Product Life‐Cycle Management and Distributor Contribution to New Product Development

Abstract

After the initial launch of a new product, distributors are frequently among the first to learn about product‐related problems through the information they get about how it is perceived and used by customers, and how it might be improved or adapted for broader market coverage. For producers, such information, which has the potential to impact new product development (NPD) activities during the product life‐cycle management (PLM) phase that follows launch, can be decisive for ensuring the continued viability of the product in the medium to longer term. The goal of this article is to better understand how distributors contribute to producer PLM activities by engaging in product‐related information processing. A typology of four distinct scenarios is developed by integrating three conceptual themes: organizational information processing, dynamic capabilities, and task complexity. Each scenario results from the interplay of the distributor's level (low/high) of capability—specifically, a combination of information coordination and management of interorganization relations—and of the degree (low/high) of complexity of the product‐related problem. The four scenarios are analyzed and described in terms of NPD‐related information processing. According to the typology, distributors act as “problem informers” (low capability/high complexity), “solution advisors” (low capability/low complexity), “solution implementers” (high capability/low complexity), or “solution managers” (high capability/high complexity). Fourteen in‐depth interviews with distributors and producers in industrial goods provide empirical evidence for the analysis, description, and support of each scenario. The article contributes to NPD by shedding light on the role of distributors in terms of incremental innovation in the context of PLM. Developers of new products can use the typology in planning for distributor involvement in PLM activities; distributors can use it to map out their current and future level of engagement in PLM‐related activities.