Facilitating collaboration in the new product development process of science-based SMEs: a communities of practice perspective

New product development innovation rarely, if ever, occurs through the ideas and actions of isolated individuals. It invariably requires collaboration between people with a range of skills, knowledge, contacts and experience. Initiating and developing collaboration can be challenging for SMEs, not least science-based ones, who are often unreceptive to knowledge sharing because of lack of trust, internal conflicts, motivation issues, limited resources and the absence of sharing mechanisms. We contend that communities of practice are a vehicle for networking and collaboration. Our findings contradict suggestions in the extant literature that lack of trust inhibits knowledge sharing and collaboration in SMEs. Indeed, our findings demonstrate that regular mutual engagement and the sharing of expertise internally with colleagues and externally with customers and suppliers, led to the emergence of a variety of trust-based communities of practice in the science-based SMEs, improving their ability to acquire new knowledge that influenced innovation and new product development.