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Critical factors for involvement in customers’ product development : an SME perspective

Flankegård, Filip ; Johansson, Glenn LU and Granlund, Anna (2023) In Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing 38(13). p.143-153
Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast these with the factors identified from the customer perspective. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study approach was used, including four companies. Data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews, six workshops and documents. Findings: A model is presented that merges this study’s nine identified critical factors with seven critical factors from the customer perspective. The model provides a dual perspective of supplier involvement in product development, wherein the supplier and customer perspectives are concurrently addressed.... (More)

Purpose: This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast these with the factors identified from the customer perspective. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study approach was used, including four companies. Data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews, six workshops and documents. Findings: A model is presented that merges this study’s nine identified critical factors with seven critical factors from the customer perspective. The model provides a dual perspective of supplier involvement in product development, wherein the supplier and customer perspectives are concurrently addressed. Some factors are unique for the supplier, but several mirror those on the customer side. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on data from SME suppliers in Northern Europe. As it is expected that SME companies are more constrained by limited resources, future studies could study critical factors at larger suppliers. Practical implications: Customers and suppliers having insights about the critical factors can provide better conditions for product development for the other actor; for example, when evaluating customer–supplier integration. Originality/value: The presented model of critical factors provides a more nuanced picture of supplier involvement in product development as prior research has been biased toward the customer perspective. This study emphasizes the importance of contextual information that has been unnoticed in the literature.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Case study, Collaborative product development, NPD, Supplier collaboration, Supplier integration, Supplier involvement
in
Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing
volume
38
issue
13
pages
11 pages
publisher
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
external identifiers
  • scopus:85152794670
ISSN
0885-8624
DOI
10.1108/JBIM-06-2022-0277
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
e80c71ad-6d2a-467a-beb1-39dfb67913a2
date added to LUP
2023-07-20 10:51:44
date last changed
2023-10-11 14:23:57
@article{e80c71ad-6d2a-467a-beb1-39dfb67913a2,
  abstract     = {{<p>Purpose: This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast these with the factors identified from the customer perspective. Design/methodology/approach: A multiple case study approach was used, including four companies. Data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews, six workshops and documents. Findings: A model is presented that merges this study’s nine identified critical factors with seven critical factors from the customer perspective. The model provides a dual perspective of supplier involvement in product development, wherein the supplier and customer perspectives are concurrently addressed. Some factors are unique for the supplier, but several mirror those on the customer side. Research limitations/implications: The study is based on data from SME suppliers in Northern Europe. As it is expected that SME companies are more constrained by limited resources, future studies could study critical factors at larger suppliers. Practical implications: Customers and suppliers having insights about the critical factors can provide better conditions for product development for the other actor; for example, when evaluating customer–supplier integration. Originality/value: The presented model of critical factors provides a more nuanced picture of supplier involvement in product development as prior research has been biased toward the customer perspective. This study emphasizes the importance of contextual information that has been unnoticed in the literature.</p>}},
  author       = {{Flankegård, Filip and Johansson, Glenn and Granlund, Anna}},
  issn         = {{0885-8624}},
  keywords     = {{Case study; Collaborative product development; NPD; Supplier collaboration; Supplier integration; Supplier involvement}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{13}},
  pages        = {{143--153}},
  publisher    = {{Emerald Group Publishing Limited}},
  series       = {{Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing}},
  title        = {{Critical factors for involvement in customers’ product development : an SME perspective}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-06-2022-0277}},
  doi          = {{10.1108/JBIM-06-2022-0277}},
  volume       = {{38}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}