WHY SUPPLIER DEVELOPMENT WORKS? A KNOWLEDGE-MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE

Supplier development (SD) has been intensively and increasingly used in practice and studied in academia. Many studies find that SD can generate operational, capability-based, attitudinal, and financial performance measures for both the supplying firm (supplier) and the buying firm (buyer), but very few studies systematically explain why SD yields supplier’s performance improvements and, in turn, buyer’s performance improvements. Using a meta-analysis approach, this dissertation finds that SD does lead to positive outcomes, but SD is found to have very weak or even negative relationship with performance improvements in some cases. Such findings further support the importance of examining the main research question: why SD works. In order to answer the main research question, this dissertation adopts a multiphase triangulation approach: theoretical construction, conceptual examination, and empirical examination. Doing so, this dissertation constructs and validates a knowledge management (KM) view of SD. The purpose of theoretical construction (Chapter 3) is to develop a KM view of supplier development via a systematic view of previous studies. Presented in Chapter 4, conceptual examination reveals that all SD activities can be subsumed into KM activities, and further conceptually supports the feasibility of the KM view in SD. Empirical examination, including a survey of 39 SD scholars and a survey of 295 SD practitioners (156 complete responses), is presented in Chapters 5 and 6. Most hypotheses are strongly supported, demonstrating the importance of the knowledge-management view of SD. Overall, this dissertation has both theoretical contributions for KM and SD sides, and practical contributions for researchers, practitioners, and educators/students. First, it contributes by supporting the addition of KM variables to other theories when explaining why SD works, confirming the role of KM in SD, providing a complete KM view of SD, and revealing why SD works. Second, it contributes by implementing mixed research methods, integrating multiple disciplines, and exemplifying collecting data on LinkedIn. Third, it contributes by offering a catalog of SD activities and guidance for designing, implementation, and evaluation of SD initiatives. Fourth, it contributes by advancing a mental model to understand SD literature. Conclusions, limitations, and future research directions are also discussed

L'apport d'une approche multidimensionnelle de gestion des connaissances à la performance décisionnelle des organisations

La prise de décisions est une activité à forte intensité de connaissances, nécessitant la création et utilisation des connaissances pour l'amélioration de la qualité des décisions, soit la performance décisionnelle (PD). La PD est un défi pour tous les gestionnaires, peu importe le secteur industriel dans lequel ils œuvrent, car les décisions deviennent plus complexes, moins structurées, et fondées sur les connaissances organisationnelles. Bien que la GC soit soulignée pour sa contribution à la PD, les liens entre ces deux concepts n’ont pas été établis dans les recherches précédentes. L’objectif de cette thèse comble cette lacune en investiguant l’apport d’une approche multidimensionnelle de la GC à la PD, considérant des facteurs touchant les dimensions technologiques, humaines, organisationnelles, et une culture reconnaissant la valeur de la connaissance pour l’organisation. Les dimensions traitées, soit les moyens et outils, les processus, la structure et la culture de la GC sont les plus fréquemment mentionnées dans la littérature, mais traitées de manière isolée. Notre recherche vise à corriger cette faille, portant une attention particulière aux effets d’interaction entre les dimensions de la GC, et ce, dans un contexte réel. Pour ce faire, une recherche-action menée dans une entreprise du secteur forestier, traitant des opérations forestières. Ce terrain nous a offert de riches résultats, car des problématiques semblables se retrouvent dans d’autres secteurs d’activités. Nos résultats suggèrent qu’une approche multidimensionnelle de la GC est fructueuse pour l’amélioration de la PD, notamment quant à la productivité, l’agilité, l’innovation et la réputation des décisions. Nos résultats illustrent aussi la connexion entre les dimensions de la GC pour une meilleure PD, nous permettant de valider empiriquement qu’elles sont toutes importantes à prendre en compte et sont interreliées. Des mécanismes et des initiatives mis en place ont permis de illustrer ces liens. Par exemple, l’adoption d’outils de GC requiert des activités de la GC adaptées, une structure les soutenant, et une culture favorisant le partage, l’utilisation, et la création de connaissances en vue d’une meilleure PD. La démarche utilisée dans le cadre de notre recherche-action peut être mise à profit d’autres organisations qui cherchent à améliorer la PD. Mots-clés : gestion des connaissances; performance décisionnelle; recherche-action; cartographie des connaissances; planification forestière; réseau d’approvisionnement forestier.Improving decision performance (DP) is a challenge for all managers, regardless of the industry in which they work. This challenge is even more important in the current business environment where decisions become more complex, less structured, and increasingly based on organizational knowledge. Although KM is underlined for his contribution to the PD, recent research indicates the relationship between these two concepts needs more investigation in order to be better exploited in the management of organizations. To fill this gap, the objective of this thesis was to investigate the contribution of a multidimensional approach of KM to better support DP. Our approach considers factors from organizational, technological and human dimensions, and a culture that recognizes the value of knowledge. These dimensions of KM are mentioned in the literature, and are often investigated separately. However, in this thesis we pay special attention to interaction effects between them, to provide a holistic perspective in a real context. We conducted an action research in a company in the forestry sector; particularly we studied planning and forecasting of forest operations processes. This fieldwork provided rich data and interesting results, as well as highliighting problems that can be found in other sectors. Our results provide a deeper understanding and a holistic view of the KM based on a multidimensional approach to better support DP within organizations. Our results show that organizational, technological and cultural dimensions of the KM are all important and are deeply interrelated. We put in place mechanisms and initiatives that allowed us to validate this empirically. The approach used in the context of our action research can be exploited in other companies that seek to improve the DP, whether the forestry sector or elsewhere. Key words: Knowledge management; Decision performance; Multidimensional approach of KM; Action research; Knowledge mapping; Business process mapping; Forestry operations; Wood supply network