Critical Episodes in a Long Term Relationship of a Food Manufacturer and its Packaging Technology Partner in the Early Stages of a New Product Development Project (RIKON Group)
Critical Episodes in a Long Term Relationship of a Food Manufacturer and its Packaging Technology Partner in the Early Stages of a New Product Development Project (RIKON Group)
Lynch, Patrick and O'Toole, Thomas (2007) Critical Episodes in a Long Term Relationship of a Food Manufacturer and its Packaging Technology Partner in the Early Stages of a New Product Development Project (RIKON Group). In: 22nd Annual International Marketing and Purchasing conference, Manchester.
This paper deals with collaborative user involvement in the early stages of the new product development (NPD) process. The purpose of this paper is to describe the critical interaction episodes that occurred in a long-term relationship between a food manufacturer and its packaging technology partner in the development of a plastic film during the early stages of the NPD process. Utilizing an interpretative case study approach, the empirical evidence is based upon interviews, reflective practices, observation and documents. The paper will detail eight interaction episodes written in narrative and should provide valuable insight into the dynamics that occurs in close collaborative relationships. The findings showed that the cooperative interaction between the two companies went through alternating cycles of divergence and convergence to maintain and re-negotiate an already established belief structure of expected and accepted behaviour.