Aligning market needs with technological innovations : the strategic role of knowledge management
Villalba de Kokkonen, Daniela (2024)
Villalba de Kokkonen, Daniela
2024
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202403134323
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202403134323
Tiivistelmä
In today's rapidly evolving and competitive business landscape, innovation is an important driving force for organizational success. As companies strive to create competitive advantage, the role of knowledge management (KM) in catalyzing innovation becomes increasingly critical. This thesis explores the integral role of knowledge management in supporting technological innovation management, particularly within the context of aligning market needs with technological capabilities in an organization. Through an in-depth literature review and a case study of VIM, this research explains how KM practices, especially those facilitating the flow of customer and market insights to R&D teams, are critical in developing products that align with market needs. This study identifies best practices top innovators use to bridge the gap between commercial insights and technical expertise, underscoring the importance of systematic knowledge capture to organize the fuzzy front end of innovation, and for aligning innovations with business objectives. The result of the literature review is reported as a conceptual framework to guide organizations looking to align technological innovation efforts with customers and market needs. This framework was used in a real business context of Vaisala’s Industrial Measurements (VIM) to evaluate the current flow of customer and market knowledge to R&D teams and to provide recommendations for improvements. Findings revealed that systematic knowledge capture and sharing, underpinned by a culture of open communication and collaboration, are fundamental to transforming individual insights into organizational knowledge that drives innovation. The study highlights the necessity of a KM strategy that integrates customer insights with technological capabilities, ensuring that innovation efforts are closely aligned with market demands.