Supplier Involvement In New Product Development Research Articles

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.

Supplier involvement in NPD: A quasi-experiment at Unilever

Growing technological complexity makes it impossible for individual firms to be updated on all technologies relevant to new product development (NPD). Involving suppliers, who have knowledge of complementary technologies, in the early phases of NPD is therefore quite a common practice. However, the timing of involvement presents a management challenge. We explore how task ambiguity pertaining to NPD affects buyer-supplier interaction. We set up a quasi-experimental study, manipulating causal ambiguity to observe how this impacts buyer-supplier interactions over time. Our findings reveal that causal ambiguity influences the role expectations and resource mobilisation of the suppliers before interaction, the actors' mobilisation and their pattern of interaction, and the transformation of outcome and mobilisation of resources ex post interaction. We discuss the implications for managers and researchers in a buyer-supplier context.

Direct and Mediated Effects of Product Modularity on Development Time and Product Performance

Product modularity is often considered a crucial driver for the improvement of new product development (NPD) performance, in terms of NPD time and product performance, especially in those contexts characterized by a high product variety and constantly changing demand. However, quantitative studies demonstrating these links are scant and an increasing amount of anecdotal evidence suggests that there is a need to develop a more complete theory on the effects of product modularity on NPD time and product performance by examining the potential mediating effect of supplier involvement in NPD. To meet this need, we analyzed the impact of product modularity on NPD time and product performance, and whether supplier involvement in NPD can mediate “modularity-NPD time” and “modularity-product performance” relationships. Data from a sample of 201 manufacturing plants demonstrate that product modularity significantly affects NPD time and product performance. In addition, the impact of modularity was partially mediated by the involvement of suppliers in NPD. A better understanding of this effect can contribute to clarifying the mechanisms by which product modularity affects NPD time and product performance and thus could give guidance to managers on how to lever product modularity in order to improve the NPD process.

An empirical study on the influencing factors of supplier involvement in new product development

This research identifies six driving factors and twelve enabling factors for supplier involvement in new product development (SINPD) in China via a meta-analysis of the extant literature and a survey of over 100 Chinese manufacturing enterprises. Results show that most suppliers of Chinese manufacturing enterprises engage in new product development at middle or later phase, and the degree of involvement is usually high. Moreover, there are differences in the implementation of SINPD in enterprises of different sizes, types, and industries. The impact of different driving factors and enabling factors on SINPD implementation also varies with enterprise types.

Supplier involvement in new product development and innovation: Taking stock and looking to the future

This paper provides a comprehensive and critical review and synthesis of the current state of empirical research into supplier involvement in new product development (NPD). The paper begins by defining supplier involvement in NPD and evaluating the rationale for supplier involvement in NPD. This suggests that early and extensive supplier involvement in NPD projects has the potential to improve NPD effectiveness and efficiency, however, existing research remains fragmented and empirical findings to date show conflicting results. The paper takes stock of the research on supplier involvement in NPD, tracing the origins of the literature to the late 1980s, and evaluating the development of the field up to the present day. From this broad base of empirical research the analysis identifies a set of factors affecting the success of supplier involvement projects. The paper concludes with a discussion of two emerging themes: (1) supplier relationship development and adaptation; (2) supply network involvement in product innovation.

Relationship-specific factors influencing supplier involvement in customer new product development

Many manufacturing firms are becoming involved in closer relationships with suppliers in order to utilize their skills, capabilities, and resources to develop new products faster and at a lower cost. However, effective supplier relationships do not just exist or emerge. This study advances and tests a relationship model that examines antecedents and central characteristics of close relationships and their impact on supplier involvement in customer new product development (NPD). The findings suggest that supplier involvement in NPD depends on trust and commitment of the supplier. Moreover, the study reveals that managers functioning as relationship promoters (RPs) in the customer's firm and supplier-specific adaptations of the customer have a positive influence on supplier involvement in NPD. The RPs and customer adaptations were found to have a strong effect on the supplier's trust and commitment. Some theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.