Successful New Product Pricing Practices: A Contingency Approach

The purpose of this study is to examine the success of new product pricing practices and the conditions upon which success is contingent. We distinguish three different pricing practices that refer to the use of information on customer value, competition, and costs respectively. Following Monroe's (1990) price discretion, we argue that the success of these practices is contingent on relative product advantage and competitive intensity. The hypotheses are tested on pricing decisions for new industrial products. Our results show that there are no general best or bad practices, but that a contingency approach is appropriate. These results may help reduce the complexity that managers experience in pricing new products.     

Is the more always better? A comparative study of internal and external integration practices in new product and new service development

This study investigates the relationship between internal and external integration practices and innovation success of new products and new services. Building on the idea that key success drivers in new product and new service development may have implementing costs besides their obvious benefits, this article examines the possibility that a nonlinear relationship in the shape of an inverted U exists between innovation success and the antecedents examined in this research. The present study also addresses scholars' call for research to investigate differences in the drivers of new product and new service success. The findings suggest that differences exist in the nature of the relationship—that is, linear versus nonlinear—between cross-functional integration, customer integration, and interfirm collaboration and innovation success in a new product versus new service setting.     

The impact of formal processes for market information acquisition and utilization on the performance of Chinese new ventures

The authors examine the performance impact of formal market information processes. Specifically, a theoretical model is developed that hypothesizes that formal processes for market information acquisition and utilization have direct and positive main effects on new venture success and is then tested using a sample of 222 new ventures located in China. Findings indicate that new venture success is positively correlated with the use of formal processes for market information acquisition and use. Moreover, the relative importance of formal processes to the acquisition and use of market information depends on whether the new venture serves an emerging or established market. In particular, the impact of formal processes for information acquisition is higher among new ventures that serve emerging markets. In contrast, the impact of formal processes for information use is higher among new ventures that serve established markets. We present managerial implications of our results. For example, a new venture with a strong market orientation can respond quickly to emerging marketplace needs, and can even seize the advantage from incumbents. If it is in an emerging market, however, the new venture management team should strive to excel at information acquisition; in an established market, it is important for the management team to excel at information utilization.     

The dramatic breakdown of the market orientation concept in the pharmaceutical industry: lessons from Vioxx

In this article we present an in-depth case study to better understand the underlying market orientation concept in relation to bringing new technologies to the marketplace. We use the case history of the anti-arthritis drug Vioxx, developed and marketed by the company Merck & Co. Inc that allegedly killed thousands of customers. The case shows how market orientation can take shape and how the key components may form an explosive cocktail prone to problematic behaviour rather than a synergistic set of orientations that creates value for customers. From the data covering 20 years, it is clear that a consumer orientation and competitor orientation, for example, are difficult to internalise and balance by employees. A competitive orientation seems to lead to tunnel vision regarding profit and market share outcomes. Implications for the fundamental market orientation concept, innovation management, together with management challenges are discussed.     

High commitment work system,transactive memory system,and new product performance

Although scholars find that the transactive memory systems can improve new product performance, few studies have empirically examined how managers can induce a transactive memory system in new product development teams with a set of systematic management practices. Based on the theoretical argument about human resource system in the strategic human resource management literature, this study proposes that implementing a set of coherent human resource management practices with workers in new product development teams can induce a transactive memory system in the team. Following previous scholars, this study calls this set of coherent human resource management practices as the high commitment work system. With survey data collected from 336 new product development engineers of 73 new product development teams in 73 firms, this study finds that transactive memory system mediates the positive relationship between the high commitment work system implemented with workers in new product development teams and new product performance.     

The role of networking alliances in information acquisition and its implications for new product performance

The premise of Austrian economics on entrepreneurial discovery suggests that mutual knowledge about market participants defines who will acquire potential information about opportunities to bring future products into existence. Building upon this argument, this research investigates the role of networking alliances in information acquisition and its lagged effect on the new product performance of the firm. By using a longitudinal analysis, the study shows that a firm improves its new product performance as it increases the number of repeated partners and its centrality position relative to others in the technology collaboration network.     

Improving New Product Quality: An Empirical Study of Product Development Teams in Taiwan

ABSTRACT

The role of team and organizational factors affecting new product quality and their interactions as moderating the effects are examined. Results from a domestic study suggest that new product quality is positively affected by information capability in the team and quality orientation in the firm; in contrast, it is negatively related to the innovativeness of the new product as seen by the firm and speed-to-market pressure in the team. However, teams' information capabilities alleviate the negative effect of innovativeness on quality. Quality orientation lessens the relationship between information capability and new product quality. Functional diversity and tenure diversity do not affect new product quality. In addition, managerial implications and directions for future research are proposed.     

Crafting an environment to foster integration in new product teams

The integration of functionally diverse members in new product teams is a long-standing managerial challenge. This study addresses two questions to help meet this challenge: 1) how can the environment around teams be crafted to foster integration, and 2) does integration help teams to create superior or more advantageous new products? Based on a survey of 206 cross-functional new product teams, we learned that certain environmental factors (market-oriented reward system, planning process formalization, managerial encouragement to take risks, and managerial involvement in new product projects) facilitate integration in teams, which, in turn, leads to the creation of superior or more advantageous new products.     

Understanding the antecedents of collateral learning in new product alliances

Recognizing that strategic alliances represent an important means for developing knowledge in critical arenas such as new product development, the authors advance the notion of collateral learning that assesses knowledge acquisition internal to a firm in the alliance. To examine its antecedents, the authors build on the behavioral theory of the firm and propose strategic importance and performance vulnerability as the motivational components and organizational similarity and alliance experience as the awareness components advocated in the theory. Results from 133 alliance firms suggest that both the motivational and awareness components are important in influencing collateral learning in new product alliances. Specifically, to develop collateral learning, firms should have extensive alliance experience and an acknowledged stake in their alliance partners. The results also support the theorized U-shaped relationship between organizational similarity of the alliance partners and collateral learning. Thus, collateral learning is facilitated when organizations are either similar or dissimilar, while medium levels of organizational similarity facilitate collateral learning to a relatively lower extent. Although performance vulnerability is found to be associated negatively with collateral learning, extensive alliance experience can attenuate this negative effect.     

The Impact of Innovativeness and Development Time on New Product Performance for Small Firms

Timing is becoming a new source of competitive advantage. The business press extols the benefits of faster product development. This paper examines whether competitive advantage can be gained by reducing development time across all types of new products or whether this advantage is restricted to certain types of new products. It proposes that product innovativeness moderates the relationship between development time and initial market performance. A survey of 110 small manufacturing firms in computer related industries supports the hypothesis. The survey findings indicate that a firm must guard against over- or under-development of the new product since product innovativeness was found to influence the impact of development time on market performance. The implications for managers are: beware of bringing a new product that is too much, too early or too little, too late.     

New product pricing strategy under customer asymmetric anchoring

Potential customers' willingness to pay (WTP) for a new product can be affected by their observing a posted price and this can be modeled in terms of an anchoring mechanism. A theoretical argument and mathematical proof are developed, showing that if customers use an asymmetric WTP anchoring mechanism, it will normally be optimal for firms to price higher than otherwise. Experimental evidence is provided supporting the notion that an asymmetric anchoring mechanism can be involved in purchase decisions.     

FDI对我国高新技术产业技术溢出效应分析

本文借助C-D函数,实证并分析了FDI对我国高新技术产业内资企业产出、自主创新能力、新产品开发的影响。研究表明,外资通过竞争效应、人员流动效应、示范效应以及产业关联效应等带动高新技术内资企业劳动生产率提高,从而促进内资高新技术企业产出总量增加;但较大的内外资企业的技术差距和较弱的技术消化吸收能力抑制了FDI对航空航天器制造业自主创新能力的提升;较高的外资企业市场集中度和市场开放度,不利于电子及通信设备制造业以及电子计算机及办公设备制造业新产品市场开发。文章据此探讨了相应的对策建议,以期为高新技术产业更好地利用外资提供有益的思路。     

An investigation of the black-box supplier integration in new product development

This research examines black-box supplier integration in new product development (NPD). A model and several hypotheses are proposed to study the relationship between product task characteristics (importance and complexity), supplier integration, and product performance. Data from 136 U.S. high-tech firms were used to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that assessing the importance and complexity of NPD tasks is critical to the implementation of supplier integration innovation strategy. Firms are likely to perform NPD tasks that are related to firms' core competencies in-house. They tend to externalize complex tasks to suppliers in order to utilize suppliers' resources and to increase NPD speed. The black-box supplier integration influences the speed to market. However, it is more effective on speed to market when technology uncertainty is low than when technology uncertainty is high.     

Market-Oriented New Product Design of Functional Orange Juice Beverages: A Qualitative Approach

Abstract

The functional beverages category is considered one of the most significant drivers of new product development (NPD) in recent years. Fifteen in-depth interviews and three focus groups were held between February and March 2003 to identify the most important attributes influencing consumers' purchase decisions for orange juice, and to explore consumers' attitudes towards existing and new functional orange juice beverages. The results suggested that functional food and beverage manufacturers should place a greater emphasis on the base product when evaluating new product concepts. This study highlighted the key role of qualitative research in facilitating the integration of consumers with the concept stage of the NPD process.     

Tacit meaning in disguise: Hidden metaphors in new product development and market making

This article explores the role of metaphor in product development processes and market making. Based on a sociocognitive perspective of innovation dynamics and required learning by market actors, the potential of metaphors for mental model development during new product development (NPD) processes is investigated. Three roles for metaphors as cognitive focusing devices for the co-evolution of producers' and consumers' mental models are inferred: mental model communication, mental model matching, and mental model creation. These roles are illustrated by examples that reinforce the need for creativity in applying metaphors as cognitive focusing devices in NPD and market making.     

全球化背景下我国物流业竞争策略选择分析

在经济全球化不断深化的背景下,我国物流企业的发展既有前所未有的机遇,也面临激烈的市场竞争。在应对激烈的国际竞争的策略方面不能一概而论,应坚持有所为有所不为的方针,构建起既符合自身特点和优势,又具有一定竞争优势的新的策略体系。     

Organizational coordination, development proficiency, and on-time completion of development and international rollout: A contingency analysis of external environments

This study examines the moderating effects of external environmental variables on the relationships between organizational coordination, quality of implementation of new product development (NPD) activities, and on-time completion of (or timeliness in) product development and international new product rollout (INPR) among manufacturing firms in Korea. The results indicate that quality of marketing execution is of greater importance for achieving on-time NPD and multi-country rollout in markets where competitive intensity is high than when it is low. The positive effect of HQ-subsidiary relationships on INPR timeliness is strengthened in rapid rather than slower technology-change environments. By contrast, the positive effect of HQ-subsidiary relationships on INPR timeliness is weakened in high rather than lower competitive-intensity environments. In addition, the beneficial effect of cross-functional integration on NPD timeliness is weakened in markets characterized by a high rate of technological change. The article also discusses the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.