Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs Virtual Team

African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4, No. 11, pp. 2247-2257, September 4, 2010

11 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2010

See all articles by Nader Ale Ebrahim

Nader Ale Ebrahim

Research and Technology Department, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran, Iran, Postcode: 19938 93973; Centre for Research Services, Institute of Management and Research Services (IPPP), University of Malaya (UM); University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture

Shamsuddin Ahmed

University of Malaya (UM)

Zahari Taha

University of Malaya (UM)

Date Written: September 4, 2010

Abstract

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of data from the survey. The results were achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms (N = 191). The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines, which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD.

Keywords: Survey findings, new product development, factor analysis, virtual team

JEL Classification: M11, M2, N6, O1, O31, O32, O4, Z

Suggested Citation

Ale Ebrahim, Nader and Ahmed, Shamsuddin and Taha, Zahari, Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs Virtual Team (September 4, 2010). African Journal of Business Management, Vol. 4, No. 11, pp. 2247-2257, September 4, 2010, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1688931

Nader Ale Ebrahim (Contact Author)

Research and Technology Department, Alzahra University, Vanak, Tehran, Iran, Postcode: 19938 93973 ( email )

Iran

Centre for Research Services, Institute of Management and Research Services (IPPP), University of Malaya (UM) ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)
Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
Malaysia

HOME PAGE: http://https://umresearch.um.edu.my/

University of Malaya (UM) - Department of Engineering Design and Manufacture ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

Shamsuddin Ahmed

University of Malaya (UM) ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)
Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

Zahari Taha

University of Malaya (UM) ( email )

Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan 50603
University of Malaya (UM)
Kuala Lumpur, 50603
Malaysia

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