Table Of ContentCo-innovation Dynamics
Smart Innovation Set
coordinated by
Dimitri Uzunidis
Volume 20
Co-innovation Dynamics
The Management of Client–Supplier
Interactions for Open Innovation
Romaric Servajean-Hilst
First published 2019 in Great Britain and the United States by ISTE Ltd and John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2019931459
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ISBN 978-1-78630-331-8
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Chapter 1. Open Innovation, or Collaborative
Innovation, Between Clients and Suppliers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1. Managing client–supplier interactions in Open Innovation . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.1. Sourcing Open Innovation selecting a
partner and choosing the time of their involvement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.2. Configuring the relationship for the
innovation project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.1.3. Internally managing the supplier’s
involvement in the project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1.1.4. The pivotal role of Purchasing in Open Innovation . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.2. The dynamics of client–supplier cooperation in innovation . . . . . . . 18
1.2.1. The effects of the experiment on the
client–supplier relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
1.2.2. The evolution of inter-firm relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1.2.3. The evolution of the relationship environment over time . . . . . . 27
1.2.4. In conclusion, interpretation is needed for
reading the dynamics of Open Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter 2. Conditions and Impacts of Client–Supplier
Open Innovation Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
2.1. A benchmark: the performance of the relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2.1.1. What is performance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
vi Co-innovation Dynamics
2.1.2. Three levels of performance measured in client–supplier
Open Innovation relationships in France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.2. Governance of the relationship, elements, forms
and influence on performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.1. What elements constitute the governance of
client–supplier Open Innovation and how do they
influence performance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
2.2.2. The governance of Open Innovation: a complex blend . . . . . . . . 48
2.3. The atmosphere of the relationship, elements, forms
and influence on governance and performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.3.1. What are the components of the atmosphere
of an inter-firm relationship, and how are they
related to performance and governance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
2.3.2. The four atmospheres of client–supplier
Open Innovation and their performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
2.3.3. Which atmospheres correspond to which
type of Open Innovation governance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
2.4. The innovation project and its influence on governance . . . . . . . . . 70
2.4.1. Innovation maturation and the evolution of governance . . . . . . . 70
2.4.2. Which type of governances corresponds to
which stages of maturity? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.5. Forms of governance to be favored according to
the atmosphere of the relationship and the maturity
of the innovation project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 3. The Dynamics of Client–supplier Innovation
Interactions – History and Analysis of a Collaboration . . . . . . . . . 79
3.1. The context of the collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.1.1. DELCAR: an automotive equipment division . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
3.1.2. The Innovation Project at the heart of the
relationship: the DELTA project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
3.2. History of a client–supplier innovation collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2.1. Engaging the relationship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
3.2.2. Exploring the possibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
3.2.3. A “false start” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
3.2.4. Exploring a potential collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
3.2.5. Passed gate opening the door to collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
3.2.6. The negotiation of an agreement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
3.2.7. Launch of the DELTA collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
3.2.8. An urgent delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
3.2.9. A line, not so straight, until delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
3.2.10. Attainment of the collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Contents vii
3.3. Feedback on the collaboration – the contribution of the
relational approach to the “life cycle” and “teleological”
approaches to the dynamics of inter-firm cooperation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
3.3.1. A model for reading the dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
3.3.2. The trust–control link in Open Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
3.3.3. Learning and exchanges in real life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
3.3.4. Sources and dynamics of the performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
