Supplier innovation management: Enhancing innovations by supplier evaluation and customer attraction dimensions

Firms increasingly rely on the collaboration with suppliers in their innovation processes, as products, processes, and services become increasingly complex. An increasing number of researchers have emphasized the importance of leveraging supplier capabilities for innovation performance. Although the concept of harnessing supplier innovation is not new, the companies are only scratching the potential of supplier innovations, and companies need more methods to manage supplier innovation. In this paper, we suggest that to manage supplier innovations, two strategies need to be combined and balanced: putting pressure on suppliers and giving support for the suppliers. The paper focuses on one dimension in both of these strategies by giving a clear picture of; (1) the role of customer attraction in supporting supplier innovations and (2) supplier evaluation in putting pressure on suppliers to innovate. The results of the paper indicate that in order to fully capitalize on the suppliers' capabilities, supplier innovations should be managed systematically, including systematic use of attraction and supplier evaluation. The paper presents preliminary results of a multiple case study with four cases, and forms a base for future research.