Supplier Involvement in New Product Development
Lisa Melander
Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations, No. 1568
Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations No. 1568, 2014 Management and Engineering
Linköpings universitet 581 83 Linköping
www.liu.se
This thesis addresses the challenges that firms are faced with when collaborating with suppliers in new product development (NPD) projects under technological uncertainty. Due to increased complexity and specialization, firms do not possess all the necessary technologies in- house and therefore need to collaborate with external organisations to incorporate new technology into their products. Common collaborators are suppliers who become integrated into the buying firm’s NPD project. The purpose of this thesis is to explore supplier involvement in NPD under technological uncertainty.
The research in this thesis is based on six case studies conducted at two large system integrator firms: ABB and Ericsson. In total, 53 interviews and two workshops were conducted.
The thesis consists of a compiled summary and five appended papers. The framework that is developed in the thesis highlights that challenges in supplier involvement in NPD projects under technological uncertainty can be divided into challenges that are related to supplier selection, buyer-supplier collaboration, and internal coordination between R&D and purchasing.
Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty Lisa Melander 2014
under Technological Uncertainty
Supplier Involvement in New Product Development
Lisa Melander
Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations, No. 1568
Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations No. 1568, 2014 Management and Engineering
Linköpings universitet 581 83 Linköping
www.liu.se
This thesis addresses the challenges that firms are faced with when collaborating with suppliers in new product development (NPD) projects under technological uncertainty. Due to increased complexity and specialization, firms do not possess all the necessary technologies in- house and therefore need to collaborate with external organisations to incorporate new technology into their products. Common collaborators are suppliers who become integrated into the buying firm’s NPD project. The purpose of this thesis is to explore supplier involvement in NPD under technological uncertainty.
The research in this thesis is based on six case studies conducted at two large system integrator firms: ABB and Ericsson. In total, 53 interviews and two workshops were conducted.
The thesis consists of a compiled summary and five appended papers. The framework that is developed in the thesis highlights that challenges in supplier involvement in NPD projects under technological uncertainty can be divided into challenges that are related to supplier selection, buyer-supplier collaboration, and internal coordination between R&D and purchasing.
Supplier Involvement in New Product Development under Technological Uncertainty Lisa Melander 2014
under Technological Uncertainty
