R&D collaboration in the supply chain: involving customers and suppliers in green product development

Other conference contribution, 2018

The aim of the paper is to illustrate how collaboration in the supply chain enables green product development. A single case study is conducted at a world leading industrial tool manufacturer. The project under study is the development of a product that is new to the firm, a new application, that involves a world leading automotive manufacturing customer as well as two specialized suppliers. The study points to the importance of managing knowledge sharing with external partners as well as within the focal firm. In addition, relationships with external partners are managed differently depending on their scope of contribution in the product development project.