The Purchasing Innovation Function, an Interface Player in Open Innovation

The HAL website reported that the benefits of Open Innovation, and specifically of innovation coming from suppliers, are widely emphasized by the literature. In parallel, the difficulties of implementing such approaches are also underlined, and the necessity of creating new roles is emphasized for managing the interface and intermediation between internal functions and external innovation suppliers. Based on interviews conducted in two industrial firms, we show the emergence of a new practice supported by players at the interface between purchasing and innovation: the innovation-purchasers. We also show how they build this new role, in interface with Purchasing and R & D functions, that is critical in the implementation of open innovation by firms.

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