Information sharing in a new product development project : the role of core actors

The success of NPD projects of high-cost, engineering-intensive, and customized development products is largely dependent on information sharing with actors from customers regarding their specific requirements (Von Hippel, 1986). But information sharing is also necessary among actors from different departments within the organisation (Song and Swink, 2009) regarding such topics as available technical options. Project managers (PMs) are at the heart of this process and plays an essential role in orchestrating the information sharing among various intra-organisational actors (e.g. among actors within the NPD organisation) and inter-organisational actors (across organisational borders, among actors for example from a department within the NPD organisation and a supplier) (Clark and Fujimoto, 1991). Consequently, the PM ensures that varied expertise and critical information are integrated in a timely fashion into the development process (Edmondson and Nembhard, 2009). However, prior research has not simultaneously studied and addressed the differences in intra- and interorganisational information sharing during the various phases of the NPD project (Kivimaki and Lansisalmi, 2000). ...