Integrating Knowledge Management and Relationship Management in an Enterprise Environment

Knowledge management and relationship management are essential ingredients for value creation to gain competitive advantages in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. The merging of the two disciplines has received increasing attention both in academia and in business. Past research focuses on the integration of knowledge management and customer relationship management at the business process level. This paper extends the concepts to enterprise relationship management to include customer relationship management, supplier relationship management and partner relationship management. The merging of knowledge management (KM) and enterprise relationship management (ERM) yields two perspectives: the ERM-oriented KM (EKM) and the KM-oriented ERM (KERM)

Manufactura biológica e inteligente: atributos de la vida aplicados al desarrollo tecnológico

Los entornos altamente dinámicos caracterizados por el predominio del conocimiento como motor del desarrollo hacen que sea necesario abordar problemáticas específicas a través de enfoques multidisciplinarios. En este orden de ideas, mediante la imi- tación del comportamiento de los seres vivos se han generado técnicas y herramientas aplicadas en contextos como los tecnoló- gicos y productivos para incrementar la eficiencia y la capacidad de respuesta. Este artículo presenta los resultados de una in- vestigación efectuada mediante la aplicación de técnicas cienciométricas y de vigilancia tecnológica, con el fin de evidenciar el impacto que los conceptos y fundamentos de las ciencias de la vida han tenido sobre el desarrollo tecnológico y su gestión. De esta manera se encontró que dicho impacto se ha reflejado principalmente en la generación de conceptos y aplicaciones a temas como la manufactura inteligente, los sistemas biológicos de fabricación, la manufactura holónica y biónica, otorgando a- tributos de adaptación, autoaprendizaje, flexibilidad y capacidad de evolución a los procesos de fabricación y de manejo de in- formación, lo cual permite concluir que la gestión del factor tecnológico se ha fortalecido con base en campos como el bio- lógico, con repercusiones directas en los procesos productivos.Highly competitive settings, characterised by development being promoting by the predominance of knowledge, means that mul- tidisciplinary approaches must be adopted for dealing with specific problems. Indeed, techniques and tools have been created by imitating human beings’ behaviour and applying them to productive and technological contexts to increase efficiency and enable a quick response. This paper deals with this topic and presents the results of scientometric- and technological surveillance-based research for revealing life sciences’ impact on technological development and its management. It was found that such impact has been mainly reflected in producing concepts and applications for topics such as intelligent manufacturing, biological manu- facturing systems and holonic and bionic manufacturing, thereby providing manufacturing and information management with hu- man attributes such as adaptation, self-learning, flexibility and the ability to evolve. It may thus be concluded that technological factor management has been strengthened, based on fields such as biology, thereby leading to direct outcomes regarding pro- duction

Supplier-Switching Inertia and Competitive Asymmetry: A Demand-Side Perspective

Building on strategic management, operations strategy, and supplier management literatures, this article presents a framework for supplier selection from the demand-side perspective. We highlight the role of a purchasing firm’s switching inertia in the supplier selection process and demonstrate the usefulness of our framework for the industrial automation industry. Empirical data for this study was collected from 171 corporate and plant-level executives in pharmaceutical, chemical, and paper-and-pulp manufacturing industries in the United States. A series of Web-based individually customized discrete choice experiments asked the respondents to either switch to the new supplier or stay with the existing supplier. Based on the results of these experiments, we demonstrate the existence of switching inertia in the supplier-selection process and discuss the managerial implications for incumbent and challenger supplier firms

An intelligent supplier relationship management system for selecting and benchmarking suppliers

In today's accelerating world economy, the drive to cut costs continually and focus on core competencies has driven many to outsource some or all of their production. In this environment, improving supply chain execution and leveraging the supply base through effective supplier relationship management has become more critical than ever in achieving competitive advantage. It is found that the integration of customer relationship management (CRM) and supplier relationship management (SRM) to facilitate supply chain management in the areas of supplier selection using an artificial intelligence approach has become a promising solution for manufacturers to identify appropriate suppliers and trading partners to form a supply network on which they depend for products, services and distribution. In this paper, an intelligent supplier relationship management system (ISRMS) using hybrid case based reasoning (CBR) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) techniques to select and benchmark potential supplier is discussed. By using ISRMS in Honeywell Consumer Product (Hong Kong) Limited, the outsource cycle time from searching for potential suppliers to the allocation of order is greatly reduced.Department of Industrial and Systems Engineerin

Supplier selection in the Malaysian telecommunications industry

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Supplier selection plays an important role in any organisation. This study investigates and examines supplier selection criteria and the impacts on buying firm performance; specifically focusing on the telecommunications industry in Malaysia. Previous studies in this area have focussed on the criteria such as quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management and decision making tools and techniques. However, little research has been undertaken to include government policies and business ethics as elements in the supplier selection criteria. After a literature review and interviews, the development of conceptual frameworks and a number of hypotheses were put forward. To achieve an in-depth study, four major telecommunications service provider companies in Malaysia were chosen as a case study. A questionnaire was used as the main instrument in gathering data. The questionnaire is principally concerned with the understanding of supplier selection and its criteria; based upon the variables that are used for the model and hypothesis testing. The study also investigates the relationship between supplier selection and the impact of supplier selection to the company performance. This model was tested using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) technique with the AMOS software application. Results indicated all of the criteria include quality, price, delivery, supplier relationship management, decision making tools and techniques, government policy and business ethics as valid constructs. A good model fit was also established. The findings of this research conclude that the influencing criteria to supplier selection in the telecommunications industry in Malaysia are supplier delivery performance standards and supplier relationship management even when considering the remainder of the above mentioned elements.The price factors were found to be less important due to this factor possibly leading to unhealthy competition in the market in terms of price wars among the suppliers in order to win the business. Most of the criteria are also interrelated to each other and affect the supplier selection decision. This model has added new perspectives to the study of supplier selection in the supply chain management field. As for future research it is suggested that intangible elements such as political, cultural and social influences are included in the conceptual framework; as this would offer important insight for management bodies in organisation, academia and public policy fields alike

Uwarunkowania budowania relacji partnerskich z dostawcami MRO dla przedsiębiorstw produkcyjnych w Polsce

Obszar budowania partnerskich relacji z dostawcami MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operating Supply) jest przedmiotem niniejszej dysertacji. W badaniach przeanalizowano zagadnienia związane z barierami i czynnikami wspierającymi partnerską współpracę w łańcuchu dostaw. Identyfikacja czynników o kluczowym znaczeniu dla dostawców MRO, pozwoliła na zaproponowanie katalogu najlepszych praktyk ukierunkowanych na partnerskich dla przedsiębiorstw produkcyjnych w Polsce. Głównym celem rozprawy było zidentyfikowanie tych obszarów zarządzania relacjami z dostawcami, które wymagają poprawy lub wprowadzenia określonych zachowań. Stwierdzono bowiem, że brak jest badań empirycznych, które koncentrowałyby się na identyfikacji barier i stymulatorów budowania partnerskich relacji z dostawcami tego typu towarów. Ze względu na konwencję doktoratu wdrożeniowego, przesłanką do podjęcia tematu badawczego była potrzeba zaproponowania kierunków zmian mających na celu niwelowanie istniejących barier i wzmocnienie aktywatorów rozwoju relacji partnerskich Grupy LOTOS S.A. z dostawcami MRO. Mając na uwadze istotną rolę MRO jako kluczowego elementu zapewnienia ciągłości i bezpieczeństwa procesów w przedsiębiorstwach produkcyjnych, określono praktyczny katalog działań ograniczających bariery w rozwoju relacji partnerskich pomiędzy dostawcami MRO a firmami produkcyjnymi w Polsce. W zakończeniu przedstawiono ustalenia i wnioski związane z zaproponowanymi praktykami oraz wskazano możliwości ich zastosowania w budowaniu i utrzymywaniu relacji partnerskich w przedsiębiorstwach produkcyjnych w Polsce. Rozprawa ma duży potencjał dla dalszego rozwoju tematu w strumieniu dostaw MRO, jako szczególnego i niedostatecznie eksponowanego obszaru działalności przedsiębiorstw w literaturze przedmiotu

Exploratory research into supply chain voids within Welsh priority business sectors

The paper reports the findings resulting from the initial stages of an exploratory investigation into Supply Chain Voids (SCV) in Wales. The research forms the foundations of a PhD thesis which is framed within the sectors designated as important by the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and indicates local supplier capability voids within their supply chains. This paper covers the stages of initial data gathering, analysis and results identified between June 2006 and April 2007, whilst addressing the first of four research questions. Finally, the approach to address future research is identified in order to explain how the PhD is to progress