Brazilian Journal of Operations & Production Management (Feb 2010)
Supplier-buyer collaboration in new product development: four case studies involving SMEs
Abstract
New product development at inter-firm level is clearly an important topic for researchers<br />and managers. Although many papers have reported the importance of collaboration in NPD<br />the collaboration involving partners with different technology endowments and how many<br />small firms have managed to achieve a status of reciprocity have remained unaddressed.<br />In this exploratory study four multinationals and sixteen suppliers were visited and<br />their top executives interviewed to determine the key success factors of collaborative<br />product development as perceived by suppliers. Four case studies were prepared in order<br />to exemplify the supplier’s perceptions to inter-firm product development involving<br />differently endowed firms. The main findings are clear: suppliers and clients have different<br />perspectives and play different roles due to the bargaining power exercised by the latter<br />and by the fight for reciprocity of the former.