performance impact of new product development processes for distinct scenarios under different supplier–manufacturer relationships

although supplier involvement in new product development (npd) projects has become increasingly important for strengthening a firm's competitive position, few studies have investigated the impact of changing research and development (r&d) workloads in npd. according to the level of design-related characteristics including design-related communication and design-related nature, we identify four types of supplier–manufacturer relationships: sequential mode, passive supplier involvement, active supplier involvement, and strategic development. differing from qualitative and survey-oriented research, this study proposes a system dynamics model for the quantitative exploration of workload impacts on r&d-system equilibrium under different supplier–manufacturer relationships. we justify experimentally the npd performances of these supplier–manufacturer relationship configurations under workload impacts and provide managerial insights.