We introduce a new type of critical supplier — the nexus supplier — that becomes evident when we consider suppliers from a network perspective. The extant literature focuses on the importance of strategic suppliers and identifies strategic suppliers as critical due to their significant...

type="main" xml:id="jscm12070-abs-0001" <p>We introduce a new type of critical supplier—the nexus supplier—that becomes evident when we consider suppliers from a network perspective. The extant literature focuses on the importance of strategic suppliers and identifies strategic suppliers as...</p>

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe different ways in which a buyer and supplier can be embedded in a dyadic relationship and how these differences influence patterns of inter-firm innovation activities and outcomes. Specifically, to address the relative paucity of theoretical...