• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• 제7권1호
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• pp.35-47
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• 2006

Client-supplier collaboration has been an imperative approach to new product development (NPD), in which a good product specification management system and practice is crucial to the assurance of product quality. This study investigates product specification management in client-supplier collaborative NPD. Based on the interviews and survey study, 12 problems and 13 good practices of product specification management are identified. It also compares the importance and degree of the implementation of the product specification practices in Hong Kong electronics industry. The results suggest that more intensive practices should be implemented for better product specification management.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• 제5권2호
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• pp.70-78
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• 2004

Client-supplier collaboration in new product development (NPD) has been a strategy in response to fierce global competition. Traditionally, Hong Kong suppliers collaborate with worldwide clients through original equipment manufacturing (OEM) arrangement in which suppliers manufacture products according to clients' design. In recent years, a growing number of Hong Kong suppliers have transformed to original design manufacturing (ODM) in which they are assigned a design responsibility other than manufacturing products. The ODM arrangement necessitates a close interaction between clients and suppliers, which brings about intense conflict. Conflict has been recognized as an important factor affecting NPD performance including product quality. This paper studies the conflict handling practices of Hong Kong ODM suppliers based on 87 survey data. The results show that the suppliers frequently adopt effective conflict handling practices by which they can develop products of good quality through better design decisions. The results also suggest that the use of ineffective conflict handling behaviors, particularly avoiding, should be reduced for better product quality.