Supply Chain Economy: Understanding Innovation in Services

Supply chains are an integral part of the American economy and actively drive U.S. innovation. However, what is included in the term has lacked an empirical definition. Reviewing the suppliers and creating a new categorization that separates supply chain industries (i.e., those that sell their goods and services primarily to other businesses or governments) from business-to-consumer (B2C) industries, provides a more accurate understanding of the U.S. economy and the role of manufacturing in innovation. Mercedes Delgado, associate professor of strategy and innovation at the Copenhagen Business School, and Karen Mills, senior fellow at Harvard Business School, discuss their recent paper on…