Integrating supplier innovation in the fuzzy front end: based on an analysis of the task environment
Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing
ISSN: 0885-8624
Article publication date: 27 January 2022
Issue publication date: 21 November 2022
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating supplier innovation is considered an effective strategy to reduce uncertainty at the fuzzy front end (FFE). However, the large number of supplier innovation resources and the task environment forces buying firms to precisely identify more valuable or interesting innovation resources for integration. The impact of the interaction between supplier innovation and task environment on FFE performance needs to be further explored. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a contingency framework to examine the relationship between supplier innovation (technology-push and market-pull) and buying firm’s FFE performance in different task environments, with the aim of clarifying which supplier innovation resources should be integrated to create high FFE performance in the face of an uncertain task environment.
Design/methodology/approach
Survey data from new product development team leaders in Chinese high-tech firms were collected and analyzed. Furthermore, using multiple regression analysis, the relationship among supplier innovation, task environment and FFE performance was examined.
Findings
The results show that although both technology-push and market-pull supplier innovation can improve FFE performance, there are significant differences between the influences of these two types of supplier innovation in the face of different task environments.
Practical implications
Practical guidelines are provided for buyer managers on how to effectively identify the “best” supplier innovation resources to improving the effectiveness and efficiency of supplier involvement in the FFE.
Originality/value
This paper deepens the knowledge of identifying supplier innovation resources in the FFE and enriches the research on supplier-enable FFE innovation.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This study is supported by the Social Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province (2018S31).The authors thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.
Citation
Li, N. and Pei, X. (2022), "Integrating supplier innovation in the fuzzy front end: based on an analysis of the task environment", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Vol. 37 No. 12, pp. 2417-2431. https://doi.org/10.1108/JBIM-08-2020-0387
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited