Abstract
Abstract Although empirical studies show that suppliers’ innovativeness enhances original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) total innovation performance, some evidence reveals that suppliers’ innovation affects OEM in quantitatively and qualitatively limited ways. This study aims to explore innovation systems of European automobile producers, i.e., OEM. Technological innovation systems (TIS) remain relatively underexplored, but the approach is especially valuable for explaining why and how sustainable and circular innovation develop and spread. We applied a mixed-method approach and conducted patent analyses and interviews with 20 respondents from Slovenia, Austria, and Hungary, which are representatives of suppliers for the automotive industry and automotive clusters. We confirm that the European OEMs build innovation ecosystems that are more closed than their Asian counterparts. Furthermore, we define three paths of how inventions of suppliers can reach the OEMs, with developmental suppliers (large companies) having the highest probability of influencing the innovation activity of OEMs. The entry of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and start-ups with their inventions is difficult. However, it is not impossible, especially if they develop new solutions connected to current disruptive trends in the automotive industry: electric cars, autonomous driving and digitalisation.
Highlights
Supplier innovativeness enhances original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) total innovation performance and is an essential source of both product and process innovations (Azadegan and Dooley 2010; Noordhoff et al 2011; Oke et al 2013)
To determine patented inventions belonging to the automotive industry, we used the categories of International Patent Classification (IPC) codes proposed by the European Patent Office, which performs annual statistics for the European Automobile Manufacturers Association ACEA (ACEA 2019, 68): B60: Vehicles in general; B62: Land vehicles for travelling otherwise than on rail; F02: Combustion engines; hotgas or combustion-product engine plants; and F16: Engineering elements or units; general measures for producing and maintaining effective functioning of machines or installations; thermal insulation in general
Results of the qualitative study Our research shows that there is a significant difference between established suppliers which are well integrated into the supply chain and potential newcomers
Summary
Supplier innovativeness enhances original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM) total innovation performance and is an essential source of both product and process innovations (Azadegan and Dooley 2010; Noordhoff et al 2011; Oke et al 2013). The technological innovation system presents a system concept developed for a technology-specific perspective on innovation processes (Markard and Truffer 2008; Phirouzabadi et al 2020) It is an a-spatial innovation concept (Ter Wal and Boschma 2011), which can be embedded in regional, national, or supranational innovation systems. To understand such an innovation system, it is important first to understand what were the key historical shifts in shaping the current suppliers’ ecosystem, as well as to understand how the automotive supply chain is organized. More studies that will contribute to understanding the innovation process within the automotive supply chain and interactions between suppliers and OEMs, which can lead to new product or process innovations, are needed. Understanding and possible improvement of this innovation process can lead from disruptive to more sustainable innovation
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