Laurence Viale

Humanis

Salomée Ruel

Dorsaf Zouari

A mixed-methods approach to identifying buyers' competencies for enabling innovation

Keywords: Competencies, Innovation, Purchasing and supply management, Procurement, Mixed methods research, competence-based view

Purchasing and supply management (PSM) plays a pivotal role in increasing overall competitiveness as buyers interact with innovative suppliers and internal teams. The competence-based view encourages buyers to specialise in a few core competencies, but less is known about the range of competencies needed for innovation. Thus, this article aims to understand the individual competencies that PSM professionals need to bring added value to innovation. To address this gap, our research is first based on the findings of the state of the art. Then, mixed-methods research is conducted. It consists of exploratory analysis based on five in-depth case studies including 23 interviews complemented with an extended survey of 138 PSM professionals highly experienced in innovation. These professionals rated the importance of 31 competencies, out of which 18 were revealed thanks to the qualitative phase. The results of the second phase highlighted and expanded some competencies known and shown new ones.

Introduction

Considered as a protean concept, innovation can be of several types, product, process or organisational innovation. Innovation is now occurring rapidly that firms can no longer do everything internally and have little choice but to rely on strategic external resources [START_REF] Castaldi | Strategic purchasing and innovation: a relational view[END_REF][START_REF] Chick | The Procurement Value Proposition: The Rise of Supply Management[END_REF]. From this perspective, the purchasing department, which manages external resources, has a vital role in stimulating innovation in the internal supply chain and externally through coordinating supplier networks (Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018). The integration of external resources requires specific capacities from buyers within the firm (Koufteros et al., 2005) to be held by the purchasing department [START_REF] Van Echtelt | Managing supplier involvement in new product development: a multiple-case study[END_REF]Luzzini et al., 2015). Legenvre and Gualandris (2018) describe three essential capacities for buyers during an innovation process: to explore unmet needs and anticipate future competitive advantages by working closely with other functions and clients; to investigate external opportunities beyond first-tier suppliers to engage with outsiders and new players/suppliers effectively, and to involve suppliers in innovation projects that consistently deliver results over time. There is a lack of knowledge regarding capturing and managing new ideas and, above all, how the purchasing department can help the company improve the innovation process (Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018). To fill this gap, [START_REF] Pihlajamaa | How to stimulate supplier innovation? Insights from a multiple case study[END_REF] focus on the levers that buyers can use to guide and encourage suppliers to undertake and share the fruits of their creations.

For a company, this requires developing its attractiveness as a customer and necessitates a greater focus on suppliers (Tanskanen and Aminof, 2015). Some studies point out that competencies are critical factors to drive innovation performance [START_REF] Thai | Competency requirements for professionals in logistics and supply chain management[END_REF]. More precisely, [START_REF] West | Open innovation: a research agenda[END_REF] consider the individual elements on a research agenda because individuals are supposed to substantially affect innovation processes' success.

Attention is drawn to the fact that there is a lack of consensus around the terminology of ' k ' ' mp ' 'k w ' m p pp y management (PSM) (Giunipero et al., 2006;[START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF]. This conceptual ambiguity has a pp y m m w k m, 2017). To maintain consistency in this study, we adopt the term "competencies", as the authors Heide et al. (2008) and [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] do. Competencies include knowledge and skills. [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] consider that PSM practitioners need a set of competencies to manage this function in the future. However, given the growing importance of innovation for most companies, the authors do not specify the same set of required competencies for innovation.

To address the expectations of organisations in terms of innovation, and focus their efforts on value creation through purchasing rather than on cost reduction alone [START_REF] Constant | Managing tensions between exploitative and exploratory innovation through purchasing function ambidexterity[END_REF], it would be useful for purchasing managers to know what competencies are needed.

The literature has already explored to a limited extent the context of innovation for the purchasing function. Some research addresses this issue in single case studies in large firms from the automotive and electronics industries [START_REF] Wynstra | Exploring purchasing integration in product development[END_REF]Homfeldt et al., 2017;[START_REF] Servajean-Hilst | Shades of the innovation-purchasing functionthe missing link of open innovation[END_REF], or by conducting multiple case studies in large companies from several industry sectors (Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018). Although necessary when the subject was emerging, this exploratory research does not provide an accurate understanding of the skills needed by buyers to manage innovation.

Drawing from the resource-based view (RBV) and competence-based view, the objective of this article is to address the research gaps mentioned earlier. Therefore, it aims at answering the following main research question: What are the individual competencies that PSM professionals need to bring added value to innovation? To achieve this goal, we first focus on the concepts of the required competencies in PSM, the competencies necessary to deal with tasks and challenges in innovation teams, and the competencies needed by buyers to innovate. We approach this through an interdisciplinary review of the state of the art, which aims to construct a competence profile that could serve as a framework to categorise and analyse the empirical data gathered in this study. We then describe the methods based on qualitative data collection (case studies) to update the list of competencies in the innovation context. Secondly, to extend our results in the broader scope thanks to a quantitative data collection (an extended survey of 138 PSM professionals) based on the previous results. This approach is described as a "modification of theory" [START_REF] Seuring | The application of theory in literature reviews-illustrated with examples from supply chain management[END_REF]. The results are then reported, followed by a discussion, conclusion, limitations and opportunities for future research.

Theoretical background

The resource-based view and competence-based view

To consistently perform better and more effectively than their competitors, RBV posits that companies need to identify tangible and intangible resources and capabilities [START_REF] Wernerfelt | A resource-based view of the firm[END_REF][START_REF] Barney | Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage[END_REF]. The RBV lens has been the most general theoretical framework of study in the fields of purchasing and supply management [START_REF] Wynstra | Purchasing and supply management as a multidisciplinary research field: unity in diversity?[END_REF] Deist and Winterton, 2005, p. 39).

According to Grant (1991), competencies are potentially more sustainable than resources.

The competence-based view (CBV) encourages buyers to specialise in a few core competencies (Li, 2011) to achieve competitive advantages (Freiling et al., 2008). [START_REF] Sanchez | Towards the theory and practice of competence-based competition[END_REF] define a terminology corresponding to the fundamental objectives of explanation as to the competence-w. C mp "the ability to sustain the coordinated deployment of assets in ways that help a firm achieve its goals" z . 996 p. 8). Sanchez (2004, p. 531) underlines that increasing managers' own cognitive flexibility impacts creating and realizing new kinds of value-creating product offers and new ways of managing innovation processes.

There is a lack of empirical evidence to support the theory and one of the limits of CBV is his lack of theoretical transparency. [START_REF] Sergeeva | Monitoring of Educational Programs for the Development of Professional Competencies by Procurement Specialists in Procurement Statistics[END_REF] to remain a strategic function and justify why some buyers search for know-how in their suppliers (Li, 2011).

2.2 Competencies needed in Purchasing and supply management L ' y P f "the discipline that is concerned with the management of external sourcesgoods, services, capabilities, and knowledgethat are necessary for running, maintaining and managing the primary and secondary support processes of a firm at the most favourable conditions" V W p. 8). W competencies (based on capabilities and knowledge) seem essential in this definition, there has been very little research on competencies related explicitly to PSM [START_REF] Mulder | Job profile research for the purchasing profession[END_REF][START_REF] Tassabehji | The changing role of procurement: developing professional effectiveness[END_REF][START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF]. One of the latest systematic literature reviews is indicating a lack of consensus around general skillsets for PSM professionals [START_REF] Stek | How to train supply managers-necessary and sufficient purchasing skills leading to success[END_REF]. [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] highlight the gap regarding the lack of a list of up-todate competencies in the field of PSM.

The recruitment of competent PSM agents is essential because, according to Feisel et al.

(2008), the satisfaction of both end customers and internal customers will depend first and foremost on the competencies and know-how of the buyers; in particular, their ability to anticipate needs [START_REF] Mulder | Job profile research for the purchasing profession[END_REF]. This upstream approach, consisting of economic intelligence and technology watch, will enable buyers to be informed about the components of the microenvironment and the developments and innovations in supplier markets and then inform stakeholders in innovation projects. The role of these particular competencies is also y f . 5) w y ' k y competencies such as: Integral thinking, analytical abilities, generalising, information management, financial management, customer orientation, negotiating, advising, networking and legal-solving abilities.

As the purchasing function evolves, so do the competencies expected of buyers (Giunipero et al., 2006;[START_REF] Prajogo | Supply chain professionals[END_REF]. Buyers are now responsible for managing and implementing new initiatives and innovations to meet current challenges, such as global procurement, the development of information technology and increased awareness of green and socially sustainable procurement (Karttunen, 2018).

Building on previous works in the field of PSM, supply chains and human resource management, [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] identify the most important new areas of competence for purchasers in the coming years. The ability to manage digitisation [START_REF] Sergeeva | Monitoring of Educational Programs for the Development of Professional Competencies by Procurement Specialists in Procurement Statistics[END_REF][START_REF] Viale | Impact of digitalisation on procurement: the case of robotic process automation[END_REF], innovation (Servajean-Hilst and Calvi, 2018), and sustainability has been underlined as essential. Furthermore, [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] summarise and classify competencies into the following categories: technical competencies (product knowledge, etc.); interpersonal competencies (leadership, etc.); internal and external organisational competencies (openness, customer focus, relationship management, etc.); and strategic competencies (risk management, critical thinking, global view, etc.). However, this classification is not focused on innovation and does not enable PSM agents to identify the competencies required for innovation versus other purposes.

Competencies needed to innovate

Generally speaking, creativity requires something appropriatean idea, an insight or a solutionthat solves a problem, and innovation requires that this idea be implemented, in the sense of making progress and being operational. Indeed, innovation requires overcoming several obstacles or steps to be implemented, including analysing and evaluating problems and implementing solutions [START_REF] Nakano | Creativity and innovation: skills for the 21st century[END_REF]. It can be stated that creativity leads to innovation (Lawson et al., 2015), that it is the first step. However, other authors believe that creativity comes from intrinsic motivation, whereas innovation results from extrinsic motives and seeking to go beyond practice norms [START_REF] Antonites | Inducing entrepreneurial creativity, innovation and opportunity-finding skills[END_REF]. Therefore, creativity is considered a core competence.

Many authors [START_REF] Cerinsek | Identifying employees' innovation competency in organisations[END_REF]Gupta and Barua, 2018) consider that employees are the most critical resource and the leading force for innovation. [START_REF] Cerinsek | Identifying employees' innovation competency in organisations[END_REF] define several levers to facilitate a corporate culture that stimulates people to innovate and undertake innovation for their company. To innovate, firms now need different employee competencies and know-how to identify these competencies. For example, companies must recruit people who lead and think 'outside the box' [START_REF] Cerinsek | Identifying employees' innovation competency in organisations[END_REF]. [START_REF] Chatenier | Identification of competencies for professionals in open innovation teams[END_REF] complete those results and highlight the essential competencies professionals need to participate in a successful innovation team. Individuals are deemed to be the key to creating and sharing knowledge in teamwork (Jordan and Bak, 2016). Their study aimed to draw up a competency profile that companies can use to select and train professionals to include innovation teams. The study highlighted three key competencies: creating a win-win situation, understanding social situations and listening to maintain networks. Those skills could be useful for buyers, but the number of skills set seems to be limited.

Competencies needed by buyers to innovate

Van Weele and Van Raaij (2014) see 'innovation and competence management' as one of the four critical developments of PSM in the strategic management literature. The PSM team can start expanding internal collaboration and understanding needs in order to be recognised as "competent internal partners" (Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018).

As innovation is considered a strategic matter for firms, the key competencies of a strategic buyer are, therefore, to be managerial to work and integrate within all departments and be sociable to maintain a good relationship with a supplier [START_REF] Castaldi | Strategic purchasing and innovation: a relational view[END_REF]). Homfeldt et al. (2017) examine the contributions of the purchasing function to the innovation process in the automotive industry and the methods and practices used to benefit from the innovative capacity of key suppliers. They find that purchasers contribute to the innovation process in three capacities (which are competencies according to the CBV): the capacity to identify innovative ideas in the supply market and promote these ideas internally, the ability to manage the business and economic activities, and the capacity to manage the supplier base (Homfeldt et al., 2017).

The capacity to identify innovative ideas in the supply market and promote these ideas internally

The purchasing department is well-positioned to identify market ideas (Servajean-Hilst and Calvi, 2018; Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018) through frequent interactions with the supplier base. When a relationship of trust is established between buyers and suppliers, the latter are better able to approach a buyer with ideas (Homfeldt et al., 2017). In a second step, the purchasing department can make these ideas known internally and then help to integrate them into new innovation projects or products (Hartmann et al., 2012).

The capacity to manage the business and economic activities

To turn an idea into an innovation, the idea must meet a market, the innovation must be financially viable [START_REF] Antonites | Inducing entrepreneurial creativity, innovation and opportunity-finding skills[END_REF]. As the financial aspect is significant, 7).

p p m f p k f 'm m ' mf .

The capacity to manage a supplier base

Organisations depend on their internal abilities and external linkages for innovations (Lawson et al., 2015;Gupta and Barua, 2018). Those authors consider that selecting the best suppliers is a prerequisite for the success of the whole supply chain. Researchers recognise the purchasing function as the most relevant for selecting and integrating innovative and available suppliers into an innovation process [START_REF] Schiele | How to distinguish innovative suppliers? Identifying innovative suppliers as new task for purchasing[END_REF][START_REF] Van Echtelt | Managing supplier involvement in new product development: a multiple-case study[END_REF]Legenvre and Gualandris, 2018). [START_REF] Servajean-Hilst | Shades of the innovation-purchasing functionthe missing link of open innovation[END_REF] show that buyers also motivate their supplier panels to develop specific knowledge for innovation in addition to 'new' suppliers. [START_REF] Pihlajamaa | How to stimulate supplier innovation? Insights from a multiple case study[END_REF] define how a company can strengthen the innovation capacity of its suppliers, guide its suppliers' innovation processes and/or encourage its suppliers to share their innovations. The article notes that when the relationship between customer and supplier is based on common needs and expectations, stimulating innovation is easier for both parties.

It is understood that the higher the key supplier's rate of innovation and the greater the balance between the buyer's innovation needs and the key supplier's innovation goals.

Table 2 gives an overview of the main categories identified by [START_REF] Tassabehji | The changing role of procurement: developing professional effectiveness[END_REF] and considered the most elaborately categorised model by [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF] As we have seen, previous exploratory research, although necessary when the subject was emerging, does not provide an accurate understanding of the skills needed by buyers to manage innovation. Based on the state of the art above from the fields of PSM and innovation, Table 2 builds on an overview of the competencies that might enable PSM professionals to create value during innovation.

Articles were selected thanks to a keyword-based search. Keywords cover the core contents of PSM/SCM and Innovation. The column N1 of Table 2 is focused on the PSM/SCM field (authors and journals from those fields), we also looked at studies that focused particularly on

p m / C p f k . W k yw k " mp " " mp y"
" mp " " k " "p m " "p " " y " " " " w p pm " " p " " p ".

The column N2 of Table 2 is focused on the innovation field particularly (authors and j f m f ) w k yw " mp " " mp y" " mp " " k " " " " w p pm " " p " " p " without specifically focusing on procurement / purchasing agents. as potential competencies for the buyer. They argue that cross-functional skills are needed to " w m k R& " . 9

p.3). ' ' m " p y" . 5 p. 9 ).

Research Methodology: Mixed methods approach

The mixed methods are helpful for researchers seeking a "modification of theory" [START_REF] Seuring | The application of theory in literature reviews-illustrated with examples from supply chain management[END_REF]. The use of mixed methods across business and management disciplines is growing [START_REF] Cameron | The acceptance of mixed methods in business and management research[END_REF]. Mixed methods research is defined as mixing qualitative and quantitative data in one research study (Harrison and Reilly, 2011;Johnson et al., 2007) and is based on a pragmatic ground [START_REF] Creswell | An expanded typology for classifying mixed methods research into designs[END_REF] aimed at finding the most effective way to answer a research question (Harrison and Reilly, 2011;Johnson and Onwuegbuzie, 2004;Molina-Azorin, 2012). According to Fitzgerald and Howcroft (1998) and [START_REF] Teddlie | Major issues and controversies in the use of mixed methods in the social and behavioral sciences[END_REF], combining research methods enables their complementary strengths to be maximised and brings a complete picture of the phenomenon studied [START_REF] Morse | Principles of mixed methods and multimethod research design[END_REF]. Thus, mixed methods draw on multiple data sources [START_REF] Bazeley | Mixed methods in management research[END_REF].

As a result, mixed methods research can answer research questions that other methodologies can not (Molina-Azorin, 2012). Since our research question aims to identify the purchasing competencies required for innovation, we decided that answering it first needed a qualitative study in a very innovative industry and then quantitative data collection and analysis to expand the scope. Golicic and Davis (2012) highlight the benefits of implementing mixed methods research in supply chain management and related fields (e.g., purchasing and logistics). This approach can advance knowledge due to better ideas initiation or development or even more robust analysis with complementary data or interpretation.

Moreover, our research question aims to identify the purchasing competencies required for innovation and since the variables are unknown and there is no model from the literature to use as a guide, therefore, this study is based on an exploratory sequential methods design mixing both qualitative and quantitative methods [START_REF] Creswell | Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research[END_REF]). An exploratory sequential mixed methods design begins with a qualitative phase involving the collection and analysis of qualitative data. In the qualitative phase, various qualitative methods can be used, including interviews, grounded theory, case studies or thematic content analysis. The results of this first phase are used to develop or inform the subsequent quantitative phase, which can involve a survey or other type of quantitative data collection [START_REF] Creswell | Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research[END_REF]. The main purpose is to evaluate the possibility of extending qualitative findings to a larger sample.

As our research explores a terrain where there is very little empirical research in existence today, case studies provide input to the deeper exploration. Golicic and David (2011, p. 732) m "When the phenomenon of interest is new or complex, relevant variables are not easily identified and extant theories are not available to explain the phenomenon. In this situation, a qualitative approach is often the preferred starting point in order to build an understanding grounded in a detailed description of the phenomenon generated by collecting field data. The qualitative approach provides researchers with access to deeper levels of understanding of new or complex phenomena by yielding a high level of detail". f we choose to adopt this approach and start with the qualitative phase in order to learn from agri-food firms considered as pioneers.

We believe that case study research enables us to better grasp reality [START_REF] Seuring | Case study research in supply chainsan outline and three examples[END_REF]. Indeed, we have visited the factories and we have been able to challenge what was said during the interviews based on our presence "on the field". Thus, we think that case studies were the right way to overcome some limitations that may appear in qualitative studies based on interviews. In addition, the possibility to interview and visit/observe factories helps us triangulate our results which reinforced the results validity [START_REF] Stuart | Effective case research in operations management: a process perspective[END_REF].

4.

Qualitative design and data analysis (Phase 1)

Data collection and analysis

As part of our explorative approach, we contacted the French national professional association of buyers and purchasing managers called CNA (which represents around 150,000 PSM professionals in France), in particular a Regional President and the National Vice President. To present them our research and ask them who would best lead to an answer to our research question: "Which individual competencies do PSM professionals need to add value during innovation?".

According to the CNA and the French national association of food industries (ANIA), the agri-food sector is particularly dynamic in innovation. It could be an inspiring lever for other sectors. From an academic perspective, the agri-food sector is faced with an unprecedented acceleration of new products and offers [START_REF] Tripoli | Emerging Opportunities for the Application of Blockchain in the Agri-food Industry[END_REF]. More than 69% of agri-food firms in France are constantly innovating (in terms of products, processes or organisation), far superior to other sectors [START_REF] Viale | Intra-functional coordination: the case of purchasing during innovation in the agri-food sector[END_REF]. Indeed, as stated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agri-food industry (2020), the food industry has historically been one of the most innovative of all manufacturing industries (62% for other manufacturing industries and 51% for all sectors) 1 . In this industry, innovation processes tend to accelerate and open up by involving stakeholders outside the companies. We contacted ANIA to access well-known innovative firms. The initial list of 17 firms was contacted by phone and asked to participate in the study; 9 firms agreed to participate. With the support of experts in ANIA, we selected five agri-food firms that differed in size, based on significant and recent innovations and the purchasing department's involvement in strategic decisions during innovation.

Since a multi-case study is based entirely on the value of each case, the question of case selection remains fundamental to ensuring the scientific contribution of the research. As stipulated by Miles and Huberman (2003), sampling decisions are made by looking only at "certain actors" (in our case, buyers) confronted with "certain problems"; in our paper, the activities are related to innovation in a specific context: the agri-food industry.

Proof of expertise in PSM and innovation was to be reflected by our respondents' role in their organisation. We asked the actors we met who were involved in the innovation process and who would best answer our research question. It is important to question different practitioners within a company to triangulate [START_REF] Myers | The qualitative interview in research: examining the craft[END_REF]. According to Karsenti and Demers (2000), this research method allows the in-depth study of individuals and the detailed description of their specificity and the context in which they evolve. A multicase study enables the emergence of convergences between cases. Eisenhardt and Graebner (2007) consider that an appropriate number of cases depends on the existing knowledge of the theme studied, the theme of the study and the possibility of obtaining information, adding that between four and ten cases can be considered valid research. We gathered data from primary and secondary sources. Thus, our approach enabled us to obtain a triadic view (marketing, purchasing and R&D/innovation) (Table 3). This allowed observing the problem from different angles to extend the understanding and improve the accuracy of the outcomes. Furthermore, PSM professionals with various hierarchical and functional roles were included to ensure a more holistic view of the research topic.

The interview guide is based on the following themes: Presentation of the company and the place of innovation, the organisation of the PSM department, background information of the interviewee, the involvement and contributions of purchasing to innovation, the key skills needed by purchasing in order to succeed (split in categories: Technical competencies, Interpersonal competencies, Internal enterprise competencies, External enterprise competencies, Strategic business competencies).

We conducted face-to-face interviews and tape-recorded 23 semi-structured interviews with the main actors involved in the innovation process. Each interview lasted, on average, for 1 hour. All the interviews were transcribed and the transcripts were sent to the industry participants for their comments and approval (code names were used to protect identity). This approach should also provide more objective responses to our questions and allow us to compare answers from different points of view. Note: B2C = business-to-consumer; SME = small and medium-sized enterprise

The secondary data collected consist of publicly available materials (e.g., company websites and documents provided by the interviewees). These data are mainly annual reviews of projects and success stories and insights into main areas for development in the future. The various documents allowed us to gather historical and background information about the firms. The data also cover our field observations from the production lines and offices of the companies we visited.

The combination of data collected enables us to triangulate several sources and ensure internal validity. The unit of analysis is the purchasing agent during innovation. We used NVivo software for the coding process, assigning codes to the primary and secondary data. This first phase provided an in-depth view of PSM competencies required in innovation projects in each organisation and allowed us to collect data about the subject. This initial qualitative stage helped prepare for the second phase: a quantitative study with a methodological framework and questionnaire.

Presentation of qualitative results

Our 23 in-depth interviews allow us to present the set of competencies that, according to the respondents, buyers need to contribute to the innovation process. To identify the competencies that professionals consider necessary in the innovation process, we asked participants to discuss their key contributions and the competencies that helped them succeed in this specific innovation context (Table 4). The respondents identified a total of 31 competencies. They were ranked according to the number of people who cited each of them in the different interviews. 31 out of 42 competencies were mentioned during the explorative interviews. Below, we present some verbatims for the main competencies according to the number of times they were cited by respondents, starting with the most frequently mentioned. Research takes place within all our case study firms, whether in R&D, marketing, or the PSM departments, where ideas and innovations can sometimes be implemented without being an intentional process or expected by a particular customer. Sometimes, an idea is 'accidental' or is obtained following an error. This phenomenon is close to serendipity.

Weak signal detection:

The buyer develops an ability to detect weak signals from various sources, such as suppliers, internal-external customers, the environment and technology. For example:

"I have several sources, specialised magazines, trade shows, my network, suppliers. I accept a lot of prospects, even if I know I won't buy from them. It's just to know, to anticipate, the benchmark. I have many appointments!" (A5)

"We are the eyes and ears of the outside world and, if we have a 'gut feeling', we bring ideas in." (B2)

The goal will be to transform these environmental signals into signs for stakeholders and intelligible information and insights, and then share them for decision making.

Capacity to federate:

The following extract represents the buyer's ability to federate internal customers (i.e., any internal actor participating in the innovation process):

"Ability to lead R&D through purchasing, to mobilise and federate several functions around an innovation project. Then it will be necessary to dedicate the necessary resources to minimise the time needed to implement the innovation." (E3)

Adaptation: Buyers adapt to be able to work with their interlocutors (internal and external)

and so that they can anticipate the transformations needed in innovation projects (adaptation of specifications, unpredictable difficulties, etc.):

"Whether internally or externally, faced with the difficulties, if I don't deploy an unparalleled ability to adapt to my interlocutors and changes, I cannot succeed in such strategic innovation projects." (C1)

Entrepreneurship: According to some examples identified by respondents, it appears that buyers develop entrepreneurial competencies by proposing multiple ideas and leading the project. In the example of a new pork-based product, the buyer initiated the idea and managed the project:

"In the example of the pork tomahawk, a particularly innovative project, the genesis of the project came from the thinking of our Meat Buyer, who, using his knowledge of beef, drew inspiration from the cutting of the beef tomahawk to transpose it to pork.

This idea was therefore used as a basis for working with our suppliers." (D4)

A firm capable of identifying and motivating PSM agents in innovation projects would maintain or even create a competitive advantage. Within Table 4, the number of people mentioned in brackets is the number of respondents that identified the competence mentioned. We have selected the competences as items for Phase 2 according to the number of occurrences in the interviews. Some of them had not been cited whereas others were very often mentioned (e.g., innovation sourcing, curiosity).

Looking at the occurrences, we define a minimum threshold of 25% otherwise the competence was too marginal. We realised that the first competence selected for Phase 2 was at 6 occurrences (26%), namely "Dealing with ambiguity". Any competence that was cited by the respondents above the 25% threshold has been therefore selected.

5.

Quantitative design and data analysis (Phase 2)

Data collection and analysis

In this second part, we decided to take advantage of the wealth of data from an innovative sector such as agri-food and complement our results in a wider scope and with an extended survey of 138 PSM professionals highly experienced in innovation. This also intends to corroborate findings generated through the qualitative phase (i.e: triangulation) [START_REF] Teddlie | Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences[END_REF]. As mentioned by Sanders et al. (2016), today's research questions are of a considerably higher complexity than in the past, calling for multiple data sources and methods to triangulate and provide richer explanations. Recently, Goldsby and Zinn (2018) and Van Hoek (2021) encourage using multimethods, including qualitative/survey combinations, to address complex and nascent phenomena. In their study on "Researching the future of purchasing and supply management", Knight et al. (2020, p.6) incite researchers to "engage with new and/or complex problems; develop innovative research methods".

The quantitative study, aiming at exploring deeper (De Beuckelaer and Wagner, 2012) our research question in a mixed-methods approach [START_REF] Teddlie | Foundations of mixed methods research: Integrating quantitative and qualitative approaches in the social and behavioral sciences[END_REF], was conducted using a questionnaire administered by email from 30th June until 31st July 2020.

We performed five pre-tests to validate the questionnaire. The pre-testing was useful in identifying some irrelevant questions and allowed us to improve the questionnaire before its administration in the main study.

The target sampling frame of this study was that the respondent participates actively within procurement and innovation simultaneously, without any restriction about the industry. Since this research aims to identify the PSM competencies needed to innovate, it was a prerequisite that all the respondents had participated in an innovation project. Each person was contacted by email explaining the aim of the research and restrictions linked to the specific PSM profile. In total, 1090 surveys were sent to PSM profiles in different firms, 138 responded with complete information. The response rate is 12.66%; according to Dillman (2000), a range from 6% to 16% is considered acceptable.

The study sample consists of 138 respondents, 36% of whom worked in firms with more than 500 employees. Our sample mainly contains respondents with significant responsibilities in purchasing (57.89% directors or chief purchasing officers) and considerable experience in their respective positions (51.88% of the sample had more than 20 years of experience in the field of PSM). Men contributed 64.66% of our sample. Additionally, 100% of the respondents took part in one or more types of innovation in their company.

Since this research aims to identify the PSM competencies needed to innovate, it was a prerequisite that all the respondents had participated in an innovation project: 34% had participated in a product or service innovation project, 32% in a process innovation project, 29% in an organisational innovation project, and 5% in all three types of innovation.

Our sample mainly contains respondents with significant responsibilities in PSM (57.89% directors or chief purchasing officers) and considerable experience in their respective positions (51.88% have more than 20 years of experience). Descriptive information and sample statistics are included in Table 5. To analyse the 138 surveys collected, we calculated the means and standard deviations for each of the 31 competencies in line with previous research studies (e.g., Lokshin et al., 2009;[START_REF] Thai | Competency requirements for professionals in logistics and supply chain management[END_REF]Pang et al., 2019). However, as a statistical tool to measure a central tendency,

the mean shows the disadvantage as being influenced by extreme scores, which is not the case of the median (Field, 2013;Martin, 2016). Additionally, the mode is a useful tool because it enables to spot which score occurred most frequently in the dataset (Field, 2013).

Finally, the maximum and minimum scores from the dataset are helpful because they can nuance any result based on a central tendency by pointing out the extreme scores and indicate the range of variation between respondents (Makar and Confrey, 2005).

To produce the most complete possible descriptive statistics for this exploratory quantitative study, we calculated the mean, standard deviation, median, mode and indicated minimum and maximum scores for each competency.

Presentation of quantitative results

Description of technical competencies

Table 5 shows the descriptive statistics for the ranking of each item of technical competencies. 'Innovation sourcing' and 'Management of innovations projects' were deemed by the respondents to be the most critical competencies needed to innovate. However, we note that the other two competencies have scores close to 4.

Description of interpersonal competencies

Table 6 shows the complete descriptive statistics for the ranking of each item of interpersonal competencies.

We note that ''Curiosity'' is ranked first, so it clearly matters as the Median and Mode have been quoted as 5 and minimum 3. We can argue that there is a consensus on this competence.

Managers in innovation projects need to seek information and ask questions to avoid any kinds of judgement. This competence could be a catalyst for ''Creativity'', ranked fifth in this competency category. A capacity for ''Adaptation'' seems to be necessary. The Median and Mode have been quoted as 5 and minimum 2. Indeed, managers should be able to adapt and make the needed adjustments linked to innovation projects.

Description of intra-organisational competencies

Table 7 shows the complete descriptive statistics for the ranking of each item of intraorganisational competencies.

We note that the competence ranked 10 ('Attractiveness regarding internal partners') has a mean greater than 4. We can thus conclude that all competencies which belong to 'intraorganisational competencies', are essential. The first four competencies have the Median and Mode have been quoted as 5 and minimum 3. We can argue that there is a consensus on these competencies.

The three most relevant competencies in the innovation context are ''Perseverance'', ''Capacity to federate'' and ''Personal credibility within the firm''; these three competencies come from the qualitative phase of the study. According to the respondents, ''Perseverance'' is considered the essential competence in innovative projects. Indeed, managers in such a context can face several types of problems, so perseverance is important to avoid dropping a project despite the obstacles and difficulties encountered. For managers, personal credibility is a vital element of effective leadership. When managers are viewed as highly credible, they are seen as an asset to the company and people feel motivated to work with them. Lateral linkages involve an effective internal communication that "facilitates dispersion of ideas within an organisation and increases their amount and diversity, which results in cross-fertilisation of ideas" m p 99 p. 559).

Description of inter-organisational competencies

Table 8 shows the complete descriptive statistics for the ranking of each item of interorganisational competencies.

The role of the PSM agent is to answer internal needs, which must pass through the development of relationships with suppliers (the Median and Mode have been quoted as 5 and minimum 2). This is confirmed in Table 8, as buyers place great importance on a buyer's ability to develop this skill. Indeed, inter-company solid linkages fuel innovations that improve both quality and cost (Giunipero et al., 2006).

Respondents also pointed to the importance of open-mindedness in the context of innovation.

Indeed, an open-minded position relates to receptivity to new and possibly different ideas, fostering innovation project success.

Description of strategic competencies

Table 9 shows the complete descriptive statistics for the ranking of each item of strategic competencies. As shown in the table, buyers should have the most holistic view of their supply chain partners and the market. This competency has the Median and Mode have been quoted as 5 and minimum 3. This competency allows them to think and act holistically, negotiate better, and select the most appropriate suppliers for an innovation project. Buyers should plan a risk mitigation strategy so that they can control the entire supply chain management. The capacity to manage risks permits buyers to reduce or eliminate dangerous potential risks and generate both time and cost savings.

The competence related to sustainability comes last in the ranking in Table 9. This suggests that environmental or sustainable competencies are not seen as a priority in considering innovation. This is in contrast to the findings in [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF].

Discussion

Based on the qualitative phase, we identified an additional 18 competencies to those previously established in the literature (see Table 4).

Concerning technical competencies, our cases show the need for strong competencies at the technical level, which is usually the domain of the R&D Department. In the cases observed, PSM agents have a high level of expertise in the purchasing areas for which they are responsible, both in terms of raw materials and packaging (e.g., to preserve flavours or reduce the weight of containers). This result complements the work of Karttunen ( 2018) and an interest in the setting up of cross-functional teams. Indeed, it is unlikely that a single person will master the technological specifications, the management of the purchasing process and the project management.

Regarding intra-organisational competencies, linking to credibility competence, Faes et al.

( Regarding interpersonal competencies, our results highlight that the underlying characteristic 'curiosity' influences individual's innovation behaviour. This result complemented [START_REF] Cerinsek | Identifying employees' innovation competency in organisations[END_REF] work who defined the importance of the competence 'curiosity' from the innovation field point of view, not on a specific PSM.

According to [START_REF] Antonites | Inducing entrepreneurial creativity, innovation and opportunity-finding skills[END_REF], an entrepreneur can achieve a specific vision from virtually anything and possesses the following core competencies: creativity and innovation. Firms need to recruit people who lead and think 'outside the box' because employees are the most important resource and the leading force for innovation [START_REF] Cerinsek | Identifying employees' innovation competency in organisations[END_REF].

In the third place of the interpersonal competencies as per our respondents, 'weak signals detection ', prospective in nature (Julien et al., 2004), can bring new knowledge. The weak signals detected by buyers can be transformed into insights, as, at some point, these flashes of ingenuity or inventiveness allow buyers to propose something new. In an interview given by Konno to Fayard (2003, p. 6), he explains that "the difference and complementarity that exists between, on the one hand, the capture of weak signals that refer to a fuzzy receptivity without a priori, to tacit professional know-how and intuitions, and on the other hand, rational and explicit knowledge". With few exceptions, firms respond urgently to the occurrence of an unforeseen event, often by suddenly adjusting their value chain [START_REF] Bohn | Stop fighting fires[END_REF]. The availability of information with a very high degree of prospective power avoids/reduces the uncertainty that contributes to paralysing rapid decision making.

Regarding inter-organisational competencies, the 'Network management and development' comes last for our respondents (Table 8). This result is in line with the discussion about the gap between theory and practice and the difficulties of bridging the gap between the different worlds.

'Holistic view' is at the first place of the strategic competencies as per our respondents. The responses tended to show that buyers must have the ability to adopt a systemic approach, which confirms the need for these competencies in the future [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF].

Surprisingly, the w k f ' y' 9)

an absolute priority when considering competence in innovation. Many playerssuch as research institutes and marketing departmentshave been emphasising, for several years, some of the same evidence regarding strategic competencies: the search for meaning, the need for a societal role, ecology and biodiversity. This low ranking may have several interpretations. The data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, which had significant impacts on firms' performance. Because of the financial consequences of the sudden drop in business activity worldwide, many companies have had to react by focusing first on their performance (or even survival) in the concise term (Ivanov and Dolgui, 2020).

However, environmental and social sustainability issues often take a back seat [START_REF] Seuring | A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain management[END_REF] when companies are experiencing economic difficulties.

7.

Conclusion, research limitations and future directions

A competence profile can be described as the overview of the essential elements of professional competence required for effective performance [START_REF] Chatenier | Identification of competencies for professionals in open innovation teams[END_REF] We used an exploratory case study approach and conducted case studies using a crosssectional survey to substantiate insights from the qualitative stage. Following the categorisation of competencies by [START_REF] Tassabehji | The changing role of procurement: developing professional effectiveness[END_REF], we can complement the results by specifying them in the context of innovation.

The case studies extend the literature review findings, as 18 new competencies were added and ranked by the number of people who cited them (e.g., adaptation, advanced technical competencies in products/services, capacity to detect weak signals, perseverance, capacity to federate, personal credibility within the firm, etc.). In the quantitative study, the 138 professionals also emphasised some of the competencies set including those identified through the qualitative phase. In particular, the participants also underlined the high importance of the following competencies: 'perseverance', 'capacity to federate', 'personal y w f m' ' y' ' mm ' ' w'. I p r, the first three competencies come from the qualitative phase.

To create value throughout a chain, PSM actors must be integrated, recognised and have the opportunity to be listened to and followed in their recommendations. This is not possible if the buyer is not credible. It is then necessary to prepare an upstream action plan to achieve this competence. This result echoes a previous study from Midler et al. (2012, p. 168), that "It is by solving problems at home that one makes oneself credible and readable for possible innovative cooperations" w f m -organisational activities.

Concerning strategic competencies, all the responses tended to show that buyers must have the ability to adopt a systemic approach, which strengthens the need for these competencies in the future [START_REF] Bals | Purchasing and supply management (PSM) competencies: current and future requirements[END_REF]. Under their capacity to detect weak signals, buyers can anticipate future needs through numerous interactions with stakeholders.

Taking a CBV of the firm and empirically grounded competencies, this research contributes to closing some of the gaps identified by Freiling et al. (2008). We argue the specific competencies identified have an impact on innovation performance and operational efficiency.

From a managerial perspective, this study can show that the purchasing function is in continuous evolution following current contexts. The needs of companies are no longer those of a few years ago. In this way, combining different competencies could help managers evaluate their current competencies and give an idea about the possible improvements. The results provide a basis for human resources managers to determine the required competence for a job description in innovation projects and any staff development processes.

Furthermore, one of the tasks for higher education is to foster innovation and creativity in society according to the declaration of the ministers of education from European countries (Leuven/Louvain-la-Neuve Declaration, 2009). We believe that our research might help.

This study intends to generate insights into the breadth and relevancy of the competencies needed for innovation and develop an overall PSM competency framework.

There are, however, limits to this exploratory work. We conducted a state of the art on this nascent research object. An extensive systematic review of the existing literature could be carried out and in order to synthesize the research on PSM competences on the one hand and innovation competences on the other, and therefore shed light on the evolution of the topic.

It might be insightful to integrate the views of suppliers, human resource managers and specialised recruitment firms by asking what they consider to be the most relevant competencies in the context of innovation. This would help to multiply the angles of understanding of the subject and refine the results.

Without wishing to be exhaustive, we present the other different perspectives that would be relevant to explore.

Previous studies [START_REF] Becheikh | Lessons from innovation empirical studies in the manufacturing sector: a systematic review of the literature from 1993-2003[END_REF] indicate a positive effect of firm size on innovation: large firms can use more resources to innovate and support risky activities than SMEs, and large firms can benefit from economies of scale in R&D, production and marketing [START_REF] Stock | Firm size and dynamic technological innovation[END_REF]. It might be wise to compare these results by focusing on SMEs. SMEs represent a vital source of economic growth due to the overwhelming majority of their numbers in this industry (Agostini and Nosella, 2018). SMEs have been playing an increasing role in innovation [START_REF] West | Open innovation: a research agenda[END_REF] and are deliberately engaging in innovation-seeking strategies and searching for ideas from various external innovation partners, including suppliers, consumers, and other external partners [START_REF] Brunswicker | Beyond open innovation in large enterprises: how do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) open up to external innovation sources[END_REF].

We can contribute to the sparse literature on PSM in SMEs by identifying relevant competencies needed to innovate. Furthermore, it might be interesting to pursue research with comparative tests of samples to compare the priority of the required competencies according to the type of innovation and the seniority of the PSM.

Insofar as this research is purely exploratory, we suggest that a confirmatory approach be deployed in the future to verify the classification of competencies. This would require conducting a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) on a new independent sample.

It further appears fruitful to extend the initial results on the competence 'weak signal detection' enriched when cross-referenced with intuition (Kaufmann et al., 2017) and investigate its usefulness in innovation supply management situations to improve decision making.

Table 2 .

 2 Overview of competencies that might enable professionals to innovate.

	Categorisation		N1	N2
		1. Competencies	1. PSM Field	2.Competencies	2.Innovation
		required (strategic,	Authors	needed during	Field Authors
		best in class and		innovation without
		future) by PSM		focusing on
				purchasing agents.
	Technical	Innovation sourcing	Tassabehji and	Project	Antonites and
	competencies	Innovative sourcing	Moorhouse (2008);	management	Van Vuuren
		approaches	Prajogo and Sohal		(2005)
		Product knowledge	(2013);		Lawson et al.
		Project management	Homfeldt et al. (2017);		(2015)
			Shou and Wang
			(2017); Karttunen
			(2018); Legenvre and
			Gualandris (2018);
			Bals et al. (2019)
	Interpersonal	Curiosity	Giunipero et al. (2006)	Creativity	Antonites and
	competencies	Dealing with	Mulder et al. (2005)	Curiosity	Van Vuuren
		ambiguity	Tassabehji and	Openness	(2005)
		Leadership	Moorhouse (2008);	Teamwork	Friedman and
		Openness	Jordan and Bak (2016)	Understanding	Antal (2005);
		Passion	Shou and Wang (2017)	social situations	Cerinsek and
		Self-management	Bals et al. (2019)		Dolinsek (2009)
		Teamwork			Chatenier et al.
					(2010); Lawson
					et al. (2015);
					Nakano and
					Wechsler
					(2018)
	Internal	Building trust	Mulder et al. (2005);	Creating a win-	Friedman and
	enterprise	Communication	Giunipero et al.	win situation	Antal (2005)
	competencies	competencies	(2006); Tassabehji and	Networking	Chatenier et al.
		Change management	Moorhouse (2008);	Communication	(2010)
		Marketing	Feisel et al. (2008);	competencies	Midler et al.
		Networking	Van Weele, and Van	Building trust	(2012);
		R&D	Raaij (2014); Jordan		Damanpour
		Sales	and Bak (2016);		(1991)
		Stakeholder	Homfeldt et al. (2017);		Fay et al. (2015)
		relationship	Bals et al. (2019);		Lawson et al.
			Pihlajamaa et al.		(2015)
			(2019)
	External	Communication	Mulder et al. (2005)	Creating a win-	Chatenier et al.
	enterprise	competencies	Giunipero et al.	win situation	(2010)
	competencies	Change management	(2006); Tassabehji and	Networking	Friedman and
		Customer focus	Moorhouse (2008);	Communication	Antal (2005)
		Networking	Feisel et al. (2008);	competencies	Damanpour
		Stakeholder	Van Weele, and Van		(1991)
		relationship	Raaij (2014); Prajogo
			and Sohal (2013);
			Jordan and Bak
			(2016); Homfeldt et al.

Table 3 .

 3 Agri

	-f	f m '	w ' p f	j	.

Presentation of agri-food firms Code Interviewee's job title 2019 Annual turnover (million €) Firm A: Vegetable raw materials, flavouring, colouring and technological ingredients.

	Alpha is an independent family-run business. This SME has managed to industrialise the dehydration of local products. Alpha produces and markets ingredients for culinary preparations for restaurants and raw vegetable materials and technological components for the food industry and the B2C industry (own-brand products). Number of employees = 252 2 Firm B: Fruit drinks manufacturer. A SME line with consumer expectations, the consumption of organic juices and nectars has increased by more than 62% in five years. This is an underlying trend and the format of fresh fruit juice has become increasingly popular. Number of employees = 490 (part of a group of 6500 employees) Firm C: Premium chocolate. A company that makes seasonal chocolate, mainly for Christmas and Easter. Their liqueur chocolates feature in a niche market, in which Gamma is the clear leader in France. Number of employees = 120 CEO with solid expertise in the fruit juice market. In A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 CEO Innovation Director Supply Chain Purchasing Director Marketing Director Purchasing Manager and (raw materials) Direct Procurement Agent B1 B2 B3 Supply Chain and Procurement Director Head of R&D C1 C2 C3 C4 Purchasing Director Head of R&D/Innovation Operational Director Marketing Manager Firm D:	47 17

National firm specialised in the processing, preparation and distribution of meat products.

  Delta specialises in cutting, processing and preparing fresh and cooked meat, as well as prepared products.

	D1	Purchasing Director	385,9
	D2	Purchasing Manager
	D3	Marketing Manager
	D4	R&D Manager
	Number of employees = 5380
	Firm E:

A multinational firm specialising in chocolate confectionery and food for human consumption

					E1	Packaging	Buying	778,7
						Manager
	. Strong values guide this company,	E2	Head of Innovation and
	referred to as the ''five principles'': Quality,		R&D
	Responsibility,	Mutuality,	Efficiency	and	E3	Head	of	Logistics
	Freedom. The founder strove to adopt an economic		Buying France
	model inspired by the ''mutuality of benefits'' for	E4	Head of Marketing
	all stakeholders: employees, customers, and		France
	suppliers.				E5	Project Manager for
	Number of employees = 4250 (part of a group of		Innovation
	130 000 employees)			E6	Lead Buying Manager

  We found the technical solution together, so that the pocket does not pierce, we put two ribs opposite each other in the cooking pocket, normally the buyers say 'figureit

	out, I want that!'" (D2)
	Technical competencies led to the following procurement director joining prestigious
	professional associations (packaging, raw materials, etc.), being recognised by peers and
	having an influence in the market:
	"It is me who represents Alpha at the European Spice Association, there is no other
	specialist like me, because I spend ten hours a day there, and for personal interest ... I
	must be able to explain to the sales representatives the 'product' characteristics, the
	market characteristics (raw material market, pepper)." (A3)
	Advanced technical competencies in products and/or services: According to most
	respondents, PSM involves sharing their technical competencies upstream of the innovation
	process, at innovation meetings, in steering committees and with R&D, product, marketing
	and sales departments. PSM professionals also provide technical support for the supplier in

Innovation sourcing: All respondents provided us with many examples. The buyer develops the ability to find new materials, products and suppliers:

"Purchases are important for the sourcing of novelties, to have samples to elaborate the recipes, in line with the specifications, with a back-up solution. For example, we ask for basil powder, and he offers us an extract. He also brings his knowledge of the market (problems with harvesting certain fruits, sometimes less known) and the price, of course, according to the volume." (B3) the manufacturing and prototyping process. This process innovation of the supplier, in which the procurement director is a direct player, leads to product innovation within Delta: "Personal credibility within the firm: Beyond having internal legitimacy, the buyer below tries to be credible in giving his word about the feasibility of a future innovation project: "Recognition comes from the seriousness that we put into the follow-up. When you succeed, you are credible. When we tell the team 'go to work', it is not to tell them 'stop' two weeks later!" (D2) Perseverance: A company's ability to innovate goes through successive stages of trial and error:

"You don't have to be afraid of failure to innovate and persevere! We have kept our childlike spirit." (B1)

Table 4 .

 4 Case study interviews compared with the state of the art: an overview of competencies

	needed for PSM during innovation highlighting previous findings and those newly added/expanded
	(New)
	Categorisation Competencies from the state of	Competencies coded from case studies
	the art	N m	f p p	mp	=	…

Table 5 .

 5 Quantitative study sample description

	Innovation type participated to	% Company size (nb. Employees)	%
	Process	31.4 <10	6.5
	Product or services	35.0 [10-249]	18.8
	Organisational	28.5 [250-4999]	37.7
	All three types	5.1 5000 or more	37.0
	Idea holder	Industry
	Respondent	52.9 Construction/Materials	9.4
	Other people	47.1 Chemistry/Parachemistry	5.1
	Gender	Energy/Water/Environment	4.3
	Male	63.8 Aerospace industry	5.1
	Female	36.2 Agri-food industry	15.2
	Experience in PSM (nb. years)	Automobile industry	5.8
	<5	13.8 Luxury industry	5.8
	[5-9]	11.6 Metal industry	10.1
	[10-20]	24.6 Pharmaceutical industry	9.4

level of importance through statements based on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (not at all important) to 5 (strongly important).

Table 5 .

 5 Quantitative results for technical competencies.

	Technical competencies	N	Mean Standard	Rank Median Mode Max Min
			deviation
	Innovation sourcing (ability to	138 4.255 0.738	1	4	4	5	1
	find innovations and integrate
	them into the firm)
	Management of innovation	138 4.036 0.752	2	4	4	5	1
	projects
	Advanced technical	138 3.927 0.944	3	4	5	5	1
	competencies in
	products/services
	Innovative sourcing approaches	138 3.920 0.986	4	4	4	5	1
	(digitisation, supplier selection,
	etc.)

Table 6 .

 6 Quantitative results for interpersonal competencies.

	Interpersonal	N	Mean Standard	Rank Media	Mode Max Min
	competencies		deviation		n
	Curiosity	138 4.635 0.541	1	5	5	5	3
	Adaptation	138 4.482 0.676	2	5	5	5	2
	Detection of weak signals	138 4.255 0.653	3	4	4	5	2
	from the environment
	Leadership	138 4.211 0.718	4	4	4	5	2

Table 7 .

 7 Quantitative results for intra-organisational competencies.

	Intra-organisational	N Mean Standard	Rank Media	Mode Max Min
	competencies	deviation		n
	Perseverance	138 4.584 0.577	1	5	5	5	3
	Capacity to federate	138 4.577 0.552	2	5	5	5	3
	Personal credibility within the	138 4.569 0.526	3	5	5	5	3
	firm
	Communication	138 4.504 0.620	4	5	5	5	3

Table 8 .

 8 Quantitative results for inter-organisational competencies.

	Inter-organisational	N	Mean Standard	Rank Median Mode Max Min
	competencies		deviation
	Development of the supplier	138 4.613 0.546	1	5	5	5	2
	relationship
	Open-mindedness (to new	138 4.387 0.656	2	4	5	5	2
	ideas, methods from suppliers,
	etc.)
	Attractiveness regarding	138 4.277 0.683	3	4	4	5	2

Table 9 .

 9 Quantitative results for strategic competencies.

	Strategic	N	Mean Standard	Rank Median Mode	Max	Min
	competencies		deviation
	Holistic view	138 4.445 0.617	1	5	5	5	3
	Risk management	138 4.328 0.719	2	4	5	5	2
	Critical sense	138 4.146 0.659	3	4	4	5	3
	Sustainability	138 3.971 0.766	4	4	4	5	2

  ) propose recruiting buyers who are likely to be on good terms with internal clients to develop relational qualities. Being able to interact well with others would facilitate a better understanding of the other functions of the firm, thus increasing the impact of the buyer and the credibility competence. This way, would help PSM promote ideas internally(Homfeldt et al., 2017) and integrate them into new innovation projects(Hartmann et al., 2012).

	A	p	'P	'	f	m
	competencies. Persistence is an expression of motivation. Sustained commitment and
	perseverance despite failures is probably the most decisive determining factor in creativity.
	As pointed out by Ribeiro and Furtado (2015, p. 267), 'the risk of failure is a necessary
	element of any innovation project. Therefore, it cannot be said to invalidate the deployment
	of an innovative procurement policy'.
	A w	mp	k	'A		p	'
	m	4. W		mp			'I
	organisational competencies' are important. This could be explained as these competencies
	have an impact on teamwork. Fay et al. (2015) consider that capacity to work together, and
	communication causes the flow of ideas among team members, leading to the enhancement
	of innovation activities and helps develop mutual trust.

  . Based on a combination of state of the art and rich empirical data, the study provides new insights into the constituent resources, and more specifically, competencies required for purchasing manager participation during innovation to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. It consists of interview-based research (n = 23) in five in-depth case studies complemented with an extended survey of 138 PSM professionals highly experienced in innovation. From our best knowledge, our research is the first to add specific, empirically grounded competencies to the PSM literature in this specific and strategic context.

Based on firms' annual reports 2019

 Dillman, D.A. 2000. Mail and Internet Surveys:The Tailored Design Method, Wiley, New York, NY. Eisenhardt, K.M., Graebner, M.E., 2007. Theory building from cases: opportunities and challenges. The Academy of Management Journal, 50 (1), 25-32. Faes, W., Knight, L., Matthyssens, P., 2001. Buyer profiles: an empirical investigation of changing organisational requirements. European Journal of Purchasing & Supply Management,7 (3),[197][198][199][200][201][202][203][204][205][206][207][208] Fay, D., H. Shipton, M. A. West