Abstract: Supplier involvement in new product development (SINPD) is an important way to realize collaborative innovation through effective R&D resources integration between the manufacturer and the supplier. The literature review is presented and multiple-case study method is applied to uncover the detailed processes of knowledge integration and thus identify the knowledge integration approaches in each supplier involvement configuration. This study utilizes the research framework (input-accessibility-mobilization) of social capital theory to fully specify the paths of realizing the knowledge integration in each supplier involvement configuration respectively. The results show that (1) “expectation recognition→synchronous innovation” represents the knowledge integration approach in black-box supplier involvement; (2) joint learning between the manufacturer and the supplier represents the knowledge integration approaches in grey-box supplier involvement, where knowledge sharing, joint sense-making, and joint decision-making take place interactively and recurrently; (3) manufacturer-supplier social capital promotes knowledge integration through the bridging role of knowledge accessibility.

Key words: supplier involvement in new product development, social capital theory, knowledge integration approaches, implementation paths