Marketing information exchange mechanisms in collaborative new product development: The influence of resource balance and competitiveness

Interfirm collaboration for new product development (NPD) is an increasingly attractive route to reduce internal investment and gain access to skills and resources embedded in the partner firm. Yet, the process of collaboration is problematic. The effective integration of marketing information into the NPD process is seen as a critical determinant of NPD success. This article investigates mechanisms to integrate such infornation in the context of NPD collaboration between competing firms. It develops a conceptual framework that brings together previous research in the domains of NPD marketing information in the single firm, functional integration for NPD, and integrative mechanisms. The dynamic relationship between such constructs and the dimensions of interfirm resource balance and competitiveness are explored. The constructs derived from the framework are applied in a longitudinal study of four major Euro/Japanese cases of NPD collaboration. Conclusions drawn from these cases are reported. © 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.