| dc.description.abstract | Firms increasingly face the challenge of diverse technology and knowledge per product (Pavitt, 1999), and an increase in competitive pressure incites them to place greater emphasis on R&D, technological innovation and new products (Cooper, 1982), that is due to deregulation and rapid technological change and diffusion (D’Aveni, 1994). Firms eventually need to look to external sources for inputs to this process (Bessant & Rush, 1995). One specific type of external sources that received extensive attention within the literature is intermediaries. Studies denote sufficient attention has been paid to the intermediaries’ function (Howells, 2006; Mahnke et al., 2008), however insufficient attention has been paid to the question when, and how intermediaries add value to the process of product development (Lichtenthaler & Ernst, 2008; Mahnke et al., 2008; Tran et al., 2011). The value-adding function of the intermediary is in this research advocated to be seen as an input to the process of building up dynamic capabilities. The role of intermediaries has been explored in the context of service innovation, but particularly in relation to the growth of Knowledge Intensive Business Services (KIBS) (Howells, 2006; e.g. Miles et al., 1995). This research investigates what aspects are determinative for the choice of using KIBS, in what way they influence the property of KIBS use and what aspects can be used to measure the efficient and effective use of KIBS. In addition, the effect of KIBS on New Product Development (NPD) aspects should point out whether using KIBS contributes to the NPD performance. For this, the statistical program SPSS is used. Results substantiate the theory that synergy and complexity are important aspects for the choice of using KIBS. In addition, results point to the possibility that the motive for using KIBS is important regarding the properties of KIBS use and lastly, both growth in synergy and NPD performance can be used as measures of effective and efficient use of KIBS. | |
