Title: A reassessment of the QFD product development methodology from the perspective of knowledge creation and utilisation

Authors: Thomas Lager

Addresses: MOTILab, University Mohammed VI Polytechnique, Benguerir 43150, Morocco

Abstract: The quality function deployment (QFD) methodology has been in use for over 40 years and is still going strong as an important methodology for product innovation, and it is consequently of interest to account for what outcomes a company can expect. Departing from the construct of potential and realised absorptive capacity, the framework included the concepts of organisational learning, transactional memory systems and tacit and explicit knowledge transformation. The conclusion is that the QFD methodology is an important instrument for "knowledge creation and utilisation" in product innovation. The scientific evidence indicates that this often unrecognised capability can be a 'hidden gem' in methodology use. The matrix named the "House of Quality" emerged in an era when the QFD methodology foremost was regarded as a quality tool, but in the light of the findings, one could suggest that this matrix today could more properly be renamed as the "House of Knowledge".

Keywords: absorptive capacity; organisational learning; product development; quality function deployment; tacit knowledge; transaction memory systems.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKMS.2017.087069

International Journal of Knowledge Management Studies, 2017 Vol.8 No.3/4, pp.232 - 258

Received: 30 Jan 2017
Accepted: 12 Mar 2017

Published online: 05 Oct 2017 *

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