The relationship between imperfect information and performance speed: The mediation of improvisation in new product development teams

Atif Açıkgöz, Fulya Acikgoz, Ayşe Günsel and Gary P. Latham

Technovation, 2023, vol. 121, issue C

Abstract: The current research examines the relationship between imperfect information and performance speed in new product development (NPD) settings. We questioned the role of NPD teams' improvisation, possibly emanating from informational imperfections, on performance speed. Diverging from previous research, we treated improvisation as a dynamic team process, consisting of extemporaneous behavioral responses and adaptive operational productions. Among numerous possibilities, NPD teams might ignore the opportunistic potential of improvisation due to informational imperfections, thereby adhering to predetermined plans and/or available routines. Doing so might paralyze team members' understanding of complex task requirements. By contrast, NPD teams might exploit imperfect information by improvising ways to excel at performing, thereby speeding up NPD phases. To test these arguments, we collected data from 194 NPD teams. Ordinary least squares regression-based path analyses revealed support for our hypothesis that improvisation mediates the relationship between imperfect information and performance speed.

Keywords: Imperfect information; Improvisation; Extemporaneous behavioral responses; Adaptive operational productions; Performance speed; New product development teams (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:techno:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s0166497222001869

DOI: 10.1016/j.technovation.2022.102636

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