The study draws on surveys conducted with Dutch entrepreneurs in high-tech sectors to research the involvement of their innovative B2B customers in their product development processes. Does the involvement of such customers lead to new products addressing more innovative entrepreneurial opportunities and, if so, under what conditions?
The answer to the first question is yes, but we show that the relationship between the involvement of innovative B2B customers and the innovativeness of new products depends on (1) the duration of the relationship with the customer, (2) the market position of the customer, and (3) the producer firm’s R&D investments. Entrepreneurs aiming to collaborate with customers to innovate more radical new opportunities should focus on customers in niche market positions, make significant investments in their R&D capacity (i.e., they cannot outsource innovation to their customers), and be warned that the new knowledge derived from their customer will become saturated as the relationship lasts longer.
Read the full paper here.
