New product development, cooperation and specialization in the Canadian telecommunications industry

This thesis is an empirical study of the relationship between inter-firm cooperation, the degree of cooperation among firms; intra-firm functional specialization, the degree of specialization within functional areas of the firm; and new product development success in the Canadian telecommunications industry as moderated by firm size. A theoretical model was developed to generate hypotheses which were tested using correlation analysis and comparisons of means of data gathered in a nation-wide mail survey of new product development projects. Based on the responses of fifty-one survey respondents the research validates the theoretical model and concludes that financial success of new product development projects is correlated to intra-firm functional specialization. Small and large firms were not differentiable by perceived success, technical success or financial success and the degree of intra-firm specialization did not vary significantly with firm size.