How specific investments influence NPD performance : exploring the roles of supplier involvement and IT implementation

Purpose: The impact of specific investments to performance has mixed arguments. This paper aims to clarify how and under what conditions specific investments made by manufacturer tailored to supplier affect the new product development (NPD) performance of the manufacturer itself. Design/methodology/approach: This study develops a moderated mediation model, testing the roles of supplier involvement and information technology (IT) implementation by regression and bootstrap analyses from 378 NPD projects. Findings: The results show both physical and human specific investments positively affect NPD performance. IT implementation strengthens the mediated role of supplier involvement, i.e. the mediator role of supplier involvement between specific investments and NPD performance link is significantly weaker while IT implementation is lower. Originality/value: The findings contribute to identify IT implementation and supplier involvement as two important constructs, together demonstrating how and when specific investments affect NPD performance.