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Introduction
In today's global and dynamic competitive environment, product innovation is becoming more and more relevant, mainly as a result of three major trends: intense international competition, fragmented and demanding markets, and diverse and rapidly changing technologies ([59] Wheelwright and Clark, 1992). Firms that offer products that are adapted to the needs and wants of target customers and that market them faster and more efficiently than their competitors are in a better position to create a sustainable competitive advantage ([46] Prahalad and Hamel, 1990; [1] Amit and Schoemaker, 1993; [41] Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995; [10] Calantone et al. , 1995). Competitive advantage is increasingly derived from knowledge and technological skills and experience in the creation of new products ([54] Teece et al. , 1997; [55] Tidd et al. , 1997).
Within this context, special attention needs to be paid to the measurement of innovation performance. Both researchers and practitioners require a good measurement instrument for this concept ([39] Montoya-Weiss and Calantone, 1994). In management research, general firm performance has traditionally been the dependent variable of empirical studies. However, innovation performance may be considered as an intermediate variable between certain business processes and general firm performance, thus allowing a better picture of actions and effects within the firm to be obtained. Furthermore, it is of note that previous research has shown a positive link between innovation performance and firm performance ([61] Zahra and Das, 1993; [11] Capon et al. , 1990; [52] Souder and Sherman, 1994; [10] Calantone et al. , 1995). As a result, many studies already consider innovation performance as the final dependent variable on a firm-level basis ([6] Atuanaheme-Gima, 1995; [60] Yeoh and Roth, 1999; [17] DeCarolis and Deeds, 1999; [62] Zhan and Doll, 2001). On the other hand, practitioners also need instruments to assess innovation management and innovation outcomes.
With this research, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the concept of product innovation performance. Our basic research objective is to provide a measurement scale for product innovation performance and to test its psychometric properties. Data were obtained from a survey carried out in the biotechnology industry.
The paper is structured as follows. The following section sets out a theoretical review of innovation performance supporting the development of a measurement...