New product development quality has been found to be a key determinant of the market success and profitability of a new product because of its contribution to superior customer value, the cornerstone of a firm¡¦s competitive advantage in the marketplace. Therefore, enterprises are increasingly utilizing new product development teams for new product development. Previous studies have suggested that the diverse backgrounds of cross-functional team members can increase the amount and variety of information available to design products, thereby improving design process efficiency and product development performance. However, researchers still know very little about how such teams can improve new product quality. Thus, our first research question was; what are the relationships between team characteristics and organization contextual factors and new product quality? In addition, as nationality has been shown to influence individual¡¦s cognitive schema, values, and nonverbal behavior, all of which influence behavior in teams, new product development teams pose a particular type of challenge in different countries. Team-based work designs have been easier to implement in countries with collectivist as opposed to individualist cultures. To address that issue, this study will examine the differences of how team characteristics and contextual influences affect new product quality in collectivist and individualist cultures. Thus, our second research question was; do team characteristics and organization contextual factors affect new product quality differently in collectivist cultures and individualist cultures? Because this was a cross-national research, samples were taken from two countries, one in Taiwan and the other in the U.S.A. We received 184 completed questionnaires from Taiwanese teams, and 176 completed questionnaires from American teams. In order to make sure that the instrument used in this study could measure what it was intended to measure, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the validity of the measurement models of both dependent variables and independent variables. We then used hierarchical moderated regression analysis to test the contingency hypotheses. Research results reveal two different outcomes of hypotheses testing. For Taiwanese teams, new product quality is positively affected by the capability of information integration in the team and quality orientation in the firm, but is negatively influenced by speed-to-market pressure and product innovativeness in the firm. Functional and tenure diversity have a moderate no effect on new product quality. The capability of information integration in a team can also reduce the negative effect of speed-to-market pressure on new product quality. In contrast, for American teams, new product quality is positively affected by functional diversity and the capability of information integration in the team and quality orientation in the firm, but is moderately negatively influenced by supplier involvement in the firm. Customer involvement in a firm can increase the positive effect of the capability of information integration on new product quality. In conclusion, the present study contributes to the literature on new product development teams in several ways. First, it extends research on new product development teams across collectivist and individualist cultures and identifies boundary conditions for theories of new product development teams. Second, this study is the first to empirically examine how team characteristics and organization contextual factors affect new product quality across cultures. Third, it provides a thorough and integrative review of the literature from diverse disciplines such as new product development, organizational behavior, and management and innovation as a means of establishing links among team characteristics, organization contextual factors, and new product quality. Finally, the model we have provided will assist managers in identifying the team characteristics and organization contextual factors needed to assist new product development teams in collectivist and individualist cultures to develop high-quality products. Since these factors can be directly manipulated by managers, they can create the effective conditions, specific to the industry characteristics they are engaged in, for new product development teams to develop high-quality products.

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