Observing innovation impacts on supply chain: the case of the Swatch

Innovation impacts the company and its environment. This paper presents a case study for visualizing the innovation impacts on the company's supply chain. Using a historic case study, we explore how innovations can affect the organization of a supply chain. The company and stakeholders belonging to the supply chain were thoroughly studied. Using data from the literature, the research objective is a better understanding of the influences of innovation on the organization of the supply chain. A methodology is developed to model the supply chain before and after the emergence of the innovation. The evolution inside and outside of the company following the strategic choices, are observed. In this way, the impact of the innovation on the supply chain can be detailed. The results of this study show scenarios to design a new supply chain after the emergence of an innovation. In the future, a methodology will be developed to help managers to anticipate impacts caused by innovation.