Fairness from the top: perceived procedural justice and collaborative problem solving in new product development

The literature on new product development has examined several important determinants of collaboration among project members. However, we are not aware of any study that links top management decisions with project members’ collaborative behavior. To address this significant gap, this study examines how perceived procedural justice in top management decisions regarding new products is related to collaborative problem solving among new product development project members. Our results from 109 technology firms – as well as from 91 student-based project groups – suggest that perceived procedural justice in top management decisions is positively related to collaborative problem solving among project members, and that collaborative problem solving mediates the relationship between perceived procedural justice and new product performance. Furthermore, we found that the relationship between perceived procedural justice and collaborative problem solving is positively moderated by environmental uncertainty. Contrary to our expectation, however, our findings show a negative moderating effect of project members’ perceived organizational commitment on the relationship between perceived procedural justice and collaborative problem solving.