دانلود رایگان مقاله تجزیه و تحلیل به اشتراک گذاری ریسک در پروژه های تحقیق و توسعه استراتژیک و پروژه های جدید توسعه محصول

Abstract

While prior research regarding strategic projects recognizes the tension inherent in interfirm relationships, less is understood of the impact of risk sharing in the design of the contracts guiding those relationships. This investigation illuminates important performance elements of projects as they differ in the amount of contractual risk that is shared among firms. Through a multivariate analysis of 240 United States defense department R&D and new product development contracts, we found that defense contracts with partner risk sharing built in involve more change and growth than their concentrated risk counterparts. Our results suggest that projects, when managed through interfirm contracts, are more likely to involve strategic change when risk is shared than when either the buyer or seller assumes full design, technical, and/or financial risk. The results further suggest that projects containing shared buyer and seller risk enhance the prospects of joint gain through the generation of opportunities for learning. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. APM and IPMA. All rights reserved.

5. Discussion

Firms have long engaged in the practice of forming temporary solutions to problems posed by environmental turbulence, using projects, temporary workers, and creating organizations and networks of finite duration. This phenomenon suggests that projects are transient in nature but misses an important strategic transition wherein they provide opportunities for firm learning and growth that morph into more permanent organizational structures. Our findings demonstrate that the type of contract utilized in project management reflective of the risk sharing profiles of 100% buyer risk, 100% seller risk, or shared risk is a significant predictor of contract length, engineering changes, and schedule and cost growth and that these dependent variables are all higher at the shared contract level. Contracts that are established with pooled risk demonstrate a higher level of comprehensiveness in order to mitigate the threats of opportunism and are reflective of relationships that involve a higher level of changes and growth, which can lead to enhanced learning opportunities and new ideas.