Us not them! Impeding knowledge management in supply chains

Abstract

For many years following the Industrial Revolution there was a period of stability where knowledge of processes could be assimilated at a slow pace by new generations of workers: one ploughed the fields, set the seeds, and in due course gathered in the crops. Father taught son, and so life rolled on. This is not so nowadays, capital equipment is much larger and more expensive so it has to be kept working day and (often) at night, and to raise efficiency there are satellite guidance systems (GPS) to locate exactly where in the fields to administer changes in fertilizer regimes following soil and yield assessment. Statistical analyses and data management have become a dominant factor in modern farm management-as has maintaining awareness of global events and regional legislation with respect to production limits and quota systems. In other words, the pace of life has quickened, and knowledge management has become a real need. The acquisition of data has to be fast, and its exchange between workers has to be open to develop an awareness of interlinks between all the pertinent data. We know the world is not 'ideal', so in this paper we will look to the factors that might inhibit knowledge transfer, thus delay or deny learning. Further, as each enterprise is but one in a complex web of 'supply chains', we will note macro factors that may inhibit better micro performance in multinational companies as they attempt to pursue their global business and exchange their knowledge.

Towards an integrated approach to knowledge management: ‘hard’, ‘soft’ and ‘abstract’ issues

“…Such differences become explicit where multinational companies wish to adopt knowledge management principles (Kidd, 2000). For example, according to Malhotra (1997) organizations in eastern countries such as India understand knowledge to be intellectual property whereas western organizations refer to knowledge as something that exists in peoples' heads.…”

“…The problem at this level is that different cultures have different mental models of collaboration or trust (Kidd, 2000).…”