Managing Supplier Integration into Product Development: A Literature Review and Conceptual Model

Industrial clusters, Regional agglomerations, Technological learning, Technological capability, Knowledge spillovers, Regional innovation systems

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

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.innovation;new product development;purchasing;supplier relations;R&D management

Critical processes for managing supplier involvement in new product development: an in-depth multiple-case study�

supplier, new product development

Managing Supplier Involvement in New Product Development: A Multiple-Case Study

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 ànd the long-term. We find that our initial framework is helpful in understanding why certain collaborations are not effectively managed, yet conclude that the existing analytical distinction between four different management areas does not sufficiently reflect empirical reality. This leads us to reconceptualize and further detail the framework. Instead of four managerial areas, we propose 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-term 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, where it builds learning routines and ensures that the capability sets of both parties are aligned and remain useful for future joint projects.Purchasing;Innovation;New Product Development;R&D Management;Supplier Relations

Critical processes for managing supplier involvement in new product development : an in-depth multiple-case study

Existing studies of supplier involvement in new product development have mainly focused on project-related short-term processes and success-factors. We will test and refine an analytical framework that identifies both long-term strategic processes and short-term, operational processes that are related to supplier involvement. The empirical part of this paper is based on data from a multiple-case study of supplier collaborations within a manufacturer in the copier and printer industry. Our main findings demonstrate that coherent planning and execution of both strategic and operational sets of activities is critical not only in achieving short-term objectives but also long-term benefits of supplier involvement in product development. This study contributes to the Dynamic Capabilities view by providing a more detailed process-based framework that allows us to examine, to explain and to facilitate prescriptions of how companies can effectively build a competitive advantage in product development from resources controlled or possessed by suppliers

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

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 en