The impact of modular designs on new product development outcomes : the moderating effect of supply chain involvement

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impacts of product modularity (PM) and multiskilled employees (MEs) on new product development (NPD) outcomes and explore the moderating effect of supply chain involvement. Design/methodology/approach: The authors used data collected from 317 manufacturers to empirically examine the conceptual model and conducted hierarchical regression analysis to test the hypotheses. Findings: The results reveal that PM significantly improves NPD outcomes. The relationship between PM/MEs and NPD outcomes is strengthened when the level of supplier involvement is high, whereas the relationship between MEs and NPD outcomes is weakened when the level of customer involvement is high. Research limitations implications: First, this study only focuses on PM and MEs as two types of modular designs. Second, the inter-relationship between modular designs and supply chain involvement might be contingent. Third, the authors use cross-sectional data that cannot reflect causal effects of modularity on NPD outcomes. Originality/value: The findings contribute to the understanding of the alignment between modular designs and supply chain involvement considering NPD outcomes. This study also contributes to the concept of modularity by identifying MEs as a type of modular design.