Authors: Fabrizio Zerbini; Stefania Borghini
Knowledge transfer between suppliers and manufacturers is a key research topic in operations and strategic management. To date, not much research has, however, focused on knowledge transfer during vendor selection, especially not on knowledge flows from suppliers towards manufacturers. In this paper, we argue that a supplier’s capacity to transfer know-how is critical for an understanding of its performance in the vendor selection process. The study identifies two dimensions of the know-how transfer capacity: the first is visualization, which refers to a visual representation explaining how the supplier knowledge applies to the manufacturer’s operations. The second is socialization, which refers to the direct interaction with the supplier’s technicians in order to convey tacit meanings about how the manufacturer can obtain value from the supplier knowledge. We use data from the equipment supply industry to empirically test the effects of know-how visualization and socialization on supplier performance during the vendor selection process. Our findings show that both dimensions of the know-how transfer capacity affect the responses that suppliers obtain from manufacturers at the consideration set and choice stages. These findings further develop the source firm perspective in knowledge transfer – or the impartation capacity – as a mirror of the recipient firm perspective’s absorptive capacity. This perspective is particularly relevant to understand the role of supplier know-how in an embryonic stage for the formation of a supply chain relationship with the manufacturer.
Journal: n.a. (n.a. – n.a.)
Web Address: n.a.
Publish Year: 2012
Conference: Rome, Italy (2012)