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Researchers agree that collaboration networks can be an important implement in a firm’s innovation process, but there is limited empirical evidence on actually how they facilitate the new product development (NPD). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Using longitudinal and multisource data on a sample of firms engaged in the Chinese automobile industry, the authors examine the structural properties of collaboration networks and their possible influences on firms’ NPD performance.

The results indicate that the structural features of the technology-based collaboration networks in the automobile industry have a low degree of collaborative integration and they influence firms’ NPD performance in diverse ways. The authors find that the direct ties, indirect ties and structural holes of the collaboration networks are all positively associated with firms’ number of new products. However, the authors have not found the evidence that the number of direct ties can moderate the relationship between the indirect ties and the NPD performance.

First, previous researches concerning the network mainly focused on their influence on technology innovation, few scholars studied the relationship between collaboration network and NPD. Second, the data used in this paper are true and valid, they are all from relevant departments of the Chinese government. Third, the empirical research of new products in China’s manufacturing industry is relatively new.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of two formal controls, namely target rigidity and process autonomy, on team adaptability and project success in new product development (NPD) projects. Target rigidity refers to performance goals that are non-negotiable once they have been set. Process autonomy refers to the extent to which a project team is free to choose ways to achieve its goals. Team adaptability is considered a key factor that explains the relationship between formal controls and project success.

Two separate models related to resource and cost measures are analysed, since different target types may influence managerial perceptions. This study uses data collected from a survey with 113 project managers as respondents.

The findings show that target rigidity and process autonomy support team adaptability. Furthermore, team adaptability mediates the impact of formal controls on project success. The effects are more pronounced for cost targets as compared to resource targets.

Firms can increase project success by using formal controls in such a way that they allow project managers to provide their teams with motivating guidelines (target rigidity) and discretion (process autonomy) to adapt to new circumstances.

This study reveals the impact of formal controls on NPD project success through team adaptability. A balanced use of target rigidity and process autonomy may help improving NPD project success.

This paper aims to enrich knowledge management theory and practice by investigating how boundary spanners’ willingness to share their knowledge contributes to innovation success and by examining the contingent role of market turbulence.

Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 296 top income Hungarian firms. Structural equation modelling with bootstrap procedures was used to test the hypotheses.

Boundary spanners’ willingness to share their knowledge has a dual effect on innovation success, which is captured by new product development innovativeness and performance. It has a direct effect on both new product development innovativeness and performance, and it has a mediated effect on new product development performance, where new product development innovativeness serves as a mediator. The study’s results indicate that these effects are robust and not contingent on the turbulence of the firm’s marketplace.

This study’s respondents were managers in boundary-spanning positions charged with the task of linking the organisation with its external environment. Owing to their proximity to the external environment, their evaluation of market turbulence may be distorted.

Maintaining the willingness of managers in boundary-spanning positions to share what they know is essential to the continuous creation of superior new product development performance. Hence, firms should develop organisational cultures where employees’ knowledge-sharing willingness is presented as an important asset. While turbulent markets may be unpredictable and hostile, firms should not adjust their knowledge management practices.

Building on the research on knowledge sharing, boundary spanning theory and contingency theory, this paper increases the understanding of the salient factors that are often implicitly assumed in mechanisms involved in transforming knowledge into new product performance. This is the first empirical study to focus on boundary spanners’ knowledge behaviour and to consider the contingent role of market turbulence in knowledge management.

Continuous understanding of the best practices associated with new product development is a constant research opportunity to advance knowledge in the field, as far as changes in the business environment and the increasing turbulence level in different market segments create and reposition the importance of practices over time.

Based on a systematic review, the study aimed to analyze the 100 most relevant articles published in international journals on new product development (NDP), identifying new patterns on the best practices for new product development and the types of relationship involved in NPD.

Among the several practices observed in the literature, the analysis point to a larger group of studies that converge on the identification of a positive and significant relationship in integration – simultaneously – between supplier, company, customers and strategic alliances and the performance of NPD.

These results support integration as a cross-cutting and structural best practice for NPD, as long as it is constituted as a capacity, mainly applied in highly turbulent environments. This approach supported the proposition of a new framework.

Organizations will be able to implement the proposed framework to NPD strategy in order to prioritize resources in best practices, aiming to increase the performance of new product development.

The adoption of integration and co-creation practices for the development of new products expands the possibilities of economic and social development, based on the involvement of the actors in this network.

This model had not yet been proposed in the literature, filling a gap in the agenda for future studies.

This case study examines the new product development (NPD) process of digital information products (DIPs) and its critical success factors (CSFs) in a small-sized German enterprise.

A case study was conducted with a small firm focused on the development of DIPs; data were obtained through semi-structured interviews, direct observation and document analysis.

The firm uses an informal and cross-functional NPD process (idea generation, idea validation, product creation and product launch) in converting an idea into a sellable product. Peculiar aspects of each stage within the process as well as ten CSFs to NPD projects were verified.

Limitations are attributed to its qualitative nature, which does not allow generalizations, though careful attention was given to validity and reliability issues through the use of data source triangulation.

The paper provides a conceptual process that may benefit further initiatives for developing and launching DIPs, as well as a comprehensive list of CSFs for such projects.

This paper is the first one to schematize the NPD process and practices for DIPs, as well as key capabilities. It contributes to the NPD literature in discussing dynamic aspects that are typical to the firm analyzed and to others operating in a digital context. At the same time, it reinforces other traditional aspects that have become overlooked in digital business debates.

This study aims to focus on creating sales capability as part of new product development (NPD). The aim is to define generic requirements for building sales capability as a part of NPD and to propose a necessary process by defining key activities for sales readiness.

An inductive and qualitative research method was used to construct a sales capability creation process based on a current state analysis in seven companies.

The results indicate that the status of companies’ sales-related planning varies during the NPD, and the related activities are not systematically managed. Considering sales early is necessary to enable a smooth and cost-efficient start of sales, and to avoid unnecessary delays and problems in other functions. At the same time, the companies recognise the need for improvement.

This paper presents a potential process including systematic activities for creating sales capability in conjunction with product development, which is novel to the literature. The proposed process is applicable in aligning industrial company needs.

The purpose of this study is to develop an appropriate new product development (NPD) process of Company “T”, a medium-sized firm, by analyzing the existing NPD process and failure cases of the Company.

The proposed research framework is as follows: first, prospective studies of the NPD process are performed using the existing literature and preliminary references; second, comparative analysis between the current processes and a NPD process is performed; third, phase-based evaluations upon failed product cases are conducted with a NPD process so as to identify the abridged steps and root-causes of failures; finally, renewed priorities are set forth by utilizing the analytic hierarchy process analysis and questionnaire analysis upon the above identified causes of failures.

The resulting accomplishments include the establishment of NPD processes that resonates with the current states of Company “T”, which, in turn, ensures the increase of efficiency, the decrease in development duration and the strategy of capacity-concentration and priority-selection.

As Company “T”’s development process is outdated and products are developed without adequate market information research and feasibility analysis, the percentage of failed development project is as high as 87 per cent. Thus, this study aims to develop an appropriate NPD process of Company “T” by analyzing the existing NPD process and failure cases of the Company.

The Internet of Things (IoT) real-time data collection can help to more efficiently optimize and control companies' internal processes. Prior research analyzed IoT benefits and potential applications. Nevertheless, there is little empirical evidence and theoretical understanding of how IoT impacts new product development (NPD). This article aims at narrowing this gap.

In total, 54 case studies were selected from an IoT database – IoT ONE. IoT ONE has a section on NPD. NPD was divided into three phases: discovery, development and commercialization. The adopted IoT technology maturity level was also analyzed. A content analysis was carried out to identify the impacts of IoT in NPD.

This study’s findings capture the emerging patterns of IoT adoption and its impact on NPD. Of the total, 33 IoT adoption cases in the sample were in the machinery and equipment sector. Adopted technologies were at least two years old in 85% of the sample. Only 15% adopted cutting edge technologies (less than 2 years old). Key actors (e.g. vendors) facilitate IoT adoption. By a small margin, the larger impacts of IoT were in the commercialization phase, where it was primarily applied to improve and optimize production processes, to better execute and synchronize new products launching, and to increase the factories' productive capacity. In the discovery phase, IoT was mainly used to identify new opportunities in the market and to collect customer data, to generate a better customer experience. In the development phase, IoT allows greater integration across departments, increasing internal collaboration and allowing more flexible NPD.

Many articles studied the impact of information technologies in NPD. Few address the impact of IoT in NPD. IT tells about the impact of better communications with relevant people. IoT tells about machine acquired information and knowledge. This is new, much broader and deals with quite different impacts on NPD.

The use of modern technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, commonly known as “Industry 4.0” (I4.0), is believed to have considerable potential for product customisation. In this context, this paper aims to explore whether or not using these technologies impacts customer participation (CP) in a firm's new product development (NPD) process.

To empirically test the proposed relationships, the authors collected the North Italian manufacturing firms' data and applied regression analysis.

Empirical results indicate that, on the one hand, the technologies have their specific and individual impacts, and on the other hand, the firms which use more I4.0 technologies allow more customer participation in their product design and production process. This positive impact is more robust in product design than in the production process.

Managers aiming to benefit from CP should broaden the scope of adopting I4.0 technologies and consider different roles concerning the design and production phases of the new product development process. Recognising the importance and allowing CP in NPD will enable firms to meet the customised demands.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, the proposed relationships of this study have been extensively debated theoretically in the I4.0 context but never empirically tested before. It is one of the few studies which discusses the strategic adoption and the combined use of I4.0 technologies to create more opportunities for product customisation.

I aimed to obtain a deeper insight into the link between supplier involvement in product development (SIPD), supplier relationship resilience and company performance.

To collect data, a survey among 500 Polish manufacturing companies was conducted. I used quantitative methods (structural equation modeling) to test several research hypotheses referring to a single supplier–customer relationship. Thanks to the use of multi-construct measurement of SIPD and supplier relationship resilience, the study provides detailed research results on the topic.

Collaborative practices implemented during SIPD increase procurement flexibility and decrease redundancy in the relationship with the involved supplier. Communication during SIPD increases supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Increased supplier flexibility and increased procurement flexibility in the relationship with the involved supplier as well as collaborative practices during SIPD positively impact company performance. I confirmed the indirect effect between communication during SIPD and company performance when the mediators are supplier flexibility and procurement flexibility. Decreased redundancy in relationship with involved supplier does not impact company performance.

Supply chain managers need to rethink SIPD practice to effectively ensure supply chain resilience (SCRES), especially in the face of the contemporary global crisis and black swans affecting the supplier base. My article provides important managerial insights into drivers of SCRES and company performance.

To the best of my knowledge, this research is among the first to conclude that SIPD does not have an unequivocally positive or direct impact on supplier relationship resilience. The research fills the gap by analyzing the impact of SIPD on two main SCRES elements. The study examines supplier relationship resilience, understood as flexibility and redundancy elements, in a single supplier–buyer relationship perspective. Thus, the presented considerations go beyond the traditional understanding of flexibility and redundancy in supplier relationship management, that is through the prism of double or multi sourcing and having back up-suppliers.