Beyond manufacturing towards innovation-driven new product development in Malaysia’s automotive industry
Abstract
Malaysia’s automotive industry has established considerable manufacturing and supply chain capabilities, yet greater emphasis on innovation is required to strengthen technological capability, product differentiation, and long term competitiveness. This article examines the role of innovation driven new product development in supporting the transition of Malaysia’s automotive industry beyond conventional manufacturing towards higher value activities. The analysis focuses on four interconnected areas: strategic new product development, technological and digital capability, market driven product innovation, and organisational innovation capability. The article identifies several critical challenges, including the persistence of a manufacturing centred orientation, limitations in technological and digital capabilities, difficulties in transforming market intelligence into distinctive customer value, and organisational fragmentation that restricts continuous innovation. The discussion demonstrates that technology adoption alone is insufficient to generate sustainable innovation and that firms need to integrate technological learning, customer knowledge, employee capabilities, organisational learning, and cross functional collaboration into product development activities. Accordingly, the article proposes four strategic directions comprising the development of adaptive product innovation systems, the transformation of technology adoption into internal innovation capability, the establishment of market intelligence driven product development, and the creation of an integrated organisational innovation ecosystem. Overall, innovation driven new product development provides an important pathway for Malaysian automotive manufacturers and suppliers to transform existing manufacturing strengths into stronger innovation capability, differentiated products, greater customer value, and sustainable competitive performance..
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Copyright (c) 2021 Mohamed Suhaimi Yusof, Mohd Najib Salleh
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