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Five key issues to involve suppliers in an innovation project

Référence:

Servajean-Hilst, Romaric (2017) "Cinq problématiques clef pour impliquer les fournisseurs dans un projet d’innovation », Entreprendre & Innover 4, no 35, 29‑39.

Abstract:

Early supplier involvement in their client’ innovation projects is the most common form of collaborative innovation. Although it has been studied by management literature since the 1970s and practiced by managers for even longer, it is still a source of questioning. This article reviews the various issues that need to be addressed to make this involvement a success. After briefly presenting the three inspirations of this literature, we use it to detail five key issues: the choice of the moment of the involvement, the selection of the supplier, the definition of the contract, the coordination between companies and the internal management of the cooperation. This study of these key issues allows us to identify some answers to be provided and to highlight the strong interconnection between them, thus the need to treat them all at the same time

Key-words: innovation, supplier, ESI (early supplier involvement), cooperation, Open Innovation, NPD