Abstract
Robust design has been a topic of great interest in research and applications. However, the great majority of studies have focused on technology and methodology aspects. Only few have studied the business and management aspects. This research explored a robust mechanism for improving inter-organization collaboration. Through the study of collaborative product development projects of Taiwan information and communication technology (ICT) industries, the research examined the characteristics and problems of inter-organization collaboration relationships and the associated interactions of participating organizations in the development process among project team members. The research then extended the concepts of robust design to include the key driving factors for enhancing inter-organization collaboration performance to form a conceptual model for robust inter-organization collaborative product development. This model was highlighted in the case study to show how the robust concept can be extended in the inter-organization collaborative team for cultivating good partnership by understanding partners’ design preferences.