Information seeking behavior of R&D professionals in new product development

Author

Guo, Bin ; Li, Haiqiu

Author_Institution

Zhejiang Univ., Hangzhou

fYear

2007

fDate

2-4 Dec. 2007

Firstpage

1980

Lastpage

1984

Abstract

Information seeking behavior plays an essential role in shaping innovation performance in industrial firms. However, little research has been conducted at the individual level to investigate the information seeking behavior of R&D professionals in new product development and potential behavior differences among different professional groups. By using an individual level sample in Chinese technology intensive firms, this paper examines both frequency and width of information source use in new product development, and how task, individual, and information source characteristics would affect information seeking behavior of R&D professionals. The research results shows that task complexity and uncertainty have significant influences on both frequency and width of information source use.

Keywords

industrial plants; information management; product development; research and development; Chinese technology intensive firms; R&D professionals; industrial firms; information seeking behavior; new product development; task complexity; Frequency; Information analysis; Information processing; Information resources; Innovation management; Product development; Research and development; Research and development management; Technological innovation; Uncertainty; Information seeking behavior; R&D professionals; information source use; new product development; technology intensive firm;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, 2007 IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Singapore

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-1529-8

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-1529-8

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IEEM.2007.4419538

Filename

4419538