Supplier contribution to buyer innovativeness: The influence of customer attractiveness and strategic fit

Buying companies increasingly need suppliers that significantly contributes to their innovation and capability resources. Customer attractiveness and the strategic fit with a supplier are likely to play an important role in new product development projects. However, no research has addressed and simultaneously investigated the interplay of strategic fit, customer attractiveness, and supplier’s contribution to buyer’s innovativeness. This study fills these gaps by carrying out a quantitative survey study among 81 members of the branch organization for the Dutch metal industry. The findings largely confirm the positive relations between the core concepts of this study. The results suggest that purchasing professionals should invest in customer attractiveness, rather than forcing business partners into coercive supplier development programs.