The article titled “A Model of Supplier Integration into New Product Development” by Kenneth J. Petersen, Handfield, and Gary is an attempt to establish the importance of involving suppliers in the process of developing new products. The authors are of the idea that business firms should realize that suppliers are central to the development of new products as they can offer meaningful insights on designs. For a long time business, firms have designed new products with only the customer in mind something that has increased the costs of doing business. In essence, these firms have continued to develop new products, which have not met customers’ needs exhaustively and effectively as they have lacked the suppliers’ input.
The authors have succeeded in demonstrating how firms can tap from supplier integration in the development of new products. The authors have adopted a model of the key activities required to ensure an efficient supplier integration. The model is an effective strategy since it has proved to work in 17 Japanese and American manufacturing organizations (Petersen et. al., 2003). The authors further use data from a survey conducted on purchasing executives working in global perspectives. By using this model the authors are of the idea that supplier integration may or not work depending on the procedures that a particular firm adopts.
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The article has concentrated most of its efforts in championing for supplier inclusion even before an organization decides to create a new product. In essence, firms should consider suppliers as true members of their development teams instead of involving them only when the product is about to be circulated in the market. An earlier inclusion helps firms to realize technological pitfalls related to the process of developing new products. Moreover, an earlier inclusion of suppliers ensures that technological pitfalls are dealt with promptly to enhance the success of new products. Additionally, the authors establish that including suppliers in the process at the earliest stages speeds up the process of product development.
The authors have used tested and scientific models and parameters to support their claim on the need to integrate suppliers in new product development. The authors particularly use theoretical frameworks to show how buyer-seller relationships can be improved. One of the theories that have been used in the case is the relational theory. According to these authors, the theory proposes that firms need to find what resource and knowledge investments will to make sure that both players develop joint value in terms of relational rents (Petersen et al. 2003). The authors also use organizational design theory, which establishes that companies can place resource-based alarms before organizational economics when choosing whether or not to involve suppliers in its operations. Finally, the authors propose the network governance model where firms create new products based on implicit and open-ended and implicit contracts that allow for adaptation to environmental contingencies, which protect exchanges.
Reviewing related articles
The topic of supplier integration in new product development has attracted several authors keen on expanding it into meaningful scopes. Kanapathy et al and Rosell are such authors. Their articles are “New Product Development in an Emerging Economy: Analyzing the Role of Supplier Involvement Practices by Using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique and Integrating supplier knowledge in new product development projects: decoupled and coupled approaches” respectively. These articles mirror what Petersen and others attest to in relation with supplier integration in new product development. The articles establish that the topic on supplier integration is yet to get root in other countries apart from China in spite of being such a significant option. The writers establish that firms that use the supplier integration model are more likely to reap big when they develop new products (Rosell, 2017; Kanapathy, et. al., 2014). The authors also offer new insights and models such as the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo Technique, decoupled, and coupled approaches. Overall, the three articles successfully call upon organizations to rethink on their strategies by adopting supplier integration models in new product development processes.
References
Kanapathy, K. et al. (2014). New Product development in an emerging economy: Analyzing the role of supplier involvement practices by using Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo technique: Journal of Applied Mathematics, 2014 (2014), 1-12.
Petersen, K. J. et al. (2003). A Model of Supplier Integration into New Product Development. The Journal of Product Innovation Management, 2003 (20), 284-299.
Rosell, D.T. et al. (2017). Integrating supplier knowledge in new product development projects: decoupled and coupled approaches. Journal of Knowledge Management , 21 (5), 1035-1052.
