Authors: Hannu Makkonen; Mervi Vuori; Rhona E. Johnsen; Thomas E. Johnsen
ESI research has demonstrated various performance benefits from involving key suppliers earlier and closely in NPD projects. Yet, extant research stresses the ex-ante evaluation of suppliers and takes predominantly the buyer view. The focal study adopts the industrial network approach in defining ESI in terms of inter-organizational interaction between buyer and supplier catalyzed by ESI capabilities. Our in-depth, dyadic case study finds that ESI was a major departure from the supplier’s extant contract manufacturing role evident through the misalignment that existed between supplier’s extant culture, management and technical systems and the customer requirements for ESI partner. The capability gaps became evident to the buyer as the project was on-going, suggesting that ex-ante capability evaluation only gives a partial picture of supplier capabilities needed for ESI. The study highlights the dyadic and interactive nature of ESI whereby supplier capabilities, their development and related evaluation is inherent to the two-way interaction process between the buyer and the supplier.
Journal: ( – )
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Publish Year: 2018
Conference: Marseille, France (2018)