The Evolution of Business Relationships Between Technology-Intensive New Ventures and Incumbents During the New Product Development Process

Abstract

This study investigates how technology-intensive new ventures shape and manage their relationships with incumbents to successfully develop new products. We undertake the dynamic views of business relationship to reveal under what conditions new ventures should emphasises more on transactional contract or alliance approach to develop their relationships with incumbents. Using longitudinal multiple case analysis, we show that transactional contract is less effective during discovery and development stages to facilitate knowledge share and collaborative learning between new ventures and incumbents. However, adopting transactional contract is essential during commercialisation to strengthen the relationship, minimise the drawbacks of social bonds, and motivate both parties to engage in new projects. The results show that tensions between exchange partners are likely to increase when the incumbent is flexible to re-negotiate and share the fair benefits during the commercialisation stage. Our findings provide new insights about the evolution of new ventures’ relationships with incumbents across NPD stages.