As organizations become increasingly specialized, their ability to
engage the supply network in innovation efforts is becoming critical to
their success. In addition, it is imperative for organizations to align
internal research and development strategies with knowledge available in
the supply network in order to gain superior innovation performance. In
this article, we present some perspectives on supply network-enabled
innovation and discuss two frameworks that integrate a firm's internal
knowledge with that of its supply network to achieve innovation
objectives. The inter-related frameworks discussed are anchored in the
absorptive capacity and ambidexterity theories. They explicate how firms
can effectively align internal innovation activities and knowledge
available in the supply network to gain superior innovation outcomes.
[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]