Collaborative New Product Development Research Articles

Balanced or imbalanced, that is the question: The effect of R&D/marketing power structure on new product development time

Accelerating new product development (NPD) to gain a first-mover advantage is crucial in today's competitive business landscape. This paper aims to examine the effective power structure in NPD projects through the lens of two divergent theoretical perspectives: Information Processing Theory (IPT) and Resource Dependence Theory (RDT). While IPT suggests the benefit of a balanced decision-making power among various subunits, RDT advocates for a concentrated decision power for faster consensus and efficiency. Our research specifically investigates whether a balanced or imbalanced R&D/marketing power structure is more conducive to accelerating NPD time. This focus stems from the recognition that the interplay between R&D and marketing is critical in shaping NPD outcomes, though we acknowledge the broader context of multifunctional collaboration in NPD, including aspects like manufacturing. The paper tests two competing hypotheses: one advocating a balanced R&D/marketing power structure as per IPT, and the other supporting a dominant R&D/marketing power structure in line with RDT. We surveyed project leaders, R&D, and marketing personnel from 126 NPD projects across 87 Taiwanese firms. The empirical results significantly endorse the balanced R&D/marketing power structure hypothesis, suggesting that a harmonious collaboration between these two key subunits can expedite NPD processes. Our findings contribute to both academic research and managerial practice by offering nuanced insights into optimizing power structures within NPD teams, particularly highlighting the efficacy of a balanced R&D/marketing approach in the context of the prevalent theories.

Supplier involvement in NPD projects: the buyer's perspective on the complementary roles of social capital and social exchange for project performance

PurposeBuying firms involve suppliers early in New Product Development (NPD) projects to benefit from their capabilities. The authors investigate the joint impact on project performance improvement, of the social capital established throughout the project, and the strategic preferred buyer/supplier statuses awarded prior to the project, from the buyer's perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a conceptual model underlining the complementary contribution to project performance of social capital dimensions and of preferred partners' statuses resulting from social exchange expectations. The model is analyzed with Partial Least Squares using 80 responses of purchasers and R&D managers involved in collaborative NPD projects with suppliers.FindingsThe relational capital built during the project has a positive central role, with a direct impact on NPD project performance and mediating effects through cognitive and structural capitals. The preferred partners' statuses have strong direct impacts on performance, and mediating effects that do not completely supplant the social capital's contribution.Practical implicationsThe implications for the efficient management of supplier involvement are twofold. First, the authors encourage strategic investments of buying firms to acquire preferred buyer's status and to support preferred supplier programs. Second, the authors alert them on the importance of establishing trust and shared cognition during the project.Originality/valueThis study captures NPD project performance from the social angle of buyer–supplier relationship management. It demonstrates the complementarity of relationship management at the strategic and operational levels, before and during the project unfolding.

Supplier involvement and supplier performance in new product development: Moderating effects of supplier salesperson behaviors

Supplier involvement (SI) for new product development (NPD) entails multiple relationships between buyers and their suppliers, demanding appropriate coordination mechanisms for successful NPD collaboration. This study proposes that supplier salesperson behaviors act as coordination mechanisms in the SI setting for NPD information regulating and process regulating behaviors. Drawing on information processing theory and using survey data matched with archival data, this study unravels the role of supplier salesperson behaviors in the relationship between the timing of SI and supplier performance, which is the precursor to the buyer’s NPD performance. Our results indicate that although information regulating behaviors positively moderate the timing of SI–supplier performance linkage, process regulating behaviors weaken this linkage across multiple NPD stages. This study contributes to the literature by highlighting a new salesperson’s role in the SI setting (i.e., salesperson as coordinator), which has been previously overlooked.

Cutting through the Tension and Perception Barriers in Cross-Functional NPD Teams

Although cross-functional new product development (NPD) teams are central to innovation processes in companies, they are often burdened with tensions between colleagues from disparate functions. These tensions can slow down projects, affect the integrity of the team and eventually reduce the likelihood of a positive innovation outcome. Through interviews with 33 cross-functional NPD team members across five different roles (design, engineering, marketing, manufacturing, and project management) within consumer goods/electronics companies in four global innovation hubs (Silicon Valley, New York, Greater Boston area and London), this paper explores the characteristics, interactions and, significantly, the sources of tensions. We focus on professional identities being a precursor to tension and teams. These identities lead to deep divides connected to the strength of the team member’s allegiance to their functional perspective as well as their alignment to team and organizational identities. The findings highlight the interactions of two categories of team members, each with distinctively different professional identities, behaviour, and influences on tensions within teams: (1) those who are strongly aligned with a single functional domain and (2) those that connect across multiple knowledge domains. Highlighting root causes for functional perceptions of colleagues, the paper identifies potential avenues for improving communication and collaboration in cross-functional NPD teams to address ingrained sources of tension.

Why teams matter in customer involvement – The moderating effects of team social cohesion and team autonomy

The rise of customer involvement challenges our understanding of what success factors influence the innovativeness of new product development (NPD). With teams increasingly shaping firms’ collaborative NPD efforts with customers, team-related factors become increasingly important. Drawing from social identity and organizational information processing literature, we investigate the interactions between intra- and inter-team relations, and two customer involvement modes in pursuit of new product innovativeness. Based on a sample of 277 NPD managers, we establish team social cohesion (intra-team relations) and team autonomy (inter-team relations) as success factors in customer involvement. Whereas team social cohesion augments traditional customer involvement approaches but has no effect on more collaborative approaches, team autonomy exhibits a bipolar effect, harming traditional customer involvement approaches, but benefitting more collaborative approaches. Accordingly, NPD managers need to tailor their teams’ setup to the specific mode of customer involvement and to carefully manage the bipolarity of team autonomy.

The use of MCDM approach to benchmark suppliers' collaboration in new product development for Thai auto-part manufacturers

Effective collaboration of a supplier for new a product development (NPD) is one of the challenging responsibilities for manufacturers and decision-makers in the NPD environment. From a sustainability perspective, the benchmarking of the appropriated suppliers is a difficult task. This study proposes a process to assess the supplier collaboration by using a multi-criteria decision making approach based on fuzzy Delphi, entropy weight and grey relation analysis. The empirical study is applied to Thai auto-part manufacturers. The results include the appropriated evaluation perspectives and criteria; the relative important criterion with the highest important weight and the first ranking with the best collaborative performance score of benchmarked suppliers. As a starting point for valuable benchmarking of the early supplier collaboration in NPD process, this study would help managers to assess the capabilities and attributes of suppliers before selecting. Its benefits are very useful for academic research and practice.

Building mutual trust in collaborative green NPD: Evidence from China's digital infrastructure

The increasing green NPD (new product development) efforts in Asian markets gains increasing popularity among academic research and managerial practice. Given the prevailing knowledge about NPD collaboration drawing on traditional Western culture-centric approach, this study sets up a new analytical framework and investigates the dynamic trust-building mechanisms among multiple stakeholders in the collaborative green NPD process in China's national cultural context. Based on qualitative research using a longitudinal case study of China's digital infrastructure, three distinct collaborative green NPD phases including “innovation in peripheral components, incremental innovation in core components and radical innovation in core components” are identified. Besides, summaries of trust measures among suppliers, buying firms, and regulators are presented to open the black box of the antecedences and dynamics to facilitate the understanding of the truly complex nature of trust-building. During the phased collaborative green NPD processes, the role of China's national culture including “high degrees of power distance, low degrees of individualism, low degrees of uncertainty avoidance, high degrees of long-term orientation and high degrees of masculinity” is also discussed.

New Product Development Method Trends and Future Research

Research on new product development (NPD) has led to tools, methods, models, and frameworks that enable researchers to develop better products. However, a comprehensive review of the methods, models and frameworks related to NPD is lacking. This literature study aims to identify research trends, methods, and frameworks used in NPD between 2010 and 2019. A systematic literature review is conducted by developing a structured research protocol. An analysis of 50 selected papers shows that research on NPD can be categorized into 15 conceptual papers, six review papers, 28 case studies, and one survey paper. This paper provides an overview of each tool and presents future research opportunities. This paper concludes that future research can be directed toward combining several methods to design products that satisfy consumer desires with shorter design times, aspects of NPD collaboration, and aspects of changing consumer preferences.

Managing glitches in collaborative product development with suppliers

PurposeThis paper aims to propose that knowing in practice can be used as a mechanism to enhance social exchange in collaborative new product development (NPD) with suppliers to reduce glitches. Practic00es of inter-organizational knowing should consider the levels of supplier involvement adopted.Design/methodology/approachThis paper studies two opposite situations of supplier involvement in NPD projects, namely, white and black box configurations. This paper adopts a qualitative comparative analysis method to identify necessary and sufficient configurations of knowing in practice in 36 projects from 3 different companies.FindingsSocial exchange is important even when the NPD collaboration is based on contractual relationships as in white and grey box collaborations. There are different combinations of practices for inter-organizational knowing that can limit glitches in each supplier configuration. This paper proposes a theoretical model that explains these relationships and contributions to the reduction of glitches.Originality/valueThis paper combines social exchange theory with knowing in practice in the supplier involvement context. The theoretical model contributes to the understanding of knowing in practice in white and black box configurations.

Involving suppliers in collaborative new product development: comparing large and small firms

The main purpose of this article is to investigate early supplier involvement (ESI) in collaborative new product development (CNPD). For that a comparative study between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms was implemented according to the generated innovation. It is based on an exploratory approach, based on case studies involving four firms that involve their suppliers in CNPD. Results show that ESI in CNPD takes place when large firms seek to differentiate their products and SMEs aim to increase their efficiency. The paper further shows the radical innovation promotes ESI in CNPD, both regarding SMEs and large firms. This study contributes to the body knowledge regarding the influence of radical innovation in early supplier involvement in CNPD, by adding a comparative perspective between SMEs and large firms.

Involving suppliers in collaborative new product development: comparing large and small firms

The main purpose of this article is to investigate early supplier involvement (ESI) in collaborative new product development (CNPD). For that a comparative study between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms was implemented according to the generated innovation. It is based on an exploratory approach, based on case studies involving four firms that involve their suppliers in CNPD. Results show that ESI in CNPD takes place when large firms seek to differentiate their products and SMEs aim to increase their efficiency. The paper further shows the radical innovation promotes ESI in CNPD, both regarding SMEs and large firms. This study contributes to the body knowledge regarding the influence of radical innovation in early supplier involvement in CNPD, by adding a comparative perspective between SMEs and large firms.

Alignment in collaborative new product development. Comparing small and large firms

This paper aims at investigating how alignment is performed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms and its impact on collaborative new product development (CNPD). Also, this study considers the influence of innovation on inter-firm alignment. This study was performed through six in-depth interviews. Case studies were used to describe the reality of study. The results show that the greater intensity of alignment stems from the sharing of strategic information between firms involved in the initial phases of CNPD, influenced by the trust and commitment created in the supplier-client relationship when generating radical innovation. Also, results show that the larger intensity of alignment in CNPD is not influenced by firm size, despite being greater in the reality of large firms. This study complements the existing literature on alignment by investigating how firms align upstream according to their size. Likewise, this study contributes to reduce the knowledge gap about the influence of innovation generated in CNPD on the intensity of alignment.

The contribution of IT-leveraging capability for collaborative product development with suppliers

This paper investigates how Information Technology (IT) leveraging capability supports buyer-supplier collaboration in New Product Development (NPD). IT-leveraging capability is defined as the ability to effectively use IT functionalities to support IT-enabled NPD activities. We consider three dimensions of this capability: effective use of Project and Resource Management Systems (PRMS), effective use of Knowledge Management Systems (KMS) and effective use of Cooperative Work Systems (CWS). We consider the dynamics between these three dimensions, which have usually been treated as equal. Using an in-depth case study approach, we show that effective use of KMS and CWS are key dimensions to support collaboration, creating a unique source of competitive advantage. On the other hand, while effective use of PRMS does not help to create differentiation it is important to support the coordination of KMS and CWS. Furthermore, the three dimensions have different intensities of contribution depending on the NPD stage and supplier involvement configuration.

Firm collaborative capability and new product development performance: the mediating role of heterogeneous knowledge acquisition

PurposeFrom the dynamic capability perspective, the aim of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework for collaborative capability, including scanning, relational skills and adaptation and to test the impact of each dimension on the acquisition of technological and marketing knowledge from partners. The conceptual framework also suggests that these two types of knowledge acquisition have different impacts on new product development (NPD) creativity and speed.Design/methodology/approachThis study builds a theoretical framework and tests it with survey data from 289 Chinese manufacturing firms.FindingsFirms with strong collaborative capability are identified to gain better knowledge acquisition from their partners and achieve higher NPD performance. While acquired technological knowledge has a greater effect on NPD creativity than acquired marketing knowledge, the latter has a greater effect on NPD speed. In addition, these two types of knowledge acquisition form different mediating paths between collaborative capability and NPD performance.Practical implicationsThis study not only underlines the important role of collaborative capability in facilitating knowledge acquisition, which in turn improves NPD performance, but also suggests that decision-makers should note the different roles of technological knowledge and market knowledge in influencing NPD performance.Originality/valueThese findings enrich the understanding of how firms enhance NPD performance by developing collaborative capability in a major emerging economy (i.e. China). In addition to demonstrating the differential effects of heterogeneous knowledge acquisition on NPD performance, different pathways of mediation through knowledge acquisition are also identified in the relationship between collaborative capability and NPD outcomes.

Is the formalization of NPD collaboration productive or counterproductive? Contingent effects of trust between partners

New product development (NPD) collaborations with external partners involve high coordination costs and run substantial risks. Formalization seems to be an effective mechanism to mitigate said costs and risks, although the issue of whether formalization actually proves productive or counterproductive remains an open question. This study empirically analyses the direct impact of formalization and the interaction effect between formalization and trust between partners in order to gauge their influence on NPD collaboration performance. Findings indicate that formalization directly boosts the quality and novelty of the new product developed in collaboration, but that it does not affect adherence to schedule. In addition, trust reinforces the productive effect of formalization on new product quality and novelty, and makes the impact of formalization on adherence to schedule positive. However, without trust, we find a null impact of formalization on new product quality and a counterproductive impact on adherence to schedule. These results suggest that formalization and trust may complement each other, reinforcing each other’s positive effect on new product quality and novelty and presenting a positive synergistic effect, while helping to overcome the counterproductive effect of formalization on adherence to schedule. JEL CLASSIFICATION: O32

The Use of MCDM Approach to Benchmark Suppliers’ Collaboration in New Product Development for Thai Auto-part manufacturers

Effective collaboration of a supplier for new a product development (NPD) is one of the challenging responsibilities for manufacturers and decision-makers in the NPD environment. From a sustainability perspective, the benchmarking of the appropriated suppliers is a difficult task. This study proposes a process to assess the supplier collaboration by using a multi-criteria decision making approach based on fuzzy Delphi, entropy weight and grey relation analysis. The empirical study is applied to Thai auto-part manufacturers. The results include the appropriated evaluation perspectives and criteria; the relative important criterion with the highest important weight and the first ranking with the best collaborative performance score of benchmarked suppliers. As a starting point for valuable benchmarking of the early supplier collaboration in NPD process, this study would help managers to assess the capabilities and attributes of suppliers before selecting. Its benefits are very useful for academic research and practice.

Alignment in Collaborative New Product Development. Comparing Small and Large firms

This paper aims at investigating how alignment is performed by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms and its impact on collaborative new product development (CNPD). Also, this study considers the influence of innovation on inter-firm alignment. This study was performed through six in-depth interviews. Case studies were used to describe the reality of study. The results show that the greater intensity of alignment stems from the sharing of strategic information between firms involved in the initial phases of CNPD, influenced by the trust and commitment created in the supplier-client relationship when generating radical innovation. Also, results show that the larger intensity of alignment in CNPD is not influenced by firm size, despite being greater in the reality of large firms. This study complements the existing literature on alignment by investigating how firms align upstream according to their size. Likewise, this study contributes to reduce the knowledge gap about the influence of innovation generated in CNPD on the intensity of alignment.

Collaborative practices in new product development projects involving suppliers

Collaboration with suppliers in New Product Development (NPD) is essential for business competitiveness. However, the management of such collaborative project needs to focus on interactions between team members from different companies since they performed inter-organizational activities. While the impact of collaboration with suppliers on NPD project performance has been widely studied, the investigation of practices to support daily collaborative activities between both teams has received limited attention. This paper aims at developing a framework of operational practices for successful inter-organizational collaboration in NPD. The practices enacted by both project teams in six case studies were examined according to the stages of the collaboration and a knowing perspective. The results revealed some peculiarities linked to the inter-organizational context. Practices interact with each other across stages with a specific dynamic. More particularly, early in the project, practices to justify the collaboration with the suppliers are determinant for practices related to the creation of social interactions between project members and project commitment. The results also show that boundary objects are useful formal socialization mechanisms for supporting the undertaking of collaborative work.

Investigating the Effects of Reward Interdependence and Nonfinancial Incentives on NPD Collaboration in Diverse Project Teams

New product development (NPD) collaboration is an essential trigger for new product success. Many scholars have emphasized the reward system as an effective tool to manage NPD collaboration. Yet, our understanding about what types of rewards should be used for NPD collaboration is still unclear. This research examines the effects of reward interdependence and nonfinancial incentives on NPD collaboration, as well as the moderating roles of team size and deep-level heterogeneity. Findings from a field study involving 83 NPD project teams in China showed that both nonfinancial incentives and reward interdependence promoted NPD collaboration. Specifically, team size negatively moderated the relationships between incentive mechanisms and NPD collaboration. The reward interdependence–NPD collaboration relationship was negatively moderated by deep-level heterogeneity. Finally, suggestions for further research and project management practices are discussed.

Flexibility and control in managing collaborative and in-house NPD

PurposePrior literature provides little insight on how management control systems have responded to the growth of collaborative new product development (NPD). The purpose of this paper is to contrast the use of budgets to manage collaborative and in-house NPD and to consider the implications for enabling flexibility.Design/methodology/approachThe paper reports on the findings of a case study company in the medical devices industry that uses two different business models for its NPD activities. While the company engages in in-house NPD for its own products, it also engages in collaborative NPD services with a range of customers.FindingsThe study illuminates how two types of budgets (annual and project) can have very different impacts on flexibility under different business models. The annual financial budgets imposed rigid constraints on in-house NPD and resulted in reduced flexibility, whereas in collaborative NPD, they had little impact on flexibility. Project budgets created hard operational constraints in collaborative NPD which generated a highly pressurised yet highly creative environment, whereas project budgets had little impact on flexibility in in-house NPD.Originality/valueThe study contributes detailed empirical insights into the control systems used to manage collaborative NPD from the supplier perspective, where creativity is largely responsive and contrasts these with the management of in-house NPD where creativity is largely expected. The authors also contribute an analysis of the key control systems and other factors that sustain flexibility in this highly pressurised open innovation environment.