Title: New product development, R&D and culture: results from a multiple case study of German and Chinese innovation processes

Authors: Alexander Brem; Tamara Kürzdörfer

Addresses: University of Southern Denmark, Alsion 2, 6400 Sonderborg, Denmark ' University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Lange Gasse 20, 90403 Nürnberg, Germany

Abstract: Recent developments in the global economy indicate that new product development (NPD) activities are not limited to any single country; rather, they have spread across nations and cultures. This study aims to increase the understanding of NPD through an intercultural analysis by comparing innovation processes in Germany and China. Our study relates NPD and Hofstede's cultural dimensions by identifying culture-based patterns of similarities and differences between German and Chinese practices related to strategic, organisational, and operational factors. The research subjects are five international companies with research and development sites of the same business section in Germany and China. The findings reveal both culture-dependent and culture-independent factors. Most of the strategic and organisational factors in the two countries are relatively similar because of site-spanning corporate cultures, but there are differences between the countries with regard to idea generation and management.

Keywords: R&D; innovation processes; new product development; NPD; culture; Germany; China; research and development; Hofstede; cultural dimensions; corporate culture; organisational culture; strategic factors; organisational factors; operational factors; idea generation; idea management.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPD.2016.078862

International Journal of Product Development, 2016 Vol.21 No.2/3, pp.144 - 174

Accepted: 01 Apr 2016
Published online: 03 Sep 2016 *

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