Incorporating Innovation Partnerships into Sustainable SCM Strategies

Our sustainability consulting work has revealed that many business executives and their procurement organizations now view environmental and social responsibility actions within in the supply chain to be both a risk mitigating strategy and a business opportunity. These corporate actions are taking strategic sourcing and supplier relations the next level of supply chain sustainability. So what is the next step in Sustainable Supply Chain Management?

A working paper, Learning from Open Innovation, recently published by the Warwick School of Business explores the concept of ‘openness’ in the generation of innovation outputs. This ‘openness’ to external knowledge sources involves a process of interaction and information processing with an expanded set of business sustainability stakeholders, most notable within the supply chain.

Expanding further this business sustainability concept of enhanced innovation partnerships, the Procurement Strategy Council offers its own interpretation of openness. To effectively capture supplier innovation, PSC advises companies to focus on three priorities:

• Provide suppliers with the right amount of direction

• Involve business partners in the ideation process

• Enable effective IP sharing

By engaging and harness the knowledge of key supply stakeholders, your business can make significant gains over the competition which may be unwilling to share information. Visit with us at Taiga Company for more information and business resources to unlock the strategic value of your supply chain today.