Strategic study of knowledge management which led into furniture design industry - Taking example by taiwan furniture industry

Abstract

With changing times, the furniture industry in Taiwan has gradually transformed into a design service industry that integrates set design and manufacturing, and its design development has become increasingly intensive and closely linked, enabling many design information to emerge and accumulate as a result of the process. Henceforth, it is up to businesses to utilize knowledge management measures for effective integration. However, the backbone of the industry is product development process management application, and a majority of Taiwan's current furniture design industry is unable to advance alongside the industry's transformation trend. In terms of operations, many mechanism problems, such as knowledge management, still await resolution. Therefore, this research hoped to determine developmental strategies for industrial application of knowledge management and success factors for the industry's development, and to offer a reference to furniture developers with operation management and transformation strategies. Through the supplementing in-depth interviews with multiple case studies, the researcher first explored Taiwan's furniture developers' current use of and thoughts on knowledge management in the process of product development. Thereafter, data collected from the interviews and studies were analyzed, and based on knowledge management concepts proposed by scholars, the results were summarized according to four major influencing dimensions, namely business organization, product development process, information technology and cultural system. Using cross-analysis and data generalization, the following conclusions were made regarding knowledge management strategies in the development of related industries in furniture design: (1) Establish a knowledge management model using the development process of the industry as the core, and tailor the model according to the needs of the industry; (2) A complete plan is needed to enable those in charge to have awareness and measures to implement knowledge management; (3) It is more difficult to establish storage mechanisms for some of the tacit knowledge and diversified market survey data in development; and (4) In the furniture industry, the process of creative product thinking and human power will become programmed, making policies and mechanisms for employee training and experience teaching even more important. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.