How does technological diversity in supplier network drive buyer innovation? Relational process and contingencies

Abstract

External networks provide important knowledge sources of innovation for firms. Drawing on social network theory, this study examines how technological diversity in supplier network influences a focal buyer firm's innovation. The results from a survey of 202 Chinese manufacturing firms and their supplier networks reveal that novel information sharing partially mediates the effect of technological diversity in supplier network on buyer firms' new product creativity. The positive effect of technological diversity is enhanced by buyer-supplier relational strength but inhibited by supplier network density; competitive intensity positively moderates this effect, and technological turbulence negatively moderates it. These findings provide novel insights into how buyer firms can use their supplier networks to enhance product innovation.

Impact of supply base structural complexity on financial performance: Roles of visible and not‐so‐visible characteristics

“…This reflects the difficulty of collecting supply chain structure information and the challenge of operationalizing structural measures (Kim et al, 2011). More importantly, almost all data employed in the few existing empirical investigations are collected solely from the buyer (i.e., Bode and Wagner, 2015; Gao et al, 2015; Choi and Hong, 2002; Kim et al, 2011; Kim, 2014). While Bellamy et al (2014) also use objective third‐party data, the focus and insights of our study are substantially different due to the level of analysis (network vs. supply base).…”

Supplier dependence and R&D intensity: The moderating role of network centrality and interconnectedness

“…Network interconnectedness, characterized by a dense network of redundant ties, represents a firm's ability to gain access to reliable information necessary for innovative activities. As Rowley et al (2000, p. 375) argued, “dense networks assist firms in obtaining a deep understanding of a specific innovation in order to refine and improve it.” In a dense network, firms leverage interconnectedness among their partners to generate deterrence‐based trust and prevent deviant behaviors (Gao et al, 2015). This interconnectedness enables firms to access reliable and redundant information and engage in collaborative interactions (Cannella and McFadyen, 2016).…”

Exploring supplier–supplier innovations within the Toyota supply network: A supply network perspective

“…With this evidence, our study contributes to research into supply network-enabled innovation in three main ways. First, we build on research by Bellamy et al (2014) and Gao et al (2015) that has explored the relationship between supplier degree centrality and firm-level innovations, to determine how supplier degree centrality might affect the co-development of supplier-supplier innovations. The findings reveal that upstream ties and downstream ties are not equally important for creating supplier-supplier innovations across inter-firm boundaries.…”