| Author: | Lam, Fung Tenny |
| Title: | An exploratory study of the critical capabilities of privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China |
| Advisors: | Cheng, T. C. Edwin (LMS) Choy, Petrus (LMS) |
| Degree: | D.B.A. |
| Year: | 2022 |
| Subject: | Chemical industry -- China Industrial management -- China Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Faculty of Business |
| Pages: | xiii, 327 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Being the 'factory of the world', China is undergoing a deep and extensive transformation of its industrial model to the existing version that focuses on long-term and sustainable economic growth through shifting and advancing the business models and structures of most of its industries and business sectors. To respond and adapt the changes, manufacturers in China must have to transform their competencies by nurturing, extending or renewing their own unique capabilities. For manufacturers adopting and applying the original equipment manufacturing approach, due to its relatively lower entry barriers and requirements of capabilities, are facing tremendous challenges ever. To maintain and achieve continuous growth and business sustainability, some of original equipment manufacturers have successfully shifted to and transformed into the original design manufacturing approach, and are moving up their value chain by producing, offering and providing new product design, efficient production and distinct products and/or services to the markets and customers. In China, privately-owned specialty chemical companies are making similar and significant transformations, changes and upgrades of their production and business operations by adopting and applying original design manufacturing approach in their businesses and operations domains as well. This study aims at identifying and developing the critical capabilities that are statistically significant to and positively associated with organizational performance measures of privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China. It is noted that the understanding and attainment of academic knowledge in the field of critical capabilities, and the relationships between critical capabilities and organizational performance measures in the case of privately-owned original design manufacturing in the specialty chemical industry in China is relatively limited. For this reason, a structured survey questionnaire was specifically developed and designed to collect primary data from the targeted respondent firms drawn from privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China. The survey received 162 valid responses, which were analysed by the first main statistical test of this study, exploratory factor analysis, to extract and identify the two new sets of constructs, representing the potential critical capabilities applicable to and organizational performance measures pertinent to privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China, and then followed by the second main statistical test of this study, multiple regression analysis, to examine and predict their relationships to determine the critical capabilities of privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China and their organizational performance implications. Finally, this study conducted a case study on LGS Asia Development Limited, a leading and prominent privately-owned original design manufacturer in the specialty chemical company in China, to validate and triangulate the statistical findings from practical application perspective. Seven critical capabilities, covering Design Management Capability, Leadership and Managerial Capability, Quality Management Capability, Production Management Capability, Supplier Management Capability, Marketing Capability and Corporate Social Responsibility Capability; and five organizational performance measures, containing Operational Performance, Marketing Performance, Financial Performance, Product Development Performance and Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, were identified by this study. The seven critical capabilities are statistically significant to and positively associated with the five organizational performance measures at different levels and degrees of statistical significance. Design Management Capability and Marketing Capability were considered as the two most critical and prominent out of the seven critical capabilities as both of them are statistically significant to and positively associated with all the five organizational performance measures of this study. According to the results and findings obtained by this study, the contributions of this study were derived and expected to serve both further academic studies on and practical business applications to privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China. From academic perspective, this study enriches the body of theoretical knowledge and academic studies about critical capabilities, as well as revealing the relationships between critical capabilities and organizational performance measures with special focuses on privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China. Meanwhile, this study also sheds the lights on possible future academic studies to further explore and develop other relevant critical capabilities and their causal relationships with organizational performance measures in other business sectors, industries and geographical locations. From practical business applications perspective, this study provides practical guidance to industry practitioners and senior management of privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China in a way to prioritize and allocate their scarce resources to nurture, create, maintain, utilize and improve their specific and unique sets of critical capabilities, especially Design Management Capability and Marketing Capability as identified by this study, to help embracing, attaining and enhancing corporate, business and operational objectives and goals for business development and sustainable growth through generating and achieving the most intended and desirable organizational performances in the most challenging and competitive business and market environments nowadays in privately-owned original design manufacturers in the specialty chemical industry in China. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6344.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 3.27 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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