Knowledge management in supply chain: An empirical study from France

摘要

Supply chain consists of a group of firms working together which need to improve the efficiency of the entire system functioning continuously, from the raw material supply to the end-user behavior in order to benefit all the stakeholders. The various groups involved in the supply chain are heterogeneous and often autonomous in their functioning and should be capable of utilizing the knowledge available in the network to their advantage. Thus knowledge-based tools play a vital role in enhancing the capabilities of the various firms working in a supply chain. The studies in this topic so far was concentrating on the intra-organizational aspects of supply chain. This article on the other hand studies the inter-organizational factors that influence knowledge creation and dissipation within the supply chain. This paper analyses how the knowledge creation process can be adapted to the supply chain and critically investigates the drivers of this process. This was carried out by developing a questionnaire for this purpose and conducting a survey among French manufacturers who are players in the supply chains and are confronting knowledge management problems within their organizations. (56 refs.)