Do Customers Benefit from Supply Chain Relations? The Effects of Supplier Innovation on the Financial Performance of Their Customers

摘要

In marketing literature, firm innovativeness is widely accepted as an essential element for generating value in the marketplace. Innovation initiates a chain of effects that leads to an improved market position, financial position, and ultimately firm value. In a supply chain context, the important link between innovation and financial performance represents an unexplored stream of research. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the quantitative impact of supplier innovativeness to the ultimate financial performance of their customers. Further, the moderating effect of customer concentration and supplier exposure is examined. Identifying distinct supplier-customer dyads, we draw on objective measures of supplier and customer innovation as well as financial performance, using COMPUSTAT, CRSP, and NBER data comprising around 1,200 customers and 3,500 supplier firms for the 1976-2008 time period. Research questions being analyzed are: l.Does supplier innovation influence customers' financial performance? 2. Does the external innovation effect experienced by customers relate to supplier dependence and supplier exposure? We expect supplier innovation (expressed through R&D spending and patenting activity) to have a positive effect on the customer financial performance. Further, customer con- centration and supplier exposure are expected to have a positive effect on the degree of the financial effect of supplier innovation.