Internal vs. external collaboration: What works

An international study of new product development (NPD) practices focused on investigating the significance of internal and external collaboration for developing a new product. The NPD study suggested that internal collaboration of departments was to have an impact on time and product performance differently in comparison with external integration. It analyzed survey responses to queries about the the procedures and performance measures of the NPD programs at 250 small- to medium-size Machinery Manufacturing and Electrical Equipment firms. Its findings suggested that the use of collaborative NPD practices, such as customer involvement, supplier involvement, and cross-functional integration were found across the world with several significant differences. Analyses also demonstrated that focusing on specific types of integration was necessary to achieve specific goals.