دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی مدیریت بحران در توسعه محصول جدید - الزویر 2018

ABSTRACT

This research examines how firms manage crises in new product development (NPD), and suggests that a high level of perceived crisis can result in better new product performance. In addition, the role of team communication is underlined in the relationship between perceived crisis and new product performance. Team communication is categorized into two types: formal vs. informal, each playing a distinct role in crisis management. More importantly, this study argues that there exist dual routes in the crisis-performance relationship: mediation and moderation. A survey study is implemented for hypothesis testing, and data is collected from 119 NPD teams in high-tech industries. Results show that formal communication partially mediates the relationship between perceived crisis and new product performance, and that there is also a direct effect of perceived crisis on performance. Meanwhile, formal communication negatively moderates the direct effect of perceived crisis on new product performance, while informal communication positively moderates this effect. The co-existence of mediation and moderation results in a managerial dilemma regarding formal communication: it positively mediates but negatively moderates the crisis-performance link. Findings suggest that informal communication can play a complementary role in offsetting the negative influence of formal communication.

Discussion

This research investigates crisis management in NPD and how team communication bridges the link between perceived crisis and new product performance. Two types of team communication, namely formal and informal, are distinguished. It is suggested that they are both mediators and moderators in the crisis-performance relationship. With empirical testing in high-tech industries, findings indicate that crisis perception positively influences new product performance directly and indirectly (via formal communication). Moreover, formal communication negatively, but informal communication positively, moderates the relationship between crisis perception and new product performance. While a positive mediating effect of informal communication is hypothesized, the result is insignificant. This is may be because informal communication at times can generate unnecessary rumors, and rumors do not facilitate reduction in anxiety among team members. When rumors start to spread, the negative effect may offset the facilitating effect of informal communication. This may be an alternative explanation for the insignificant mediating effect of informal communication.