Involvement In New Product Development Research Articles

Customer-driven innovation: examining the nexus of trust, IT, knowledge absorption, and involvement in NPD success

This paper explores the interplay among trust, IT utilization, knowledge absorption, and customer involvement in new product development and their impact on new product development performance. Based on an empirical analysis of 283 survey responses from global manufacturing firms, the study reveals key insights: (1) Trust and IT utilization positively influence knowledge absorption, with trust having a stronger impact; (2) Knowledge absorption directly enhances new product development performance; and (3) Customer involvement positively moderates the relationship between knowledge absorption and product new product development performance. This study enhances our understanding of new product development dynamics, illustrating how these factors collectively shape successful product development outcomes in the rapidly evolving business landscape.

Vertical Coopetition: Effect of Supplier Relationship Management Strategies on Supplier Involvement in New Product Development

In the complex “vertical coopetition” relationship, this article aims to explore how manufacturers develop supplier relationship management (SRM) strategies to motivate supplier involvement in their new product development (NPD) activities. It investigates the influence of two competitive and cooperative SRM strategies (introducing competition for suppliers and holding supplier shares) on coinnovation performance which is the result of supplier involvement measured in a time-lagged manner. This article used the panel data on the Japanese automobile industry from 1994 to 2016 with fixed-effect negative binomial regression analysis. The results shed light on the inverted U-shaped effect of introducing competition for suppliers and the positive effect of holding supplier shares on coinnovation performance. They also indicate that holding supplier shares can weaken the curved role of introducing competition in coinnovation, but the inverted U-shape persists. Holding a high proportion of a supplier's shares and simultaneously introducing moderate competition for the supplier would be a relatively better strategy for increasing supplier involvement in NPD and coinnovation. The findings provide insights into strategic sourcing and contribute to the interfirm coopetition literature by focusing on vertical buyer-SRM strategies and their roles in supplier involvement in NPD.

Different forms of supplier involvement, knowledge orchestration capability, technological uncertainty and new product development performance: a test of three-way interaction

PurposeThis paper examines the role of purchasing in facilitating early supplier involvement in new product development (NPD) in contexts of technological uncertainty (TU). Taking a purchasing perspective, it develops a moderate model to explain the effects of supplier involvement on NPD performance and whether and how knowledge orchestration capability (KOC) and TU affect these relationships. Additionally, KOC drivers are defined.Design/methodology/approachA total of 317 usable questionnaires from Chinese high-technology firms were collected. Moderated multiple regression (MMR) was used to test all hypotheses. Resource orchestration theory (ROT) was the adopted theoretical lens.FindingsTwo forms of supplier involvement (as knowledge source and co-creator) were found to distinctly affect NPD performance and have potential substitutive relationships. Purchasing KOC positively moderates the relationships between forms of supplier involvement on NPD performance. TU strengthens the moderating role of purchasing KOC. Furthermore, purchasing status and supply complexity are important antecedents for purchasing KOC.Practical implicationsThese findings serve as a blueprint for involving purchasing in technologically uncertain NPD projects and improve supplier NPD integration. Additionally, management should recognize the purchasing function's role and empower it to identify ideas, knowledge and solutions within supply networks.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the ROT by examining the role of purchasing KOC on supplier involvement in NPD performance, especially under TU. Moreover, it demonstrates significant and positive relations between purchasing department status and external supply complexity on its KOC.

Enhancing subsidiary innovation capability through customer involvement in new product development: A contingent knowledge source perspective

AbstractIn recent decades, multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly harnessed local knowledge through various customer involvement practices implemented by their foreign subsidiaries. Our study, using a multi‐informant survey of 230 MNE subsidiaries in China, explores how these subsidiaries manage customer involvement in new product development (NPD). We specifically focus on two practices: using customers as an information source (CIS) or as a co‐developer (CIC). We posit that the two types of customer involvement have distinct effects on a subsidiary's innovation capability, which in turn impacts two critical NPD outcomes: innovativeness and speed to market. Moreover, we suggest that the roles that customers play in CIS and CIC, as well as their contribution to the subsidiary's innovation capability, depend on whether the specific knowledge is derived from the parent headquarters or local partners. Our findings reveal that technological knowledge transfer from the parent headquarters enhances CIS's effect on innovation capability, yet diminishes that of CIC. In contrast, knowledge sharing from local partners exerts the opposite effects. By elucidating the underlying mechanisms and contingencies, our study fosters a deeper understanding of customer involvement in NPD and provides insightful guidance for MNEs seeking to leverage local knowledge for successful innovations in foreign markets.

New product development and supplier involvement: the role of R&D collaboration with supporting organisations

Existing research highlights the importance of sourcing external knowledge in manufacturers’ innovative processes. Specifically, supplier involvement in new product development (NPD) has been widely analysed but without conclusive results. To shed light on this matter, this paper provides a deeper insight by analysing the indirect effects in the relationship between supplier involvement and two NPD dimensions (efficiency and effectiveness). In particular, it examines R&D collaboration with supporting organisations as a mechanism by which knowledge provided by suppliers may lead to better innovation performance. This study focuses on 155 high-tech and medium–high-tech Spanish firms to test indirect effects through the PROCESS macro. The results show that while there is a positive and significant indirect effect of supplier involvement on NPD efficiency through R&D collaboration with supporting organisations, that indirect effect is not significant in increasing NPD effectiveness. This research contributes to the literature on inter-organisational networks and NPD by analysing the effects of supplier involvement on NPD through the role played by supporting organisations, with different empirical evidence for each NPD dimension and practical implications.

Enhancing Supplier Participation in New Product Development through Strategic Procurement: A Study of Chinese Manufacturing Enterprises

This study focuses on the impact of strategic procurement by manufacturing enterprises on supplier involvement in new product development in Guangdong Province, the largest economic province in China. While there is existing research on supplier participation in new product development, less attention has been given to the role of procurement in this process. The study aims to explore the relationships between strategic procurement and supplier capabilities, supplier capabilities and participation in new product development, and enterprise cooperation and supplier participation in new product development. Using a conceptual model based on supply chain and transaction cost theories, the study finds that strategic procurement positively affects supplier investment in new product development through improved supplier capabilities and partnership between enterprises. Additionally, supplier technical and supply capabilities, trust between enterprises, and communication and collaboration positively influence supplier participation in new product development. The study recommends that manufacturing enterprises prioritize the strategic function of procurement, develop existing supplier capabilities, and establish good cooperation with suppliers involved in new product research and development to enhance the impact of strategic procurement on supplier investment in new product development.

How the Supplier Relationship, Market Position, and Proximity Impact Supplier Involvement and New Product Performance

Overview: In today’s rapidly changing and competitive global business environment, companies must continuously develop successful new products. Recent studies indicate that supplier involvement in new product development (NPD) enhances firms’ competitive advantage and new product performance. In this study, we focus on the moderating effects of supplier involvement on NPD performance. We found that supplier relationship and supplier market position moderate the relationship between supplier involvement and NPD performance. Our findings suggest that co-developing new products with close suppliers who are market leaders results in better NPD performance.

Justice in triad: Revisiting supplier involvement in new product development

AbstractRecognizing the importance of involving suppliers in the new product development (NPD) process, extensive studies have examined this issue at a buyer–supplier dyadic level. However, how supplier involvement leads to better NPD performance is not clearly explained. Additionally, extending the dyadic relationships to triadic relationships and addressing how to manage the two competing suppliers with fair conduct remains unexplored. To answer these questions, this study developed a conceptual model theorizing the role of supplier involvement, information sharing, and justice in the NPD process within a buyer–supplier–supplier triadic relationship. Based on survey data collected from 200 U.S. firms, Structural Equation Modeling is used to test the hypothesis. The results first confirmed the criticality of involving both primary and secondary suppliers during NPD. Second, the positive effect of triadic supplier involvement on innovation performance is fully mediated by information sharing. Finally, this study explored the different roles of procedural justice and distributive justice; the results confirmed that procedural justice acts as a moderator for the relationship between triadic supplier involvement and information sharing, whereas distributive justice moderates the effect between information sharing and innovation performance. Our findings contribute to the literature of triadic supplier involvement‐new product development and relationship management. Accordingly, these findings highlight key implications for managers and policymakers.

How and when does internal and external social media use for marketing impact B2B SME performance?

PurposeDespite its potential as a new source of competitive advantage, the performance implications of social media (SM) marketing (SMM) are not well understood. This study aims to investigate how and when SMM matters to firm performance, analysing the mediating role of product innovation (PI) and moderating the role of marketing innovation (MI) in business to business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).Design/methodology/approachThis paper used structural equation modelling analysis in STATA, using the Australian bureau of statistics data set of 4,956 SMEs which operate in the B2B environment.FindingsThe results reveal differential moderating effects of MI on the direct SMM–performance relationship. MI positively moderates internal SMM and SM use for promotion and branding on firm performance. MI also negatively moderates SM use for customer communication on firm performance, underscoring SMM constituting a double-edged sword. The indirect effects of internal SM use and SM use for promotion and branding, and customer involvement in new product development on performance via PI are significant when MI is absent.Practical implicationsHence, B2B SMEs benefit from PI and existing SMM but do not benefit from dual PI and new MI.Originality/valueBy disaggregating SMM and explicating the mediating mechanism and moderating effects of MI, this study reveals how and under what conditions SMM matters to firm performance in B2B SMEs.

Walking the managerial tightrope: top management involvement in product innovation projects

PurposeThis study examines how technical drivers as well as social drivers influence organic communication and top management involvement (TMI) in new product development (NPD) projects. Technical drivers are of strategic importance and product innovativeness and social drivers are of intrinsic and extrinsic relevance. Organic communication is defined as continuous, bidirectional and informal communication between top management and the NPD teams. Further, arguing that TMI must be studied as a multifaceted construct, it is conceptualized to occur as guidance, active motivation and providing resources and creating a tolerant climate. Subsequently, the effect of TMI and organic communication on NPD performance is investigated.Design/methodology/approachThe data set, collected via surveys from top managers and project managers involved in 86 NPD projects in 85 firms, is analyzed using PLS structural equation modeling.FindingsThe authors show that the strategic importance of the project has a positive influence on TMI through active motivation, providing resources and creating a tolerant climate for innovation, but does not have an effect on guidance. Results also show that active motivation and organic communication improve budget and schedule adherence, whereas providing guidance and stimulating a tolerant climate have detrimental effects. In summary, the results show that only active motivation enhances all types of performance while stimulating a tolerant climate appears to have the opposite effect. The results revealed that organic communication between top management and the NPD team has a strong positive effect on all elements of TMI (providing guidance, actively motivating the NPD team, providing resources and creating a tolerant climate). In other words, when top management communicates with the NPD team throughout the project in an informal way and listens to them in addition to engaging in a one-way communication, they are more likely to be seen by the team as being deeply involved in the project.Practical implicationsExecutives must walk a managerial tightrope to actively motivate and to assist in providing resources, yet they must not be overbearing with direct guidance and must limit their tolerance for failures.Originality/valueInvolvement of key organizational actors such as top management and the link to project performance has attracted significant attention in research. However, nuanced empirical insights into the dyad of top management and project teams has so far been absent. The study’s findings detail the effect of technical and social drivers of top management involvement in new product development projects. Most notably, (1) the effect of motivation and stimulating a tolerant climate on performance, and (2) the effect of organic communication on top management involvement. Moreover, this study is unique in that it empirically examines TMI from both top management and team perspectives.

Purchasing involvement in new product development: An absorptive capacity perspective

In this paper, we explore the role of purchasing involvement in facilitating the absorption of supplier knowledge into a firm's new product development (NPD) projects. Extant research indicates that absorbing new supplier knowledge can enhance a firm's NPD performance. Despite previous studies on purchasing involvement, little empirical research has examined the role purchasing plays in absorbing new supplier knowledge. Adopting an absorptive capacity perspective, we report the findings from an embedded case study of four NPD projects within the context of a single firm. This firm has implemented purchasing involvement practices at the early stages of the NPD process to respond to changes in the industry's technological and environmental regulations. We analyse specific purchasing practices that can facilitate the absorption of supplier knowledge into the NPD projects, as well as the benefits and the challenges associated with the implementation of these practices. We find that the purchasing department is involved in different early stages of the NPD process, which may have different effects on the absorption of supplier knowledge across the absorptive capacity processes: exploration, assimilation and exploitation. Our findings also reveal that purchasing involvement may facilitate a firm's absorptive capacity as well as its connective capacity by accessing—not acquiring—supplier knowledge. We propose a conceptual framework that can facilitate the connection and absorption of supplier knowledge for NPD projects. Managerial implications are provided to encourage firms to deploy purchasing involvement practices early in their NPD projects when engaging in absorbing new supplier knowledge.

Co-creation of a healthy dairy product with and for children

Children's involvement in new product development may contribute to ensure that healthy alternatives meet their wants and needs. Co-creation is a potential approach to bridge the world of the child and the grown-up product developer. In this context, the objective of the present work was to explore the potential of a co-creation approach with children to develop a healthy dairy product. A total of 52 school-aged children (54% girls, 6–13 year old) recruited from an after-school club in Montevideo (Uruguay) participated in co-creation workshops. Two sessions were carried out. In the first session, children developed a dairy product using a set of ingredients and proposed strategies to promote their product. Children showed a high level of engagement during the activity and provided actionable ideas for product development. Three key factors drove the product formulation (familiarity, hedonics, and healthiness), whereas common communication strategies were proposed by the participants to promote their products. In the second session, children evaluated four products developed by the researchers based on children’s ideas. The products showed high overall liking scores (5.9 to 7.9) despite the inclusion of novel and healthy ingredients and the lower sugar content compared to similar commercial products available in the Uruguayan marketplace. These results show the potential of involving children in the co-creation of healthy dairy products. Considering the lack of published studies regarding the use of co-creation approaches with children in the food domain, the present work provides useful insights for the implementation of co-creation to develop innovative products with and for children.

Development of a supply chain configuration model for new product development: a multi-objective solution approach

Early supplier involvement in new product development is strategically important for the success of most firms. We therefore discuss how to configure an appropriate supply chain network for new product development. First, we propose a supply chain configuration model under a multi-objective optimization framework. We then develop a solution procedure based on a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, i.e. NSGA-II (Non-Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II), to minimize the total supply chain cost and time-to-market. The efficiency of the proposed solution procedure is discussed along with a laptop assembly case study. The results obtained from NSGA-II are also compared from SPEA-II (Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm-II).

The dilemma of downstream market stakeholder involvement in NPD: Untangling the effects of involvement and capabilities on performance

In many industries, new product development (NPD) success depends on whether products simultaneously provide value to multiple stakeholders on the demand-side of the firm like buyers, users, payers and regulators. Building on the open innovation and stakeholder literatures, we explore the dilemma of downstream market stakeholder involvement: it can help firms to create value for the market and increase their NPD financial performance but it can also negatively affect NPD efficiency. In addition, we test whether three dimensions of stakeholder involvement capabilities (identification, interaction and integration), allow firms to benefit from stakeholder involvement without impairing efficiency. The results of a survey in the medical device industry show that stakeholder involvement breadth has a positive effect on NPD financial performance and that stakeholder involvement intensity leads to less efficient NPD processes. Finally, we find that interaction and integration capabilities contribute to NPD efficiency, while identification capability is detrimental.

Leveraging sustainable design practices through supplier involvement in new product development: The role of the suppliers' environmental management capability

Firms often aim to develop new products in an environmentally sustainable fashion, while at the same time ensuring profitability. While firms may aim to do so themselves through internal sustainable design practices, what has increasingly become prevalent is to leverage the expertise of suppliers in such endeavors. With this framing and by relying on the resource-based view and its extensions reflected in the natural resource-based view of the firm, this study develops a conceptual model theorizing how internal resources in the form of sustainable design practices enable a firm to improve the environmental and economic performance associated with new product development initiatives. Further, we propose that (external) supplier involvement in new product development complements a firm's internal efforts to reap benefits from sustainable design practices, with this complementary effect however being contingent on the suppliers' environmental management capability. The results from testing this model with empirical survey data provide important academic and managerial insights regarding how firms should best manage their efforts to develop environmentally friendly new products through the leveraging of both internal (firm) and external (supplier) resources.

Unraveling the Dimensions of Supplier Involvement and their Effects on NPD Performance: A Meta‐Analysis

We study the relationship between supplier involvement in new product development and performance. The current literature is scattered and fragmented with studies reporting mixed empirical evidence for a variety of concepts related to “Early Supplier Involvement.” We conduct a systematic review and meta‐analysis of the existing literature to reconcile conflicted findings, revise and refine theoretical perspectives, and provide evidence‐based scholarly and practical implications. To achieve these aims, we unravel the general relationship by considering three factors. First, we delineate different types of performance outcomes, mainly related to NPD efficiency (e.g., speed) and NPD effectiveness (e.g., product quality). Second, we distinguish between the moment and the extent of supplier involvement, related to different theoretical perspectives on external knowledge integration. Third, we disentangle multiple levels of analysis that are seemingly obscured in the literature, specifically the project and organizational levels. We find that extensive supplier involvement has positive effects on NPD efficiency and effectiveness, whereas earlier supplier involvement only to some degree affects NPD efficiency and not effectiveness. In conclusion, our meta‐analysis based on 11,420 observations from 51 studies provides strong theoretical and practical insights on the important phenomenon of supplier involvement.

Collaborative product development: Managing supplier incentives for key component testing

Supplier involvement in new product development has become increasingly common. When developing an innovative component for a new product, it may be sufficient for the component supplier to merely follow the buyer’s specifications and release the component without a good understanding of how well it will fit the final product. While this approach meets reasonable expectations of supplier involvement, it may increase the probability of the final product’s failure. The alternative for the supplier is to exceed expectations by learning more about the final product, performing extra tests, and gathering more information about component fit. This paper studies supplier incentives to exceed expectations before releasing the component for mass production. We develop a sequential non-cooperative game with endogenous information asymmetry. We then solve the game for reward-only and residual claimant contracts and compare the outcomes against the first-best outcome. We find that offering a higher reward to the supplier toward component success does not always lead to greater effort on the supplier side. Instead, this approach may backfire on the buyer by making the supplier less likely to test the component and, in some cases, more likely to release a low-quality component. We also find that introducing a penalty for component failure does not lead to coordination of the supply chain either. However, an efficient contract exists, but it requires the buyer to introduce a penalty for non-release of the component.

Fashion cewebrity involvement in new product development: Scale development and an empirical study

Driven by the hype around fashion cewebrities and their involvement in new product development, this study explores how customer purchase intention toward new fashion products may be heightened by involving fashion “cewebrities” in the new product development process. Based on survey data collected from China, this study accordingly develops and validates a scale to measure the key attributes of fashion cewebrities. The results show that fashion cewebrities possess five key attributes: attractiveness, trustworthiness, expertise, interactivity, and intimacy. These attributes are found to exert varying impacts on product design, production, and commercialization, thereby influencing purchase intention differently.

How do external openness and R&D activity influence open innovation management and the potential contribution of social media in the tourism and hospitality industry?

This research focuses on how the tourism and hospitality industry is applying the paradigm of open innovation, supported by social media. Open innovation (OI) has been on the topical research agenda, but the previous literature lacks studies in the service sector and specifically for tourism companies. Moreover, the introduction of social media as a tool to implement open innovation is considered the main research gap. Structural equation modelling is applied to data from 181 Portuguese and Spanish companies to study both customer involvement in new product development and the perceptions and results in terms of turnover and competitiveness. The structure of the relationships between research and development, external openness and open innovation management is highlighted with statistical analysis. In addition, the introduction of social media adds value to the proposed model. Currently, there is a lack of available models to give structure to the OI paradigm and to allow us to manage it. The contribution of this research is a comparison of the explanatory power of three models that allow us to test how certain strategic guidelines in tourism companies influence each other and have a mediating or multiplier effect when linked to each other (nested models method). In conclusion, the originality of this research is based on the relationship between open innovation management and social media and the mediating effect of external openness.

Leveraging Sustainable Design Practices through Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: The Role of Suppliers’ Environmental Management Capability

Firms often aim to develop new products in an environmentally sustainable fashion, while at the same time ensuring profitability. While firms may aim to do so themselves through internal sustainable design practices, what has increasingly become prevalent is to leverage the expertise of suppliers in such endeavors. With this framing and by relying on the resource-based view and its extensions reflected in the natural resource-based view of the firm, this study develops a conceptual model theorizing how internal resources in the form of sustainable design practices enable a firm to improve the environmental and economic performance associated with new product development initiatives. Further, we propose that (external) supplier involvement in new product development complements a firm’s internal efforts to reap benefits from sustainable design practices, with this complementary effect however being contingent on the suppliers’ environmental management capability. The results from testing this model with empirical survey data provide important academic and managerial insights regarding how firms should best manage their efforts to develop environmentally friendly new products through the leveraging of both internal (firm) and external (supplier) resources.