Co-de­vel­op­ment along the value chain and the ad­op­tion of or­gan­iz­a­tion­al in­nov­a­tion

Abstract: 
Little is known about how co-development may drive the adoption of organizational (also known as “management”) innovation. Here, we study the relationship between co-development up and down the value chain and the adoption of organizational innovation. Drawing on the behavioral and attention-based views of the firm, we develop a set of hypotheses which are empirically tested on a sample of 1,232 German manufacturing firms. We find that co-development with domestic customers serves as an antecedent of organizational innovation adoption amongst firms, whereby (1) co-development with foreign customers and (2) exposure to export markets strengthens this link due to complementary effects. We also find that co-development with domestic suppliers is linked to higher levels of organizational innovations, but no complementary effects with international suppliers apply here. Our paper contributes by offering a fresh and nuanced perspective on the antecedents of different forms of organizational innovation by showcasing the importance of co-development with value chain partners.

Short Bio: 
Dr Jill Juergensen is a Lecturer in Business, Sustainability and Society at UCL, Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, Institute of Sustainable Resources where she is Deputy Programme Lead for the MSc Business and Sustainability. Prior to joining UCL, Jill was in the International Business and Strategy Department at Surrey Business School, University of Surrey. Her main research area focuses on innovation, SMEs, sustainability, organisational learning, and international business activities such as exporting and international alliances. Her work has previously been published in journals such as International Business Review and Multinational Business Review, and she is currently Associate Editor at Long Range Planning. She holds a PhD from Henley Business School at the University of Reading.