Vertical relationships, complementarity and product innovation: an intellectual capital-based view

Abstract

In recent years, the role of a firm’s external relationships in technological innovations is becoming increasingly important among innovation scholars. Following this trend, our paper proposes a new model as a way of analysing vertical collaboration supplier and customer relationship (SUCU) effects on product innovation outputs. Taking complementarity among business actors as the main thesis of this article, we identify four distinctive vertical collaboration profiles with different impacts on the level of product innovation. Results indicated that manufacturers that maintain those supplier and customer relationships simultaneously have a higher level of product innovation. Moreover, customer relationships have a more important role than supplier ones within the development of product innovation.

Keywords:

• intellectual capital
• relational capital
• supplier relationship
• customer relationship
• complementarity
• product innovation

Correction

The incorrect author name was used in the running header in the original published article. This has been corrected in this final version.

Correction

The incorrect author name was used in the running header in the original published article. This has been corrected in this final version.

Notes

1 ‘Sistema de Análisis de Balances Ibéricos’ (SABI) is an economic-financial database that includes around 550,000 Spanish firms and 67,000 Portuguese firms. Each record includes the following information: contact, activity description, national and international economic activity codes (in this article CNAE-93 is used), corporate body, number of employees, profit and loss account, and set-up date.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Miriam Delgado-Verde

About the authors

Miriam Delgado-Verde, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor at the Business Administration Department in Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and a member of its Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation Research Group (ECI). Additionally, she has been Pre-Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at Manchester Institute of Innovation Research-the University of Manchester during 2008–2009, and the University of Edinburgh Business School during 2010. She is an author and co-author of several books and articles concerning RBV, intellectual capital and technological innovation.

Gregorio Martín de Castro

Gregorio Martín de Castro, Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the Business Administration Department in Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and member of its Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation Research Group (ECI). Additionally, he is researcher and member of the executive board of the Nonaka Centre at Cunef Business School, Madrid. He has been Research Fellow at Harvard University (2004–2005), at the University of Manchester (2009), and at the University of Southern California, USA (2011). He is an author and co-author of several books and articles concerning intellectual capital and knowledge management.

José Emilio Navas-López

José Emilio Navas-López, Ph.D., is Professor at the Business Administration Department in Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and Chairman of its Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation Research Group (ECI). He is an author and co-author of several books and papers concerning technology management, strategy and knowledge management. He has held the first Knowledge Management Chair in Spain at I.U. Euroforum Escorial.

Javier Amores-Salvadó

Javier Amores Salvadó is Assistant Professor at the Business Administration Department in Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain) and member of its Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation Research Group (ECI). He has extensive experience in various industrial sectors and holds the Advanced Studies Diploma from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His main research areas are innovation, environmental innovation and sustainable development.