Absorptive Capacity Configurations in Supply Chains: Gearing for Partner-Enabled Market Knowledge Creation
Absorptive Capacity Configurations in Supply Chains: Gearing for Partner-Enabled Market Knowledge Creation
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DOI：
10.2307/25148671
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发表时间：
2005-03
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
A. Malhotra;S. Gosain;O. E. Sawy
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
A. Malhotra;S. Gosain;O. E. Sawy
对持续价值创新的需求正在推动供应链从纯粹的交易焦点演变为利用组织间的合作伙伴关系来共享信息，并最终创造市场知识。供应链合作伙伴(1)参与相互关联的过程，使丰富（广泛、高质量和特权）的信息共享成为可能；(2)建立信息技术基础设施，使他们能够处理从合作伙伴那里获得的信息，以创造新的知识。本研究揭示并检验了基于能力平台差异而存在的供应链伙伴关系配置的多样性，反映了不同的流程和信息系统。我们使用吸收能力透镜来构建一个概念框架，将这些配置与合作伙伴支持的市场知识创造联系起来。吸收能力是指组织获取、吸收、转化和利用知识以产生动态组织能力的一套组织惯例和过程。通过在IT行业供应链中的RosettaNet联盟工作环境中进行的探索性现场研究，我们使用聚类分析来揭示和描述五种供应链伙伴关系配置（收集器、连接器、处理器、强制器和合作者）。我们比较了他们的合作伙伴支持的知识创造和运营效率，以及他们的能力平台和信息交换性质的缺点。通过对每一种配置的表征，我们能够推导出企业吸收能力要素的研究命题。这些主张提供了如何影响合作伙伴支持的市场知识创造和运营效率的见解，并突出了协调信息和丰富信息的相互关联作用。本文最后从这些结构的揭示和由此产生的研究命题中得出了对研究和实践的启示。它还强调了通过研究供应链背景和其他组织间伙伴关系安排在知识管理研究方面取得进展的丰富机会。
The need for continual value innovation is driving supply chains to evolve from a pure transactional focus to leveraging interorganizational partner ships for sharing information and, ultimately, market knowledge creation. Supply chain partners are (1) engaging in interlinked processes that enable rich (broad-ranging, high quality, and privileged) information sharing, and (2) building information technology infrastructures that allow them to process information obtained from their partners to create new knowledge. This study uncovers and examines the variety of supply chain partnership configurations that exist based on differences in capability platforms, reflecting varying processes and information systems. We use the absorptive capacity lens to build a conceptual framework that links these configurations with partner-enabled market knowledge creation. Absorptive capacity refers to the set of organizational routines and processes by which organizations acquire, assimilate, transform, and exploit knowledge to produce dynamic organizational capabilities. Through an exploratory field study conducted in the context of the RosettaNet consortium effort in the IT industry supply chain, we use cluster analysis to uncover and characterize five supply chain partnership configurations (collectors, connectors, crunchers, coercers, and collaborators). We compare their partner-enabled knowledge creation and operational efficiency, as well as the shortcomings in their capability platforms and the nature of information exchange. Through the characterization of each of the configurations, we are able to derive research propositions focused on enterprise absorptive capacity elements. These propositions provide insight into how partner-enabled market knowledge creation and operational efficiency can be affected, and highlight the interconnected roles of coordination information and rich information. The paper concludes by drawing implications for research and practice from the uncovering of these configurations and the resultant research propositions. It also highlights fertile opportunities for advances in research on knowledge management through the study of supply chain contexts and other interorganizational partnering arrangements.