The concept of organisational competence is employed to develop a theoretical and practical critique of the new product development (NPD) process. Competence concepts seek to explain whole firm, rather than individual product success and exploring the impact of this different 'unit of analysis'...

Faced with the challenge of launching a new product into numerous countries, managers may view a sequential rollout as the prudent course of action. Rather than launching the product simultaneously in diverse countries, they may believe they can reduce risk by launching first in one or two...

This paper assesses current issues of economics and law, to propose that economic understanding, law reform and public policy should recognise and encourage hybrid types of collaboration, whilst simultaneously recognising that. pitfalls also exist. It is acknowledged that innovation is...

This paper presents a comparative study of the New Product Development (NPD) environment and practices between American and British firms. Our analysis is based on an in-depth survey of 63 British and 37 American firms. The selected firms represent key industrial sectors of computer,...

In this paper, we explore the relationship between aspects of firms' potential absorptive capacity (PACAP) on their involvement in exploratory alliances. Our study is based on survey data from firms in the US and European (the UK, Germany, France and Ireland) biopharmaceutical sectors. We use...

The UK manufacturing sector is facing massive challenges to survive in today's global and volatile marketplace. In an attempt to overcome these challenges, companies are adopting newer management systems to clarify their vision and strategy and translate them into action. The balanced scorecard...

This paper challenges the critical articles that have classified thematic initiatives as 'fads' or 'fashions' of their period with little real value. Using business process reengineering (BPR) as an example, the paper suggests that it is important to 'unpack' thematic initiatives into their key...

This paper examines relationships developed in the UK's defence branch of the aerospace supply chain. Comparisons are made between economic and formal contractual relationships. Major customers, in this paper we refer to the Ministry of Defence (MoD), have tended to developed complex and...

Recent thinking on open innovation and the knowledge-based economy have stressed the importance of external knowledge sources in stimulating innovation. Policy-makers have recognised this, establishing publicly funded Centres of R&D Excellence with the objective of stimulating industry-science...

Several theories have been developed and try to communicate to managers how innovation occurs in a firm and which factors affect the outcome of this process. These theories come from different perspectives that either focus on management, economic or social sciences and create a complex net....