Strategic Alignment and New Product Development: Drivers and Performance Effects

<jats:p>Strategic alignment is widely accepted as a prerequisite for a firm's success, but insight into the role of alignment in, and its impact on, the new product development (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content>) process and its performance is less well developed. Most publications on this topic either focus on one form of alignment or on one or a limited set of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content> performance indicators. Furthermore, different and occasionally contradictory findings have been reported.</jats:p><jats:p><jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content> scholars have long argued for the importance of fit between context and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content> activities. However, this body of literature suffers from the same weakness: most publications have a limited scope and the findings are not always consistent with results reported previously. This study addresses these deficiencies by examining (1) the effects of various internal and external factors on different forms of alignment, and (2) the effects of these forms of alignment on a set of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content> performance indicators.</jats:p><jats:p>Strategic planning and innovativeness appear to affect technological, market, and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content>‐marketing alignment positively. Environmental munificence is negatively associated with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content>‐marketing alignment, but has no effect on the two other forms of alignment. Technological change has a positive effect on technological alignment, a negative effect on <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content>‐marketing alignment, but no effect on market alignment. These findings suggest that internal capabilities are more likely to be associated with the development of strategic alignment than environmental factors are. Furthermore, technological and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content>‐marketing alignment affect <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">NPD</jats:styled-content> performance positively, while market alignment does not have any significant performance effects.</jats:p>