Teach well, learn better - Customer involvement and new product performance in B2B markets: The role of desorptive and absorptive capacity

Abstract

Customer involvement has received significant attention in the B2B relationship literature and is identified as an undeniable source of sustainable competitive advantage for manufacturing industries. Our study extends this research stream and re-examines the relationship between customer involvement and new product performance, employing the dynamic capability perspective. We hypothesise the moderating effects of absorptive and desorptive capacity on the relationship between customer involvement and new product performance. A survey of 225 high-tech Iranian manufacturing firms is used to test our research hypotheses. The research findings reveal the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between customer involvement and new product performance. Our findings also confirm the complementary effects of absorptive and desorptive capacity and suggest when, and under what levels of these two dynamic capabilities, involving key customers in new product development projects could be a successful strategy for developer firms.