Eric Mack On-Line

David Pender, University of Adelaide, is sharing some of his current research (in progress) about some of the knowledge management issues in supply chains.

The problem:  Just as collaborative barriers exist, within organizations, so they exist between organizations.

So what  don't we know?

Pender identified eight questions that must be asked when considering this issue:
- nature of the supply chain and how it evolved
- basis of the supply chain design
- intellectual property issues
- network and "social capital" issues
- Inter-firm "ba"
- distribution of risks, costs, & rewards
- inhibitors & enablers to success
- leadership, management & stewardship issues

How are supply chains in LESPs presently organized?
Separable Contracts <==> relationship based system

* LESP (Large Style Engineering Project)

How should relationships be prioritized?

What knowledge enablers should we consider?
(Ichhiijo, 2004)

"The formation of the problem is half the solution" - Einstein.

My key takeaway from this  brief presentation is that we do not frequently see large scale knowledge sharing efforts up and down supply chains but that the value chain represents a significant opportunity for knowledge sharing with a measurable payoff for all parties. This will require new approaches to leadership and management. There's very little published research on this, but there is certainly a need and an opportunity


Question:
Who invented the wrist watch? (And who was the world leader in this field?)
Who is the world leader now?
Why?
(If you don't know the story of how the Swiss went from literally owning the market to a minority player, look it up. Learn how Seiko and Texas Instruments took over and the story of what lead to the knowledge transfer - fascinating.)