A new fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approach for risk assessment of competitors’ cooperation in new product development projects

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to identify and accurately assess the risk factors of competitors’ cooperation in the NPD project.Design/methodology/approachNew product development (NPD) is essential to the survival of companies and surpassing other competitors. A key prerequisite for the success of an NPD project is the timing of new product delivery to the market. The main challenge faced by many project managers is the delay in execution and completion phases due to the complex nature and uncertainty of these projects. Rival companies' cooperation reduces the time spent on an NPD project which is an excellent way to reduce the risk of losing the market, but it increases other risk factors.FindingsBased on the results, the security and confidentiality of innovation, the competitors attracting human resources and the company’s brand credibility factors were ranked higher than other factors and should be predicted and managed before cooperating with competitors.Originality/valueThis paper proposed a new model to assess risk factors in cooperation with rival companies in NPD projects. This model takes into account new parameters, for example, negative and positive risks, negative and positive passable risks and risk-based multi-objective optimization by ratio analysis plus full multiplicative form methodology for the rival companies cooperation in NPD projects. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed model, a real case of the R&D unit of Iran Khodro Company was studied.