We empirically show that the effects of supply chain visibility on modularity and new product development flexibility. For the study, the relationships among external visibility of supply chain, internal visibility of supply chain, modularity and new ...
We empirically show that the effects of supply chain visibility on modularity and new product development flexibility. For the study, the relationships among external visibility of supply chain, internal visibility of supply chain, modularity and new product development flexibility were modelled and validated with hypotheses. An empirical test was performed for a path model using structural equation modeling on samples of 186 manufacturing firms from various industries in South Korea.
This study finds as follows: Firstly, we suggest there are positive relationships among external visibility of supply chain, internal visibility of supply chain, modularity and new product development flexibility. Secondly, the results support that supply chain visibility is important for modularity as strategic choice for new product development flexibility. The lastly, we suggest the importance of supply chain visibility in the perspective of obtaining, sharing and utilization of information. The results of this study allow manufacturing firms to cope with unpredictable customer’s needs with flexibility and obtain differentiated competitiveness.