A Framework for a Persistent Representation of Customer Knowledge to Enhance Product Development

Competitive pressure, individualization, and constantly advancing technologies require manufacturers to gain knowledge about their customers to offer well-adapted solutions. Despite being an indispensable resource for achieving a competitive advantage, managing customer knowledge is an enormous challenge that quickly becomes a complexity trap, unless targeted processes are available. From the literature, it is known that the target-oriented knowledge management systems are required to map knowledge structures, which help to improve the organizational knowledge lifecycle and advance organizational learning. In this article, we extend research on the intersection of knowledge management and customer integration by proposing a framework for the persistent representation of customer knowledge for product development. This allows companies to integrate customer knowledge into development processes, adding value, and also leading to organizational learning from the knowledge-based view. Knowledge management systems with respect to the customer knowledge are relatively unexplored, and the literature on knowledge management often lacks empirical data. Empirical data are collected through a case study of a leading commercial vehicle manufacturer to explore the link between customer integration and knowledge management. Practitioners are provided with a practice-oriented concept that offers guidance on how to structure a knowledge representation from the company's point of view, aiming at achieving a competitive advantage.