Organizing the purchasing department for innovation

Innovation is by far one of the most important competitive priorities in the current business context. Companies increasingly rely on their supply base to support their innovation potential. As a consequence, the purchasing department might dramatically affect the firm's innovation capability. This paper aims to investigate-using a multiple case study approach-how the organizational design of the purchasing department could determine a firm's capability to foster and manage innovation. Seven highly innovative companies were visited and the structures of their purchasing departments were analyzed. Three different configurations for the purchasing department were identified and described.