The impact of knowledge management processes on supply chain performance. An empirical study

• Published date: 09 November 2015
• Pages: 603-626
• Date: 09 November 2015
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJLM-09-2012-0100
• Author: Mohamad Sadegh Sangari,Reza Hosnavi,Mohammad Reza Zahedi
• Subject Matter: Management science & operations,Logistics

The impact of knowledge

management processes

on supply chain performance

An empirical study

Mohamad Sadegh Sangari

Faculty of Fouman, College of Engineering, University of Tehran,

Tehran, Iran, and

Reza Hosnavi and Mohammad Reza Zahedi

Department of Industrial Engineering,

Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between knowledge management

(KM) processes and supply chain performance, with information technology/information system

(IT/IS) support, supply chain integration, and supply chain strategy as moderators.

Design/methodology/approach –Drawing on the knowledge-based view, a theoretical framework

is developed consisting of six KM processes: knowledge creation, knowledge capture, knowledge

organization, knowledge storage, knowledge dissemination, and knowledge application, and the

performance of supply chain is evaluated in terms of four Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR)

process elements: Plan, Source, Make, and Delivery. Structural equation modeling is employed using a

sample of 78 Iranian manufacturers in mechanical and engineering industry.

Findings –Empirical results show that KM processes have a significant impact on supply chain

performance which is positively moderated by IT/IS support and supply chain integration. While the

moderating effect of IT/IS support is found to be considerably stronger, the relationship between KM

processes and supply chain performance is not significantly different in lean and agile supply chains.

Research limitations/implications –Since the sample for this study is small and drawn only from

manufacturing companies in mechanical and engineering industry, it would be important to conduct

further empirical studies with larger samples from a wider range of industries to improve and

strengthen our analyses and provide more conclusive and generalizable results.

Originality/value –Through empirical study, a better understanding of the impact of KM processes

on supply chain performance and the moderating role of IT/IS support and supply chain integration

can be gained.

Keywords Supply chain performance, Knowledge management, Structural equation modelling,

Knowledge management processes, Moderating effect, SCOR

Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction

In the modern business environment, competition has shifted from single organizations

to supply chains (Stadtler and Kilger, 2005) and effective supply chain management

(SCM) has become increasingly significant in securing competitive advantage and

improving organizational performance (Trkman et al., 2010). SCM has assumed a

leading operations strategy position in both manufacturing and service industries an d

companies have seriously implemented SCM practices in their organizations over the The International Journal of

Logistics Management

Vol. 26 No. 3, 2015

pp. 603-626

©Emerald Group Publis hing Limited

0957-4093

DOI 10.1108/IJLM-09-2012-0100

Received 24 September 2012

Revised 28 December 2012

16 May 2013

30 September 2013

27 September 2014

Accepted 28 October 2014

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/0957-4093.htm

The authors are grateful for the valuable comments from the respected reviewers that have

enhanced the strength and significance of our paper.

603

KM processes

on supply

chain

performance

past few years (Samuel et al., 2011). Although there has been intense research interest in

SCM, the understanding of the why and how some supply chains outperfo rm others is

still incomplete and little is known about the intangibles associated with supply chain

performance (Hult et al., 2006).

Knowledge is known as a key intangible resource and valuable organizational asset

that is the base of constant development and sustainable competitive advantage

(Allameh et al., 2011). It adds value through its contribution to products, processes,

and people, while knowledge management (KM) transforms data, information, and

intellectual assets into enduring value by identifying useful knowledge for

management actions and increases the availability and accessibility of valuable

knowledge at the right time to the right person (Akhavan et al., 2009; Tseng, 2010).

According to Wu (2008), knowledge is becoming the only resource capable of

offering competitive advantage as well as continued growth and prosperity for supply

chain partners. In a supply chain, the effective use of KM practices is critical to

effectively plan and forecast for future operations (Desouza et al., 2003). Thus, KM is

considered as a major enabler of SCM (Samuel et al., 2011) and researchers believe that

an integrated KM approach can enhance the degree of SCM success (Shaw et al., 2003;

Wadhwa and Saxena, 2005).

There has been much research interest on KM in academic and industrial communities

(Kim et al., 2003), however most studies have focussed on intra-organizational perspective

rather than inter-organizational (Samuel et al., 2011). While the impact of KM on

performance at the firm level has been investigated in several previous works (e.g. Choi

et al., 2008; Yang, 2010), a systematic and structured analysis of the KM impacts on supply

chain performance has not yet been conducted. Hult et al. (2006) argue that the lack of

attention to this link is unfortunate because firm and chain performance outcomes are

increasingly intertwined.

In order to fill this gap, in this paper a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach is

used to investigate the impact of KM processes on supply chain performance based on

Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) model. Moreover, the moderating effects of three

important constructs, namely information system/information technology (IS/IT) support,

supply chain integration, and supply chain strategy are examined. The paper is organized

as follows. Section 2 reviews previous research on the importance of KM and its potential

impact on supply chain performance as well as theoretical considerations concerning KM

processes, SCOR model, and the moderating role of the mentioned constructs. Section 3

describes research methodology including research model and hypotheses as well as data

collection process. Results of data analysis are presented in Section 4, and finally, the

paper concludes with a discussion on the obtained results, managerial implications,

research limitations, and recommendations for future research in Section 5.

2. Theoretical background

2.1 Importance of KM in supply chain performance

The resource-based view (RBV) is perhaps the most influential framework in strategic

managementthat widely used to understand competitive advantage.It describes the firm

as a unique bundle of resources, i.e. tangible and intangible assets it controls (Barney,

1991; Ray et al., 2003) and attributes differences in performance to differences in certain

endowments of resources, skills, competences, and capabilities (Newbert, 2007).

The knowledge-based view (KBV) has been developed as an extension of RBV.

It considers knowledge as the most strategically significant resource and emphasizes

the importance of knowledge as the primary source of competitive advantage, superior

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