This study aims to develop an integrative framework for green new product development (NPD) based on the existing literature and to empirically study the applicability of that integrative framework. This study answers three calls: for research that is rooted in a traditional NPD perspective, for research that integrates marketing aspects in a model of green NPD, and for research that acknowledges variations in greenness. The results from eight case studies in two industries (i.e., the chemical and food industries) substantiate the integrative framework and suggest that it provides a good basis for understanding green NPD. The study demonstrates that green NPD is not fundamentally different from traditional NPD but does contain features and underlying mechanisms that reflect the increased complexity of green NPD. The framework incorporates the targeting and positioning of green product innovations, thus establishing itself as a holistic framework. Most importantly, the study shows how greenness plays a pivotal role in tying the various elements of the framework together. The realized greenness of a new product is a central concept that helps managers understand complex relationships among industry type, green targeting, and green positioning.Index Terms-Case studies, chemical industry, design for the environment, food industry, new product development (NPD), product innovations, sustainability.

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An important challenge facing firms and governments is the realization of sustainable development objectives. Sustainable technology, as an effective means to achieve sustainable development, has recently gained much interest from both society and academia. Prior research has investigated the effects of several factors on the adoption of sustainable technologies and provides a basic understanding of firms' sustainable technology adoption behaviours. However, the results of this research are scattered across different disciplines, making that knowledge on sustainable technology adoption fragmented. In this systematic literature review, Elsevier and Web of Science were used as databases to search articles in the field of sustainable process technology adoption. Based on criteria, i.e., document type, languages, definition of adoption and sustainable technology and analysis level, 34 out of 964 articles were selected in the review. A qualitative synthesis method was chosen because the aim of this study is to understand and explain the effect of a specific factor as well as to explain the often-contradictory evidence in different contexts, focusing on not only the convergence but also the divergence in prior studies. Based on the typology from United Nations Environmental Program of sustainable technologies, a classification of sustainable process technologies is provided: CO 2 /emission reduction, material/fuel substitution, energy/material efficiency and recycling technologies. Environmental regulations and firm characteristics are most widely studied factors influencing sustainable process technology adoption. Coercive pressure, market pressure, technology capability, internal support, adoption experience, certified systems, and cooperation are important for sustainable process technology adoption. Firm characteristics (e.g. firm size, ownership) and technology types (e.g. end-of-pipe technology vs. cleaner technology) are

This study investigates the effects of the use of social media in inbound open innovation on capabilities for absorptive capacity of companies. Seven explorative case studies were conducted in an R&D and business context of two large global high-tech companies. The results suggest that if the necessary conditions are met, social media usage increases the transparent, moderational and multi-directional interactions that in turn influence four capabilities for absorptive capacity: connectedness, socialization tactics, cross-functionality and receptivity, a hitherto overlooked capability. Hence, we observe that social media are boundary-spanning tools that can be used to build and increase companies' absorptive capacity.

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This study seeks to explain the differential effects of workforce flexibility on incremental and major new product development (NPD). Drawing on the resource-based theory of the firm, human resource management research, and innovation management literature, the authors distinguish two types of workforce flexibility, functional and numerical, and hypothesize differential effects on NPD outcomes. A large-scale sample of 284 Dutch firms across various manufacturing goods and business services industries serves to test these hypotheses. The results suggest that functional flexibility positively influences incremental NPD only, internal numerical flexibility negatively influences incremental NPD only, and external numerical flexibility positively influences major NPD only. Thus, differences between major and incremental NPD are grounded in the human resource flexibility of the firm. This complements research that found that such differences lie in critical development activities, learning processes, and capabilities. It also complements product innovation research on flexibility in NPD processes and on flexibility in organizational structures and routines. It extends the resource-based theory of the firm suggesting that human resource flexibility is part of the dynamic capabilities that allow firms to reconfigure existing competencies. The conclusions imply that managers of manufacturing and service firms may use training and education and create a functional flexible workforce that can progressively enhance incremental NPD outcomes. They may want to avoid paying overtime, because such internal numerical flexibility hampers incremental NPD, but use fixed-term contracts to expand external numerical flexibility to enhance major NPD. data set, created by M.A.M. de Voogd over the data collection period of April 2005-May 2006. We are grateful to Lucinde Klop for her great contribution to the precursor to this research. We thank Erik Poutsma, Bas Hillebrand, Hans Lekkerkerk, and the researchers of the Institute for Technology and Management (Technical University Berlin) for their valuable comments on a previous version of this paper. J PROD INNOV MANAG 2014;31(S1):30-42