How does social orientation influence R&D-marketing collaboration?

Social orientation refers to the extent to which members of an organization are provided with opportunities to have private social contacts and activities outside their work settings. Based upon social interaction and communication flows perspectives, the present research constructs a model depicting the relationships among social orientation, organizational citizenship behavior, R&D-marketing collaboration, and the process performance of new product development program. The empirical results support most hypotheses posited by the authors. In particular, the relationship between social orientation and R&D-marketing collaboration is found to be mediated by organizational citizenship behavior (i.e., helping behavior and civic virtue), and social orientation has no direct effect on the collaboration.     

Influences of cross-functional collaboration and knowledge creation on technology commercialization: Evidence from high-tech industries

Technology commercialization (TC) contributes to maintaining the competitive advantage of high-tech firms, but although researchers have established that product innovation and new product development are enhanced by cross-functional collaboration and organizational knowledge activities, this may not be the case for TC. Drawing on the knowledge-based view and the influence of cross-functional collaboration, the main goal of this study is to unravel the relationships among cross-functional collaboration, knowledge creation and TC performance in the high-tech industry context. Empirical findings from our survey of 203 marketing and R&D managers and employees in Taiwanese high-tech companies indicate that cross-function collaboration reveals fresh opportunities for creating knowledge and commercializing technologies. Our results also suggest that knowledge creation plays an important role in TC performance by partially mediating the relationship between cross-functional collaboration and TC performance. The contributions of this study provide new insights into industrial marketing literature by proposing a cross-functional collaboration-enabled TC model that takes into account the effect of knowledge creation.     

The R&D and marketing cooperation across new product development stages: An empirical study of Taiwan's IT industry

This study extends the new product development (NPD) process research to a new environmental context (Taiwan's IT industry) and a new business type (original design manufacturing, ODM). Taiwan's IT industry has achieved a very outstanding performance during the last two decades. The island's experience is quite valuable for those emerging countries that are struggling to transform themselves from producing low-value goods to making high-technology products. After analyzing the data collected from 153 research and development (R&D) and marketing managers in Taiwanese IT firms, this study finds that the higher the perceived importance of R&D-marketing cooperation is, the higher the attained level of R&D-marketing cooperation will be. Consequently, a better NPD performance can be achieved. This study additionally reports that a firm that has adopted a Defender innovation strategy attains a lower level of R&D-marketing cooperation, and has a poorer NPD performance than those firms that adopted either Prospector or Analyzer innovation strategies. Finally, environmental uncertainty has no significant impacts on the perceived importance and the attained level of R&D-marketing cooperation.     

A cross-national investigation of the R&D-marketing interface in the product innovation process

Managing the interface between R&D and marketing is a critical element of successful new product development programs. The purpose of this research is twofold. First, we develop testable hypotheses from a theoretical model of cross-functional team management in the product innovation process based on the seminal work of Gupta, Raj, and Wilemon. We test the hypotheses using data collected from 376 U.S., 292 Chinese, and 279 Japanese firms. Second, we uncover and highlight similarities and differences in cross-functional involvement between marketing and R&D in the product innovation process across these three countries. The results generally provide overall support for the model and reveal some surprising cross-national differences.     

Top management team conflict and entrepreneurial strategy making in China

How does top management team (TMT) conflict influence entrepreneurial strategy making of new ventures? With a sample of new ventures in China’s technology industries, this study examines the conditions under which TMT cognitive conflict and affective conflict are associated with entrepreneurial strategy making. We found that cognitive conflict among TMT members had a positive relationship with entrepreneurial strategy making. Further, the positive relationship between cognitive conflict and entrepreneurial strategy making was moderated by dysfunctional competition and team deftness.     

International R&D partnerships and intrafirm R&D–marketing–production integration of manufacturing firms in emerging economies

Although cross-functional integration is important for research and development (R&D), research about implications of cross-functional integration has been rather sparse. In new product development (NPD), no study to date has examined intrafirm as well as interfirm integration of key functions such as intrafirm R&D–marketing–production together with interfirm integration of host R&D–partner R&D. Such marketing and operations interface contributes to a better understanding of how operational and marketing activities impact on competitiveness and firm performance. This study collected data from 202 electronics manufacturing firms operating in an emerging economy, mainland China and Hong Kong with international R&D partnerships. The findings indicate that a high level of R&D integration between firms improved NPD performance when cross-functional integration is based on existing rather than new product configurations and key technologies. Interestingly, in high distance situations, cross-functional integration in the production validation stage generated NPD success. The findings show that high environmental uncertainties lead to a high level of host and partner firms R&D integration. However, product newness has no significant effects on R&D integration in any of the NPD stages.     

Marketing's lateral influence strategies and new product team comprehension in high-tech companies: A cross-national investigation

In high-tech companies marketing often has to strive for gaining influence in the new product development (NPD) process, and uses political strategies to supplement its low formal power. This study examined the antecedents and outcomes of marketing's use of upward appeal and coalition building influence strategies in NPD, in Chinese and Australian high-tech companies. We proposed that marketing's use of both strategies is related to power sources (i.e., R&D department's power, marketing's information power and personal stake in the NPD outcomes) and NPD context characteristics (i.e., formalization of NPD activity, and R&D-marketing interaction). Results show that both power sources and NPD context are related to the use of lateral influence strategies by marketing participants in NPD, with notable differences in potency and direction between China and Australia. For example, higher R&D-marketing interaction increases the use of lateral influence strategies in Australia but decreases it in China. On the contrary, lateral influence strategies produce similar effects in the two cultural settings: while coalition building increases NPD team comprehension of marketing issues in high-tech firms, upward appeal appears to hinder it, especially in the Chinese collectivistic context. We conclude with implications for future research and practice.     

Managing R&D-marketing integration in the new product development process

Cross-functional coordination and collaboration between R&D and marketing is crucial to the success of the new product development process. By understanding how organizational characteristics influence the quality and quantity of information exchanged during the planning and implementation stages of innovation, managers can take steps to increase the communication within their firm, and thereby increase the probability of new product development success. This examines the effects of several organizational characteristics posited to play an important role in the effective cross-functional information exchange using data collected from 376 U.S. firms. The authors found (1) positive impacts on information exchange are attributed to a formalized system of procedural interaction, the quality of the cross-functional relationship, and a joint-rewards structure; and (2) the quality and quantity of cross-functional information exchanges are influenced negatively by the lack of credibility, and positively by rewards for interaction and a high quality of cross-functional relationship.     

Entry mode,organizational learning,and R&D in foreign affiliates: evidence from Japanese firms

This paper develops hypotheses concerning the role of entry mode and experience‐based organizational learning as determinants of the R&D intensity of foreign affiliates and tests these hypotheses on a sample of 420 Japanese manufacturing affiliates abroad. Entry mode has a major impact on R&D activities: the R&D intensities of acquired affiliates substantially exceed those in wholly owned greenfield affiliates, while the R&D intensities of minority owned ventures are higher if Japanese parent firms lack strong R&D capabilities at home. For greenfield operations, support is found for an incremental growth pattern of foreign R&D as a function of organizational learning and affiliate capability building. The results are consistent with the view that part of the explanation for Japanese firms' relative lack of involvement in overseas R&D must be sought in their status as ‘latecomers’ in the establishment of overseas manufacturing networks. At the same time, a number of Japanese firms have actively used foreign acquisitions and joint ventures to gain access to overseas technology and to establish overseas R&D capabilities at a faster pace. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modeling the firm's response to research & development tax credit policies

In this article, we develop a microeconomic model of normative firm behavior under the incentive of a research and development (R&D) tax credit. The model is based on the well-known concept of a two-factor learning model in which R&D expenditures and manufacturing capacity expansion are the principle determinants of cost reduction in a new technology product. We distinguish between the behavior of start-up firms and ongoing firms and study the potential impacts of progressively larger R&D tax credits. We find highly significant differences in the potential impact of the credit on start-up firms versus ongoing firms. We also find that the credit can significantly impact optimal product pricing of the technology when introduced into the marketplace. We examine the implications of this latter fact on the overall social cost of the R&D tax credit.     

Inter-firm complementarities in R&D: a re-examination of the relative performance of joint ventures

We compare duopoly outcomes between two alternative modes of research and development (R&D), viz. independent R&D and non-cooperative research joint ventures (RJVs), when there are complementarities between firm-specific R&D resources. When complementarity is high, RJVs lead to higher technological improvement and the reverse holds for low complementarity. In the intermediate range, the comparison depends on the relative imperfection in spillovers afflicting independent R&D. In sharp contrast to results on cooperative RJVs, non-cooperative RJVs lead to higher technological improvement when spillovers affecting independent R&D are low; the reverse holds for high spillovers. When RJVs yield higher technological improvement, they also yield higher industry profit and social welfare.     

Leveraging ties: the contingent value of entrepreneurial teams' external advice networks on Indian software venture performance

This study investigates the impact of entrepreneurial teams' external networks on their ventures' performance. We first argue that ventures whose entrepreneurial teams span many structural holes in their external advice networks experience higher performance. We then propose that network ties are not uniform in their effect, but rather are contingent on two distinct features of entrepreneurial teams: (i) their strategic consensus—extent of agreement on key goals and strategies within the team—and (ii) internal cohesion—extent of interpersonal friendships within the team. Finally, we propose that team demographics and team networks complement (rather than substitute) each other. Data from Indian software ventures provide support for these arguments. We extend entrepreneurship research by highlighting how venture teams' internal processes and external networks jointly shape performance outcomes. We also add to the literature on team networks by drawing attention to the role of strategic consensus as a distinct pathway through which teams can leverage their external networks.     

The contingent value of marketing strategy innovativeness for product development performance in Chinese new technology ventures

This study extends research on entrepreneurial behavior by investigating the relationship between the marketing strategy innovativeness (MSI) and new product performance in technology-based new ventures in China. Specifically, premised on contingent resource-based view we argue that MSI is a firm capability that must be bundled with external managerial relationships and be deployed in the appropriate environment to ensure its success. We found that the team's extra industry relationships and market dynamism enhanced the impact of MSI on new product performance. In contrast, top management team's intraindustry relationships, financial relationships, and technology dynamism hindered the impact of MSI on new product performance.     

Research opportunities in the study of B2B new ventures: Perspectives from the entrepreneurship literature

The goal of this article is to identify research opportunities for scholars interested in B2B new ventures. The author focuses on opportunities that arise from a consideration of three important topics in the entrepreneurship literature: business model development, venture legitimacy, and top management teams. It is argued that significant opportunities exist for research that expands our understanding of (1) entrepreneurial paths from initial means to a fully specified business model, (2) the design of a portfolio of legitimation strategies, and (3) the impact of top management team characteristics and processes on venture characteristics, venture performance, and top management team outcomes.     

The Difficult Path to Lean Product Development

Lean product development holds the promise of dramatically improving a company's competitive position. Its implementation offers the potential for faster product development with fewer engineering hours, improved manufacturability of products, higher quality products, fewer production start-up problems, and faster time to market. Of course, all of this improves the likelihood of market success. As Christer Karlsson and Pär Åhlström point out, however, a company attempting to implement lean product development must overcome numerous obstacles. By spending more than 2 years observing and facilitating one company's efforts to make this transition, they were able to identify various factors that either hinder or support the implementation of lean product development. Lean product development comprises numerous interrelated techniques, including supplier involvement, cross-functional teams, concurrent engineering, integration (as opposed to coordination) of various functional aspects of each project, the use of a heavyweight team structure, and strategic management of each development project. However, a company does not achieve lean product development simply by implementing some of these techniques. A successful move toward lean product development requires approaching these interrelated techniques as elements of a coherent whole. As observed in the subject company, several factors can hinder attempts to achieve lean product development. For example, managerial overemphasis on R&D in development projects hampers efforts to achieve cross-functional integration. In other words, creating a team with members from various functions is easier than achieving a cross-functional focus throughout an organization. Similarly, a cross-functional team cannot perform effectively if a sequential view of the development process persists. Factors that support the transition to lean product development include: tight development schedules, which contribute to a must-do attitude; close cooperation with a qualified customer, who can provide vital information as well as challenge the development team; highly competent engineers; and, most important, the active, ongoing support and participation of top management. Most participants in the process examined in this study seemed interested in the possibilities of lean product development, which suggests that motivation to change may not pose a significant problem in similar efforts.     

Getting the most out of cross-functional cooperation: Internal structural change as a trigger for customer information use

Using customer information in the decision making of R&D and production is vital for industrial firms to survive and prosper in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Previous studies show that cross-functional cooperation may have both negative and positive effects on information use. The authors hypothesize that internal structural change positively moderates the relationship between cross-functional cooperation and information use. However, structural change also decreases the quality of cross-functional cooperation. Cross-functional knowledge increases both cross-functional cooperation and customer information use. These hypotheses are tested and supported using a data set consisting of 221 manufacturing and R&D managers in large industrial firms. The findings imply that although internal structural change increases the benefits of cooperative, cross-functional relationships in terms of customer information use, managers in volatile organizations should continue to strengthen cooperative relationships by maintaining and improving sales and marketing contact people's knowledge of manufacturing and R&D.     

The Roles Incubator Organizations in Hi-Tech Venture Creation in Korea

In order to examine the roles of incubator organizations (places where entrepreneurs work before they start their ventures), ten high-tech venture founders were interviewed. Based on these interviews, their experience at incubator organizations and subsequent performance were analyzed, and 11 hypotheses regarding the characteristics of incubator organizations were formulated. The hypotheses are: high-tech venture are more likely to succeed if their founders have had the opportunity to prepare a business plan, to develop the prototype of a new product, to be acquainted with other disciplines, to work together as a team, and to acquire various kind of capabilities such as market-specific know-how, entrepreneurial skills and financing know-how at incubator organizations. However, it is hypothesized that the opportunity to acquire technological know-how and traditional managerial skills at incubator organizations are not positively correlated with venture success. The technological know-how and managerial skills could be regarded as a necessary but not sufficient condition for successful ventures. As the first study about Korean incubator organizations, the cases and the discussion of the hypotheses provide insights and implications for future studies.     

Entrepreneurial orientation, exploitative and explorative capabilities, and performance outcomes in export markets: A resource-based approach

Innovation is critical to the growth and success of a firm. In an attempt to renew themselves and compete effectively in the global marketplace, firms must possess both technical and non-technical capabilities. Yet, the extant literature has mainly focused on technology and product development capabilities, disregarding other possible capability domains. This study investigates the role of market-related exploitative and explorative capabilities, together with product development ones, in the context of exporting. Drawing on the resource-based and organization learning theories, we examine the internal process through which entrepreneurial orientation influences performance in export markets and develop a model of entrepreneurial orientation-exploitative and explorative capabilities-advantage-performance relationships. The results indicate that entrepreneurial orientation is a precursor of exploitative and explorative product development and overseas market-related capabilities. The findings also suggest that product development explorative capabilities and overseas market-related exploitative capabilities have a positive effect on new product differentiation, which in turn enhances market effectiveness. Implications for scholars and practitioners are discussed along with suggestions for future research.     

Shared knowledge and product design glitches in integrated product development

Product development processes based on the joint collaboration of the cross-functional team, suppliers, and customers can minimize project glitches. Glitches in the product development project can cause project cost over-runs and delay a project past when first mover advantages are possible. While previous theoretical work has suggested a negative relationship between shared knowledge and product development glitches, empirical studies have not identified how different types of shared knowledge are associated with each other and the design glitches. This study proposes a model of the relationship between specific types of shared knowledge and design glitches in integrated product development (IPD) projects. We test our model using a sample of 191 projects from the automotive industry in the United States. The major findings were that: (1) shared knowledge of the development process can be built by improving a team's shared knowledge of customers, suppliers, and internal capabilities, (2) shared knowledge of the development process for a project reduces product design glitches, and (3) reduced product design glitches improve product development time, cost, and customer satisfaction.     

Joint learning in R&D collaborations and the facilitating relational practices

The present study considers joint learning as a relational dynamic capability and examines the role of relational practices as enablers of joint learning in R&D collaboration between suppliers and their customers. The study applies a qualitative comparative case method to analyze seven dyadic cases, selected based on a quantitative dataset and cluster analysis. Our results indicate that in dyadic relationships, firms would benefit from developing practices related to relational investments, relational structures, and relational capital that facilitate joint learning and yield collaborative advantages from R&D interactions. This paper contributes to the existing literature on joint learning in R&D collaborations by defining joint learning as a relational dynamic capability and by focusing on the practices that facilitate it in R&D collaboration.