Silva, FilipeMoreira, Antonio2026-02-192026-02-192021Silva, L.F. and Moreira, A.C. (2021). Alignment in collaborative new product development. Comparing small and large firms. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 24 (2), 167-196. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIR.2021.1128131751-02521751-0260http://hdl.handle.net/10400.2/21390This paper aims at investigating how Alignment is performed by Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and large firms and its impact on Collaborative New Product Development (CNPD). Also, this study considers the influence of innovation on inter-firm alignment. This study was performed through six in-depth interviews. Case studies were used to describe the reality of study. The results show that the greater intensity of alignment stems from the sharing of strategic information between firms involved in the initial phases of CNPD, influenced by the trust and commitment created in the supplier-client relationship when generating radical innovation. Also, results show that the larger intensity of alignment in CNPD is not influenced by firm size, despite being greater in the reality of large firms. This study complements the existing literature on alignment by investigating how firms align upstream according to their size. Likewise, this study contributes to reduce the knowledge gap about the influence of innovation generated in CNPD on the intensity of alignment.engAlignmentCollaborative new product developmentNew product developmentInter-firm alignmentInter-firm collaborationSMEsLarge firmsjournal article2026-01-27cv-prod-235142210.1504/ijbir.2020.10024538