Differential effects of the primary forms of cross functional integration on product development cycle time

In markets characterized by high rates of technological and market change p roduct life cycles tend to be shorter, resulting in the increased importanc e of competing on the basis of product development cycle time. For firms op erating in these dynamic market environments, competing on the basis of cyc le time may not only be a source of competitive advantage, but in some indu stries may actually be essential for survival. In this investigation the relative importance of five forms of cross functi onal integration and R&D integration of information or knowledge from past projects were explored in terms of their effects on product development cyc le rime. The five forms of cross functional integration included R&D/market ing integration R&D/customer integration, R&D/manufacturing integration, R& D/supplier integration, and strategic partnerships. A sample of 65 U.S. and Scandinavian high technology firms (or strategic business units) were stud ied. The sample included firms from the computer, telecommunications, instr uments, specialty chemicals, biotechnology, and software industries. The results demonstrated that R&D integration of knowledge from past projec ts explained the largest degree of variation in product development cycle t ime. R&D/marketing integration and R&D/customer integration explained the n ext largest degree of variation in cycle time reduction. Cross cultural gen eralizability tests demonstrated that the results were generalizable across the U.S. and Scandinavian samples of firms. In addition, the results were found to be generalizable across industry or product category for five of t he six forms of integration. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc.