How do Innovation Intermediaries add Value? Insight from New Product Development in Fashion Markets

Innovation intermediaries are increasingly being used in practice, but there is little concrete theoretical guidance on when and how they add value to client's new product development (NPD) processes. This paper develops propositions on innovation intermediaries value-added based on a detailed case study of an innovation intermediary's relations to three major clients in the European apparel fashion industry. We identify key contingencies to an innovation intermediary's value added (e.g. NDP speed and complexity of involvement). We also suggest a framework that specifies when a combination of four types of specific intermediary capabilities (best-cost capabilities, timing-capabilities, market-response capabilities, and product solution capabilities) increases value added in clients' NDP processes.