Gains or pains? Investigating effects of R&D collaboration intensity and technological diversification on new product development

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research and development (R&D) collaboration plays a vital role in the development of new products. As both external knowledge sourcing and internal knowledge base contribute to new product development (NPD), this study examines how a firm’s R&D collaboration intensity and internal knowledge base properties (i.e. related and unrelated technological diversification) affect its NPD performance. To test the proposed model, we manually collect multi-source data such as patents and new product announcements in the Chinese automobile industry. The empirical analysis reveals that the relationship between R&D collaboration intensity and NPD performance is inverted-U-shaped. Moreover, an increase in a firm’s related technological diversification steepens the inverted-U relationship, while an increase in unrelated technological diversification flattens the curve. This study contributes to the literature on R&D collaboration and NPD by elaborating the contingent roles of related and unrelated technological diversification. As NPD activities are usually knowledge-oriented, firms should commit more seriously to their internal knowledge-based properties when making the decision of R&D collaboration solutions.