Perspectives on Supplier Innovation: Theories, Concepts and Empirical Insights on Open Innovation and the Integration of Suppliers

Hardly, anybody outside a company knows its products and processes better than its suppliers. Research confirms that intensive integration of Suppliers in the value creation process positively influences the success of the company, particularly in highly competitive industries. This is a result of the progressing reduction in the depth of value creation of manufacturers arid the increasing transfer of know-how towards suppliers. In multilevel business-to-business relationships, suppliers ofte…