Strategic and Operational Management of Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: a Contingency Perspective

Ferrie van Echtelt, Finn Wynstra and Arjan van Weele

ERIM Report Series Research in Management from Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus University Rotterdam

Abstract: This paper examines how firms succeed to leverage supplier involvement in product development. The paper extends earlier work on managing supplier involvement by providing an integrated analysis of results, processes and conditions both at the level of individual development projects and the overall firm. Following a multiple-case study approach with theoretical sampling, the study is carried out by examining eight projects in which four manufacturers from different industries involve multiple suppliers. The findings suggest that successful supplier involvement is dependent on the coordinated design, execution and evaluation of strategic, long-term processes and operational, short-term management processes and the presence of enabling factors such as a cross-functional oriented organization. The required intensity of these processes and enablers depends on contingencies such as firm size and environmental uncertainty. In contrast with previous research, we find no indications that managing supplier involvement requires a different approach in highly innovative projects compared to less innovative projects.

Keywords: R&D management; innovation; new product development; purchasing; supplier relations (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L23 M O31 O32 O33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2007-06-25
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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