Antecedents and outcomes of supplier innovativeness in international customer-supplier relationships: the role of knowledge distance

Jean, R.-J. B., Sinkovics, R. R. and Kim, D. (2017) Antecedents and outcomes of supplier innovativeness in international customer-supplier relationships: the role of knowledge distance. Management International Review, 57(1), pp. 121-151. (doi: 10.1007/s11575-016-0291-x)

Abstract

The increasing competitive pressures and speed of R&D and product innovation is prompting many multinational enterprise customers to outsource their core activities to suppliers. Despite organizational challenges due to cultural and physical separation from their partners, these are now charged with supplier-driven innovation. This study looks at key drivers of supplier innovativeness, examines the role of cross-national differences in shaping supplier innovativeness and examines the impact of this dimension on relationship performance in international customer–supplier relationships. Our findings from a large-scale survey of Taiwanese electronics suppliers provide evidence of the contribution of antecedents such as customer orientation, customer control and technological uncertainty to the enhancement of supplier innovativeness. Innovativeness contributes to increased customer dependence and improves relationship performance. Differences in knowledge bases stemming from different institutions are also tested in this study; we find that knowledge distance may be detrimental to the innovativeness-performance link in international exchange relationships.

• Item Type: Articles
• Keywords: Supplier innovativeness, dependence, customer orientation, knowledge distance, relationship performance.
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sinkovics, Professor Rudolf
• Authors: Jean, R.-J. B., Sinkovics, R. R., and Kim, D.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Management International Review
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0938-8249
• ISSN (Online): 1861-8901
• Published Online: 06 July 2016