Governance mechanisms in triads: the role of an intermediary actor in new product development
International Journal of Development Research
Governance mechanisms in triads: the role of an intermediary actor in new product development
Received 02nd November, 2021; Received in revised form 18th December, 2021; Accepted 11th January, 2022; Published online 20th February, 2022
Copyright © 2022, Elieti Biques Fernandes et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the governance mechanisms adopted by an intermediary company to successfully manage new product development (NPD) in a triadic relationshipformed by two Brazilian companies and a Chinese one. Qualitative research was conducted through a particular case study in the context of the offshore petroleum industry. The analysis was developed during and after data collection, using content analysis (Bardin, 2000) with a priori categorization adapted from Ateş, Van den Ende and Ianniello (2015). This paper contributes to the theory by pointing out the intermediary’s ability to understand partners’ characteristics and requirements to develop the relationship. The results highlight the importance of informal governance mechanisms in informational exchange throughout the process – commencement, maintenance, and even future inter-organizational relationships (IORs).
