Enhancing new product development performance from adaptive ability and relationship learning: the mediation role of resource integration

This study develops an original framework of internal and external capabilities to explore the positive effect of adaptive ability (internal capability) and relationship learning (external capability) on new product development (NPD) performance through the partial mediator: resource integration. The study employed questionnaire survey and collected data from 167 Taiwanese manufacturing companies. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling are applied to verify the hypotheses. This study asserts that companies should invest in both internal and external capabilities. This study classifies Taiwanese manufacturing companies into three groups–highly, medially, and lowly capable companies. The results show that resource integration of highly capable companies is maximum, that of medially capable companies is intermediate, while that of lowly capable companies is minimum. This study combines the concepts of internal and external capabilities to develop an integral conceptual model of NPD performance to explore its managerial implications.