The Influence of New Product Development Competitive Capabilities on Project Performance

This paper investigates the relationships between new product development (NPD) competitive capabilities and project performance. Using data from a large sample of NPD projects, both direct and synergistic influences of new product development competitive capabilities on project performance are explored. The results support the claim of the synergy school that simultaneous pursuit of multiple competitive capabilities enhances NPD project success. For example, time-to-market and conformance quality were directly and significantly related to all measures of NPD project success. Also, the interactions of conformance quality and cost, conformance quality and time-to-market, and product cost and time-to-market were found to influence different measures of NPD project success. Implications of the results for theory and managerial practice are offered