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Paper info: Relationships between inter-firm collaboration, intra-firm collaboration, innovation capability, and new product development: a complementary approach

Title


Relationships between inter-firm collaboration, intra-firm collaboration, innovation capability, and new product development: a complementary approach

Authors


Leila Mehrabi and Saeed Najafi-Tavani

Place of Publication


The paper was published at the 35th IMP-conference in Paris, France in 2019.

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Abstract


Inter-firm collaboration (IEC) and intra-firm collaboration (IAC) are highlighted as key antecedents of successful new product development (NPD) in the innovation literature. A review of the literature, however, shows a lack of consensus regarding the relationships between inter-firm and intra-firm collaboration and NPD performance. Moreover, only a few research studies empirically investigate the complementary effect of IEC and IAC on firms’ outcome. To address this gap in the literature, we re-examined the complementary effect of IEC and IAC on NPD performance by introducing innovation capability as an important mediator in the link between inter-firm and intra-firm collaboration and NPD performance using the resource-based view and dynamic capability theory. Survey data from a sample of 147 high and mid-tech manufacturing firms in Iran show the positive impact of the interaction between IEC and IAC on firms' innovation capability. Moreover, innovation capability was found to positively impact on both financial and non-financial dimensions of NPD performance. The findings provide both managerial and theoretical implications.