In some industries such as automotive, the supply chain plays a critical role in the firm success. In these industries, the unit of competition has changed to supply chain vs. supply chain. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to develop the concept supply chain technological capability (TC) in the new product development (NPD) process. We explored the concept TC in the supply chain level, which are different from the firm level. In this paper, we studied last three NPD projects of the IKCO (the largest Iranian manufacturer), from year 2000 to 2015 by focusing on the supply chain coordinator organisation of IKCO enterprise, SAPCO. The results show firm managers are called upon to resolve the tension between supply chain TC and innovation through a NPD project and creating the right context to stimulate individuals to solve problems and to be accountable for their objectives.

In some industries such as automotive, the supply chain plays a critical role in the firm success. In these industries, the unit of competition has changed to supply chain vs. supply chain. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to develop the concept supply chain technological capability (TC) in the new product development (NPD) process. We explored the concept TC in the supply chain level, which are different from the firm level. In this paper, we studied last three NPD projects of the IKCO (the largest Iranian manufacturer), from year 2000 to 2015 by focusing on the supply chain coordinator organisation of IKCO enterprise, SAPCO. The results show firm managers are called upon to resolve the tension between supply chain TC and innovation through a NPD project and creating the right context to stimulate individuals to solve problems and to be accountable for their objectives.