Creating and exploiting market knowledge assets

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the components of a knowledge management system that contribute to superior new product program performance. Design/methodology/approach – An extensive review of the academic and managerial literatures that deal with knowledge management's contribution to superior performance was first undertaken. After identifying gaps in the literature, a comprehensive model of a knowledge management system was developed. Where possible, existing measures of the constructs in this model were utilized. A questionnaire was developed, a commercial mailing list purchased, and a two wave mailing which produced a 15.8 percent response rate conducted. Findings – The paper finds that customer intelligence generation, competitor intelligence generation, technological intelligence generation, and intelligence dissemination all contribute to the stock of knowledge assets ( p <0.05). It was also found that, after controlling for influences on new product performance, a knowledge‐based strategy fully mediated the knowledge asset‐new product program performance relationship ( p <0.05). Research limitations/implications – This is a cross‐sectional study so causality should not be implied. The study was conducted among companies competing in high‐tech industries so there may be questions about generalizability. Practical implications – Within the limitations of the research design, this study demonstrates the components of a knowledge management system. It provides numerous examples of the techniques utilized and companies that utilize them. Originality/value – The paper identifies the components of a knowledge management system that contribute to superior new product program performance.