**13. Research design**

An exploratory and descriptive method technique was adopted. The empirical research aimed to determine:


The chapter's objectives were achieved; by designing a structured questionnaire that consisted of two sections. Section 1 included the profile of the company concerning positions and qualifications. Section 2 required the respondents to indicate to what extent they collaborated with external partners in adopting open innovation strategies during NPD, identified using a five-point Likert scale for each of these constructs. The constructs measured organisational support for innovation projects, collaboration with external partners and the use of external knowledge. The impact of the strategies was measured using a five-point Likert scale varying from 1 (impact to a lesser extent) to 5 (impact to a greater extent). Section 2 of the questionnaire required respondents to rate their agreement, from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree, that there were benefits from each of the four strategies, namely versatility, inventiveness, commercialisation and collaboration under study. A statistician checked the questionnaire prior to conducting the empirical research to ensure that the formulation of the questions was clear and understandable to the respondents.

## **14. Sampling**

The unit of analysis for the study was senior R and D practitioners within the South African automotive component manufacturers who are member companies of the AIDC, an association that represents the South African automotive industry. As the association represents the entire automotive industry in South Africa, it was decided to incorporate members of this association. Four ACMs from the three central automotive manufacturing provinces were included giving a fair geographical spread a total of 33 questionnaires were sent out to the research and development managers representing the ACMs—a census sample.
