New Venture Partnering Capability : An Empirical Investigation into How Buying Firms Effectively Leverage the Potential of Innovative New Ventures

Drawing from the literature on firm resources and capabilities, as well as supplier management, this study investigates why and how some buying firms are more successful than others in leveraging the capabilities of their new venture suppliers. We use a qualitative research approach and synthesize our findings into a set of propositions that relate to how buying firms manage their new venture suppliers when they evaluate, develop, and communicate with new ventures, as well as how buying firms govern the relationship with new ventures. At the core of our contribution is the conceptualization of the new venture partnering capability construct, which captures a buying firm’s capacity to effectively leverage the potential of new ventures. Our findings contribute to the literature on relational capabilities and add insights into the emerging research stream at the interface of supply chain management and entrepreneurship