Managing Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A Multiple‐Case Study^*

Abstract

Existing studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success factors. This study validates and extends an existing exploratory framework, which comprises both long-term strategic processes and short-term operational processes that are related to supplier involvement. The empirical validation is based on a multiple-case study of supplier collaborations at a manufacturer in the copier and printer industry. The analysis of eight cases of supplier involvement reveals that the results of supplier-manufacturer collaborations and the associated issues and problems can best be explained by the patterns in the extent to which the manufacturer manages supplier involvement in the short term and the long term. The results of this study reveal that the initial framework is helpful in understanding why certain collaborations are not effectively managed yet conclude that the existing analytical distinction among four different management areas does not sufficiently reflect empirical reality. This leads to the reconceptualization and further detailing of the framework. Instead of four managerial areas, this study proposes to distinguish between the strategic management arena and the operational management arena. The strategic management arena contains processes that together provide long-term, strategic direction and operational support for project teams adopting supplier involvement. These processes also contribute to building up a supplier base that can meet current and future technology and capability needs. The operational management arena contains processes that are aimed at planning, managing, and evaluating the actual collaborations in a specific development project. The results of this study suggest that success of involving suppliers in product development is reflected by the firm's ability to capture both short-and long-term benefits. If companies spend most of their time on operational management in development projects, they will fail to use the leverage effect of planning and preparing such involvement through strategic management activities. Also, they will not be sufficiently able to capture possible long-term technology and learning benefits that may spin off from individual projects. Long-term collaboration benefits can only be captured if a company can build long-term relationships with key suppliers, with which it builds learning routines and ensures that the capability sets of both parties are aligned and remain useful for future joint projects.

Governance of supplier collaboration in technologically uncertain NPD projects

“…In technologically uncertain projects, purchasing's role seems to be limited to transactional issues. This contrasts with previous studies that have suggested that purchasing has an increased role in coordinating cross-functional and relational responsibilities in NPD (McGinnis & Vallopra 1999;Schiele 2010;van Echtelt, et al 2008). We propose that purchasing enables transactional but not necessarily relational governance with suppliers, at least in situations of technological uncertainty.…”

“…In this paper we suggest that they may fulfill different roles in achieving responses building on limiting and increased level of collaboration as proposed in proposition 1. This leads to the following proposition: The organization of governance is not trivial in organizations, and it has been argued that purchasing, together with R&D and production, fulfils an important role in the coordination of the NPD (van Echtelt, et al 2008). With the growing realization that purchasing has a significant influence on a firm's bottom line, scholars have argued that purchasing has an important and maybe even dominant role in transactional as well as relational governance.…”

Collaboration with Suppliers and Lead Users in New Product Development and Open Innovation: Empirical Evidence from Jordanian Companies

“…While some studies have used the two terms interchangeably, other studies make a clear distinction between them. In such literature, supplier involvement is commonly defined as referring to "the resources (capabilities, investments, information, knowledge, ideas) that suppliers provide, the tasks they carry out and the responsibilities they assume regarding the development of a part, process or service for the benefit of a buyer's current or future product development projects" (Van Echtelt et al, 2008). On the other hand, supplier collaboration is defined as "a type of cross-organizational linkage, which in addition to high levels of integration is characterized by high levels of transparency, mindfulness, and synergies in participants' interactions" (Emden et al, 2006).…”

Investigating the effects of customer relationship management and supplier relationship management on new product development

“…Wagner [24] defines supplier integration in new product development as "the combination of internal resources of the buying firm with the resources and capabilities of selected key suppliers through the meshing of intercompany business processes to achieve a competitive advantage". Van Echteltetal [25] provides the following definition: "the resources (capabilities, investments, information, knowledge, ideas) that suppliers provide, the tasks they carry out and the responsibilities they assume regarding the development of a part, process or service for the benefit of a buyer's current or future product development projects. "…”