創新程度因素，以期順利完成專案，共創雙贏結果。[[abstract]]Taiwanese high-tech firms have developed themselves as major players in the global IT market through ODM (Original Design and Maunfacturing) business model. Past study on this type of cooperation alliances mainly focus on interaction relationship among alliance firms. This thsis develops a constusct-“cooperative capacity”, a potential leading to a better performance of co-alliance new product projects. This capacitiy offers firms priori-project indicators before they pick up an ODM partner. In addition, oragnizational slack as buffer or resource for a firm to cushion the uncertainty of innovation that may impacts the outcome of new product project is also put into the research model. Based on 115 ODM-based NPD projects in Taiwanese firms, the study examines the direct effects of a firm’s cooperative capacities (complementary capability, trust, organization culture similarity, prior alliance experience) on NPD project’s advantages (quality, cost and delivery) as well as the moderating impacts of the firm’s organization slacks and new product innovativeness on the relationships between cooperative capacities and NPD project’s advantages. The results indicate that NPD project advantages are associated positively with firms’ trust and prior alliance experience. It indicates that both trust and prior alliance experience significantly help to advance NPD project’s advantages. The moderating effect of organization slacks is also found on the relationship between trust, organization culture similarity, prior alliance experience and NPD project’s advantages. New product projects’ innovativeness significantly moderates the relationship between complementary capability, prior alliance expierence and NPD project’s advantages. These results confirm that organization slacks, product innovativeness and cooperative capacities interactively affect NPD project’s advantages. The findings provide firms with some priori-project guidences to screen ODM partners. That is alliance firms may select their ODM partners by judging mutual cooperative capacities/slacks and new project innovativeness