From collaborative research to new product development: why a central or brokered network position is not enough

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jian Li ◽  
Yue Yu

Purpose Although collaborative research is believed to be an important means of accessing external knowledge, research on whether taking a strategic network position benefits new product development (NPD) is inconclusive. This study aims to unravel the conditions under which taking a strategic position within a collaborative research network is conducive for a firm’s NPD. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on social network theory, absorptive capacity theory and knowledge recombinant studies, this study examines how strategic network positions (i.e. degree centrality and structural holes) and knowledge base cohesion (i.e. local and global cohesion) in tandem affect a firm’s NPD. A panel data set of 366 firms in the Chinese automobile sector (2002–2010) is empirically analyzed, using the panel negative binomial approach with random effects and several alternate estimation approaches. Findings This study reveals that, rather than the volume of a firm’s knowledge base, its cohesion determines how it absorbs and uses knowledge accrued from collaborative research for NPD. Specifically, this paper finds that centrally positioned firms have greater NPD when their knowledge bases are locally cohesive, while firms spanning structural holes have more NPD when their knowledge bases are globally cohesive. Originality/value Successfully transferring collaborative research outcomes into product innovation is difficult. This study contributes to the literature on strategic network positions and NPD. The findings advance the understanding of knowledge base cohesion’s moderating role in explaining how firms absorb and exploit external knowledge for internal innovation. The findings also have important implications for managers who wish to promote product innovation by engaging in collaborative research with external partners.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wilert Puriwat ◽  
Danupol Hoonsopon

PurposeThis study is to compare the impact of organizational agility and flexibility on performance of each type of product innovation (radical vs incremental innovation). Additionally, the moderating effect of technological turbulence on the relationship between the two types of organization is examined.Design/methodology/approachBased on gaps in the existing literature, the survey data are collected from managers who are in charge of developing new products in three industries: food and beverage, chemical and machinery (N = 431). Confirmatory factory analysis is used to verify measurement items and regression analysis is used to test hypotheses.FindingsThe results show that organizational agility increases performance in radical innovation both in a certain situation and an environment with technological turbulence. In contrast, the impact of organizational flexibility is limited to increasing performance in both radical and incremental innovation performance in a certain situation.Originality/valueOur study extends the knowledge of organizational agility and flexibility in the domain of product innovation. Adaptation of organization to respond the technological turbulence will stimulate creativity of new product development teams to produce new useful ideas and transform these ideas to product innovation. The different types of organizing a new product development team to handle technological turbulence will provide different results in product innovation performance. In addition, the findings provide a recommendation on how the organization of a new product development team can improve performance in each type of product innovation under technological turbulence.


Author(s):  
Filippo Emanuele Ciarapica ◽  
Maurizio Bevilacqua ◽  
Giovanni Mazzuto

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of technical and management practices of a new product development (NPD) project on the project success in terms of observed value-added time. The authors address the research questions: “How do the product innovation aspects, information process, suppliers integration and project team aspects influence the success of NPD projects in terms of observed value-added time?” Design/methodology/approach – Specific hypotheses are posed based on literature research and semi-structured interviews with project managers used for the pilot study. In total, 40 projects carried out by multinational corporation, concerning NPD, are analysed, comparing product and project features with results obtained in terms of performance indexes usually used in “Lean Production” sector: “waste time”; and “type of wastes”. Findings – This research highlighted that “over-processing” is the most important waste made in the projects when the product concept is Completely New. Great support has been found for the hypothesis that a clear definition of products’ concept can reduce waste time. Unexpected result has been obtained analysing “Information process aspects” category where the more frequent use of support systems (i.e. quality function deployment, computer-integrated manufacturing, computer-aided design, etc.) tended to increase waste time. Important connections have also been found between project team aspects and low waste time. Practical implications – The identification of sources of waste can help managers to assess their current innovation practices, identify gaps between their current practice and best practice, and define action plans to close those gaps. Originality/value – In literature, researches exploring the effects that both organizational and managerial factors have on value-added has received only scant attention. This study attempts to bridge this gap, and takes a first step to investigate the role of product innovation aspects, information process, supplier integration and project team aspects in “value-added time” in a NPD project.


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 38-57
Author(s):  
Broto Rauth Bhardwaj

Purpose This paper aims to provide a study on knowledge management, facilitating new product innovation by intrapreneurial companies. Design/methodology/approach The methodology includes the empirical study which was conducted based on detailed questionnaire and data collection of 319 respondents from heavy engineering auto companies, such as Maruti, Honda and others. The data were analyzed to find the influence of knowledge management on new product development. Structural equation modeling method, critical path analysis and reliability were checked by Cronbach’s alpha. Findings The findings suggest that the innovation of a new product is critical for the companies. Also, it is very important for the companies to have knowledge management systems such as intelligence generation and dissemination process to facilitate information sharing among the various departments. Responsiveness to the market needs would be based on how authentic the customer data are and to what extent the company is able to share these data with research and product development departments to motivate new products for fulfilling these needs of the customers. This kind of process would enable the company to drive the next level of innovation within the company. Research limitations/implications The present study has several implications for managers and researchers. The model proposed in the study suggests the adoption and implementation of knowledge management for product innovation. The study findings also suggest that developing better methods to share knowledge and intelligence among the employees about the customers’ data would be a very critical success factor for new product innovation. Practical implications This paper also suggests that the researchers can study this model with respect to inter-disciplinary and inter-country study to become competitive using new product innovation. Originality/value The study contributes toward development of theory on creating innovation facilitated by knowledge management for enhancing innovation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 569-589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Zhou ◽  
Lu Lu ◽  
Xiaoxi Chang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the impacts of ambidextrous capabilities, explorative capability and exploitative capability on product innovation performance in the context of internationalization and cross-cultural environment; and to examine the moderating effects of CEO’s preference of risks and opportunities in the international market on the relationship between ambidextrous capabilities and multinational enterprises’ (MNEs) product innovation performance. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 189 MNEs located in China, which develop international business through export, outsourcing, foreign equity investment or foreign direct investment. Measurement reliability and validity were examined and hierarchical linear regression was used to test the hypotheses. Findings Results indicated that both explorative and exploitative capability are positively related to MNEs’ new product development and commercialization of Chinese MNEs; and CEO’s preference of risks and opportunities in international market plays a significant moderating role in the two phases of product innovation. Research limitations/implications This study extends organizational ambidextrous capabilities theory to better understand the effects of explorative capability and exploitative capability on innovation performance in the context of internationalization and national cultural differences. Sample constitution is a possible limitation. Practical implications MNEs, especially those from emerging economies, should develop both explorative and exploitative capability to be flexible and competitive in dealing with cultural differences. fully take risks and opportunities should be taken into consideration regarding the international market and national cultural differences, and take an effective contingency strategy, driven by the ambidextrous capabilities toward new product innovation development and commercialization. Originality/value An empirical examination of how ambidextrous capabilities impact on Chinese MNEs’ new product development and commercialization connects the organizational ambidexterity theory to the innovation and characteristics of upper echelons.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (06) ◽  
pp. 1750040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nnaemeka Vincent Emodi ◽  
Girish Panchakshara Murthy ◽  
Chinenye Comfort Emodi ◽  
Adaeze Saratu Augusta Emodi

This study investigates the factors influencing the Chinese manufacturing industry’s innovation and industrial performance utilizing a panel data approach on a sample of Chinese manufacturing enterprises over the period of 2008–2013. The industries were grouped according to related sectors into five groups, a general group was also created which included the whole data sample. The study found that research and development (R&D) expenditure positively influenced the growth of product innovation and industrial performance, but not necessarily knowledge innovation and export performance. Also, expenditure on new product development had a positive impact on both innovation and industrial performance. The growth of patent application was discovered to be influenced by an R&D project and foreign patent license. Finally, the number of enterprises and firm size (i.e. number of employees) contributed positively to the industrial output performance. The findings suggest that industrial R&D and new product development influences the success of product innovation and sales performance. The study recommends that the government should set up policies that will stimulate industrial R&D, while supporting technology transfers from foreign partners. Most importantly, government policies on the development of the industry should be addressed on a sectorial level and not a “one-size-fit-all” type of policy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehran Salavati ◽  
Milad Tuyserkani ◽  
Seyyede Anahita Mousavi ◽  
Nafiseh Falahi ◽  
Farshid Abdi

Purpose The principal aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between technological, marketing, organizational and commercialization risk management on new product development (NPD) performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on questionnaire, the data were collected from a sample of general automotive industry in Iran. Based on theoretical considerations, a model was proposed and descriptive statistic and hierarchical regression were used to measure the relationship between risk management factors and NPD performance. Findings Data analysis revealed that if organization can amplify their knowledge and information about risk and main factors that affect NPD process, not only can they do their work better but can also increase their ability to predict future happenings that affect performance. Research limitations/implications First, due to the relatively small sample size, caution should be exercised when interpreting the results. Second, the data were collected from automotive producer in Iran, which may restrict to some extent generalizability of the findings. Practical implications The results suggest that managers should consider more attention to risk management. If managers spread the risk management in all aspects of the NPD project, total performance will be increased and it can develop the probability of NPD success. Also organizations should perform great market research due to best commercialization. Originality/value Past researches have presented complete information about NPD process. But identifying and considering the effect of the risk management parameters that are connected to the NPD process were the main thrusts to perform the study. In this paper, based on past research about risk management of NPD, the extra aspect of process that can improve total performance of NPD has been examined.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanderson César Macêdo Barbalho ◽  
Gladston Luiz Silva

PurposeThis paper aims to explore how new product development (NPD)-based project management offices (PMOs) work, their drivers to deliver performance and their project success impact.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a survey of 35 Brazilian and multi-national companies that identified the effort to perform a list of PMO functions, some PMO drivers in the company and five project performance perception indicators. The authors apply a specific set of statistics to uncover the relations between these dimensions of interest.FindingsThe factorial analysis allows us to find the main functions influencing each other. The project teams’ perception of project management (PM) performance is suggested as a success factor that drives PMOs when working on portfolio management issues, managing project files and promoting PM over the company.Practical implicationsThis paper contributes to a contingency approach for designing a project machine involving PMOs to support NPD projects. Managers can set the most suitable PMO functions avoiding mimicry when structuring their NPD efforts.Originality/valuePMOs have impacted team satisfaction and control of project data but not indicators related to triple constraints.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Shen ◽  
Yu Gao ◽  
Chuan Liu ◽  
Xiangru Chen

Purpose Integrating the coopetition perspective with institutional theory, this study aims to determine how balanced patterns (BPs) and combinative patterns (CPs) of coopetition impact firms’ new product development (NPD) and how these effects are contingent on the various types of interactions between firms and the institutional environments in which they are embedded. Design/methodology/approach To test the hypotheses, 303 firms in China were surveyed. Based on the responses, the proposed model was estimated using structural equation modeling and hierarchical regression analysis. Findings The findings indicate that CP of coopetition enhances NPD but a BP of coopetition impedes NPD. Further, the results suggest that obtaining government support positively moderates the effect of the CP on NPD but negatively moderates the effect of the BP. Conversely, influencing government policy negatively moderates the effect of the CP but positively moderates that of the BP on NPD. Research limitations/implications The findings indicate that different patterns of inter-firm coopetition may have different effects on NPD, thus, providing a holistic and dynamic understanding of the contingent value of coopetition for NPD. The findings also suggest that the complex effects of coopetition on NPD are influenced by institutional interactions, introducing further contingencies to the process of coopetition-based innovation. Practical implications This study provides guidelines for managers seeking to fully understand and capitalize on the dual nature of coopetition: they should be cautious about the different patterns of competition – cooperation interaction and manage their interactions with institutional environments to increase the benefits and avoid the potential damage that different types of coopetition may bring. Originality/value This study offers direct insights into the balanced nature of coopetition and opens up an avenue for further exploration of the specific effects of cooperation dominance and competition dominance on firm performance in the business-to-business context. Moreover, the proposed contingency model offers a potential interface between institutional and coopetition research on NPD in marketing and strategic fields.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (10) ◽  
pp. 1366-1385 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Bahemia ◽  
Brian Squire ◽  
Paul Cousins

Purpose This paper explores openness within new product development (NPD) projects. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of breadth, depth and partner newness on product innovativeness and product competitive advantage. The authors also seek to examine the contingent effects of the appropriability regime. The authors make suggestions to academics and practitioners based on the findings. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a structured survey instrument producing an empirical analysis of 205 NPD projects in the manufacturing sector in the UK. The authors use an ordinary least squares regression model to test hypothesised relationships between openness (breadth, depth and partner newness), product innovativeness, product competitive advantage and the appropriability regime. Findings The authors find that each of the three dimensions of openness, depth, breadth and partner newness, have a significant but differing impact on product innovativeness. Specifically, the study indicates that breadth has a positive effect but only in the presence of a strong appropriability regime, partner newness has a direct positive effect, and depth a direct negative effect. The authors also find that product innovativeness has a positive impact on product competitive advantage. Research limitations/implications Further research should focus on replicating the findings in other countries, search for further moderating factors, such as the stage of the NPD process, and analyse the longitudinal impact of openness within NPD projects. Practical implications Organisations are encouraging managers to be more open in their approach to NPD. The authors’ findings suggest that managers need to think about the three dimensions of openness, breadth, depth and partner newness. Their engagement with each of these dimensions depends on the desired outcomes of the innovation project and the strength of patents. Originality/value The research extends the extant supplier involvement in new product development literature to examine the effect of up to 11 types of external actor in NPD projects. The authors test a new multi-dimensional measurement scale for the openness construct. The authors show that each dimension has a different relationship with product innovativeness.


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