Supplier collaboration and speed-to-market of new products: the mediating and moderating effects

In a turbulent market economy, the role of suppliers in manufacturer’s new product development has received great attention from both practitioners and researchers. Substantial empirical evidence on the contribution of suppliers in addressing challenges in terms of shorter product life, more immediate response, and faster information flows has been presented. This study aims to investigate which of the supplier collaboration (SC) practices are directly or indirectly related to the speed-to-market (STM) of new products across different firm sizes. The results confirm the direct and positive effect of information sharing on STM. Furthermore, information sharing may partially mediate the effect of strategic purchasing on STM, and completely mediate the effect of supplier involvement on STM. It is also shown that firm size significantly affects the relationship between strategic purchasing and information sharing and that between information sharing and STM. The implications on improving STM via SC for future research and managerial practices are also discussed.