Establishing relationships with new suppliers having distant knowledge to target discontinuous innovation

A discrepancy exists in the literature regarding the type of suppliers to consider when targeting discontinuous innovation (DI). Some authors suggest that DI require leveraging knowledge from a selection of familiar and trustful suppliers, whereas others claim that DI requires leveraging distant knowledge from new suppliers. We argue that establishing relationships with a new supplier mastering knowledge distant from the firm’s one, requires a specific process. Based on a longitudinal study in a firm that developed such relationships and succeeded in enhancing DI, we underline three characteristics of the approach adopted: (i) proposing an open enough formulation to give the suppliers the opportunity to value their competencies but well documented, (ii) having a structured and transparent process, supporting a mutual progressive commitment and (iii) dedicating a specific entity with access to the top management and technical specialists, with a global vision of the questions to be tackled