Absorptive capacity helps determine innovation performance, yet despite the growing importance of service firms and open innovation in this context, extant literature continues to ignore the influence of suppliers. That is, external service providers may advance the knowledge absorption process of their clients. To address this gap, this study introduces the concept of insemination capacity, or a consulting firm’s ability to initiate and perpetuate a knowledge absorption sequence. Although knowledge-intensive business services might not explicitly seek to strengthen a client’s absorptive capacity, the provider’s insemination capacity may do so anyway. On the basis of prior empirical research, this study suggests that insemination capacity consists of four triggering mechanisms. This proposed framework offers new insights into supplier–client innovation performance.
