Finanseriat av Rådet för Arbetslivsforskning / Financed by Swedish Council for Work Life Research

Product Development (PD) in Small and Medium-sized Firms (SMEs) is a long-neglected research area, and little cumulative work has been conducted previously. The purpose of this paper is to provide a first overview of the area of PD in SMEs. In doing so, we draw upon a sample of 149 peer-reviewed research papers selected from an initial sample of 5694 papers. The review provides tentative answers to issues such as the analytical and methodological approaches of the papers, which topics or areas of research have been focused on by previous scholars, and what kinds of topics that are well covered.

The overall purpose of this article is to examine the relationships between two strategic orientations and performance in new product development. The first orientation considered is market orientation; the second one considered is entrepreneurial orientation, which reflects a firm's propensity to innovate, to be proactive, as well as its willingness to take risks. Drawing upon a sample of 224 mid-sized manufacturing firms, multiple regressions with and without interaction terms were used for testing seven hypotheses. The results show that a market orientation and innovativeness were positively related to performance in new product development, while proactiveness and risk taking show no such relationship. The results also show that neither product characteristics nor environmental characteristics moderate these relationships. In terms of implications, our results suggest that contradictory and to some extent paradoxical capabilities are needed to increase performance in new product development, and that the different components of an entrepreneurial orientation do not impact new product development performance equally

This study is an attempt to improve the understanding of eco-innovations and to generate knowledge that can be used to stimulate their diffusion and adoption. The main objective of this study is to develop a new classification system for eco-innovations. The methodological approach chosen is a case study of 150 winning entries to the Swedish Environmental Innovation Competition. The entries that reached the finals were investigated and classified according to the new classification system into six different types: (1) product care, (2) minor product improvements, (3) major product improvements, (4) functional innovation, (5) System innovation, and (6) Scientific breakthrough. The results show that more than 75% of the eco-innovations are classified as 'product care', 'minor product improvements' and 'major product improvements'; but in order to achieve a breakthrough in the area of sustainability, much more work is needed to achieve 'system innovation' and 'scientific breakthrough'

Purpose - To analyse how differences in decision-making affected the integration of the R&D functions after Ford's acquisition of Volvo Cars. Design/methodology/approach - The analysis is carried out in two steps. Step one analyses which type of approach Ford employed to integrate Volvo into the company. Step two analyses how R&D decisions are made by both firms and the consequences of found differences in decision-making on the success of the integration process. Findings - Ford's approach to the integration of Volvo Cars follows a symbiosis approach, combining a high need of both organizational autonomy and strategic interdependence. A symbiosis acquisition integration approach demands that the decision-making processes are given special attention. The acquired firm's specific decision-making processes need to remain intact in order to preserve its embedded unique R&D value creation capabilities. The decision-making processes should be kept separate in order to prevent disruption. Originality/value - The paper relates theories about firm acquisition processes and aspects of organization theory to establish a bridge between these research areas.

Drawing upon a sample of 206 medium-sized manufacturing firms, this article investigates the extent to which management of external information is associated with innovation performance. The overall purpose of the article is to examine whether or not those organizations that are better at managing external information are also those that are the better innovators. The research strategy used was a survey, and data were collected by means of mail questionnaires (with a 62.4% response rate). A multiple regression analysis was used for hypothesis testing. The results show that scanning the technological sector of the environment was positively associated with innovation performance, while scanning customers, suppliers, and competitors proved to be negatively correlated with innovation performance. Cross-functional integration in the form of collaboration also proved significantly correlated with innovation performance, while interaction showed no such relationship. Further, decision-making based on information from the industry environment correlated significantly with innovation performance. Research and managerial implications of these findings are presented and are discussed.

In a research project on the development of process technology in process industry, success factors have been developed and ranked by R&D managers in various sectors of the European process industry. The results are presented in two parts, of which this is Part 1. As an introduction to this part, a new classification system for success factors in R&D is developed and the final discussion in Part 2 presents a model for company implementation. The empirical results stress the importance of good technology transfer in the process development process. The results can also be seen as a shopping list and a starting point for in-company development of success factors and performance indicators for process development.

In a research project on the development of process technology in process industry, success factors have been developed and ranked by R&D managers in various sectors of European process industry. The results are presented in two parts, of which this is Part 2 of the study. A new classification system for success factors in R&D was developed as an introduction in Part 1, and the discussion in this paper presents a model for company implementation. The empirical research results give an emerging picture of a development area, a development process and a type of development behaviour that differ markedly from product development and the product development process. The results can also be seen as a shopping list and a starting point for in-company development of success factors and performance indicators for process development.