The Supplier's Role in New Product Development Initiatives: An Assessment of Research Efforts

Abstract

The authors review the literature on the impact suppliers may have on the new product development (NPD) process to show the benefits of integrating suppliers within a firm's NPD design team. In the tables, the authors have categorized the research studies examined, as either case based or empirical and reference some key findings to help future researchers in their efforts to examine early supplier involvement in new product development activities.