Utilizing new product development ( NPD) teams to accomplish complex
tasks in firms has been an emergent issue in many industries throughout
the last couple of decades. Despite numerous studies, formation and
efficient management of NPD teams is still a developing research domain.
Using the knowledge-based view of the firm and social network theories
complementarily, this paper contributes to literature by examining the
intrafirm social relational structures of NPD teams. Focusing
specifically on the network centrality of the NPD teams, this paper
argues that network centrality types of closeness, betweenness, and
degree centralities influence the quality and richness characteristics
of knowledge received through task advice seeking. Subsequently, the
knowledge gained with these characteristics enhances product
innovativeness and new product success. Consequently, the second
contribution of this paper is to conceptualize the effect of the task
advice-seeking activities of NPD teams on NPD outcomes. The paper
concludes with a discussion of the empirical testing of the proposed
model, including suggestions for focal construct operationalizations as
well as other future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]