Examining Innovation Capability In A Supply Chain Context

The current competitive business environment demands that firms are able to integrate operational capabilities of their supply chain members in order to develop, produce and deliver offerings at low cost and high quality. In order to understand innovation capability in a supply chain context, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of ‘Comfort Audio’, a leading company in medical technology in Sweden, which show incredible ability to develop innovative solutions and medical products over the years. A single case study was adopted in this study, which enabled indepth analysis of the case company. Findings, highlight, innovation capability factors is made up of: idea management, interactive learning, collaboration and idea implementation. In addition, consultants were found to be one of the key supply chain members contributing to the firm’s innovation capability. The main theoretical contribution of the study is that innovation capability of a firm has been found to go beyond the internal capabilities that a focal firm owns or possesses, but rather through the access and utilisation of external actors’ resources and capabilities, as a result of exchange relationships with the supply chain members