SUPPLIER INVOLVEMENT IN CUSTOMER NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: NEW INSIGHTS FROM THE SUPPLIER'S PERSPECTIVE

This paper presents the results from an empirical survey of chemical suppliers, which examines the influence of customer relationship functions on supplier involvement in customer new product development (NPD) from the supplier's perspective. Using multiple regression analysis, we can demonstrate a positive influence between the direct functions (e.g., profit, volume) of customer relationship and supplier involvement in customer NPD. Differentiating between innovative and non-innovative suppliers leads to distinctive differences. While the direct functions are a strong predictor for the supplier involvement in the non-innovative supplier group, in the innovative group only indirect functions (innovation, market, scout and access functions) influence the supplier involvement. These results show that mutual support in the NPD and open network are the imperative triggers for the involvement of innovative suppliers. The obtained results provide theoretical as well as practical implications for the supplier involvement in customer NPD.