INO Seminar

Seminar by Stephanie Schleimer, Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia.

The mediating influence of internal collaboration on the contributions of alliances to new product development success.

Abstract:

Research on collaboration within the firm (internal collaboration) and that on inter-firm collaboration (external collaboration) represent two largely disconnected streams. Recognizing that internal and external collaboration habitually occur together, this study examines the under-explored relationships between focal firms’ internal and external collaboration activities in innovation-seeking alliances on product development success. We conceptualize collaboration as an organizational system that entails five collaborative attributes: (1) mutual communication, (2) joint engagement, (3) sharing responsibilities, (4) relationship commitment, and (5) mutual trust. Based on the existing literature, we first develop the idea that firms’ internal collaboration systems are generally more intensive than their external collaboration systems. We then argue that the influence of firms’ external collaboration systems on new product development performance is accounted for by their internal collaboration systems due to the richer historic content of internal collaborative activity. We test the three conditions of mediation using data from 134 dual partner alliances. The findings provide strong support for the proposed mediation of internal collaboration on external collaboration. The contributions of alliances to product development success are thus dependent upon the firms’ internal collaboration structures and practices. We conclude the paper with a discussion of its relevant implications for collaboration and strategic alliance research, and the alignment of collaboration systems over time.