Peyman Akhavan, Ali Shahabipour and Reza Hosnavi
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a survey on the knowledge for supplier correlation with their capabilities and willingness as segmentation criteria. There are many…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conduct a survey on the knowledge for supplier correlation with their capabilities and willingness as segmentation criteria. There are many contexts for sharing knowledge. What are more beneficial contexts?
Design/methodology/approach
After developing the research hypothesis, a structured questionnaire was adopted to gather primary data from suppliers. The draft questionnaire was sent to five academic and industry experts to comment on the content. Received feedback was used to change the layout of the questionnaire. Instead of the traditional partial least squares, the state-of- art consistent partial least square technique was put into practice.
Findings
By definition, knowledge for supplier has a large impact on supplier capabilities. The Important-Performance Matrix Analysis (IPMA) prioritizes the indicators and suggests to focus on knowledge sharing about manufacturing processes, development expertise and marketing expertise. Results showed that supplier willingness for sharing confidential knowledge and longtime relationship depends on development programs.
Practical implications
Having a communication mechanism for each of the partnerships’ specific contexts was suggested to maximize the knowledge flow.
Originality/value
For maximizing the knowledge flow and studying the effect on the segmentation criteria such as capability and willingness, the main contribution of the paper is to survey the supplier knowledge in depth. The IPMA was implemented to highlight the indicators.
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Peyman Akhavan, Ali Shahabipour and Reza Hosnavi
Expert systems have come to the forefront in the modeling of problems. One of the major problems facing the expert system designers is to develop an accurate knowledge base and a…
Abstract
Purpose
Expert systems have come to the forefront in the modeling of problems. One of the major problems facing the expert system designers is to develop an accurate knowledge base and a meaningful model of uncertainty associated with complex models. Decision-making is based on knowledge, and decision system support needs a knowledge base as well. An adequate knowledge acquisition (KA) process leads to accurate knowledge and improves the decision-making process. To manage the risk of a medical service (twin pregnancy in this case) a knowledge management system was created. The captured knowledge may be associated with an uncertainty. This study aims to introduce a method for evaluating the reliability of a tacit KA model. It assisted engineering managers in assessing and prioritizing risks. The study tried to use this method in risk management and new case in the health domain.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, relevant variables were identified in the knowledge management literature reviews and the domain of expertise management. They are validated by a group of domain experts. Kendall’s W indicator was used to assess the degree of consensus. On the basis of combined cognitive maps, a cognitive network was constructed. Using Bayesian belief networks and fuzzy cognitive maps, an uncertainty assessment method of tacit KA was introduced. To help managers focus on major variables, a sensitivity analysis was conducted. Reliability of model was calculated for optimistic and pessimistic values. The applicability and efficacy of the proposed method were verified and validated with data from a medical university.
Findings
Results show that tacit KA uncertainty can be defined by independent variables, including environmental factors, personality and acquisition process factors. The reliability value shows the accuracy of the captured knowledge and the effectiveness of the acquisition process. The proposed uncertainty assessment method provides the reliability value of the acquisition model for knowledge engineers, so it can be used to implement the project and prevent failures in vital factors through necessary actions. If there is not a satisficed level of reliability, the KA project reliability can be improved by risk factors. The sensitivity analysis can help to select proper factors based on the resources. This approach mitigated some of the disadvantages of other risk evaluation methods.
Originality/value
The contribution of this study is to combine the uncertainty assessment with tacit KA based on fuzzy cognitive maps and the Bayesian belief networks approach. This approach used the capabilities of both narrative and computational approaches.
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Percy Mafanele, Eugine Tafadzwa Maziriri, Alfred Mojalefa Masakale and Brian Mabuyana
The study explored how supplier evaluation, selection, development and segmentation affect supply chain performance in pharmaceutical organizations. It also determined the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study explored how supplier evaluation, selection, development and segmentation affect supply chain performance in pharmaceutical organizations. It also determined the moderating influence of top management support on the link between supply chain performance and organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The research philosophy of this study was positivism, leading to the adoption of a quantitative research method. Empirical data were gathered from a significant sample of supply chain experts at leading pharmaceutical companies in South Africa. Data collection scales were derived from existing studies. The collected data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results confirmed the validity of the proposed model, which is based on selected criteria (latent variables). This study emphasizes the crucial influence of supplier evaluation, selection, development and segmentation on supply chain performance in pharmaceutical organizations. The research shows a positive correlation between supply chain performance and organizational performance, with top management support playing a moderating role.
Originality/value
The study’s originality and value stem from its thorough examination of how supplier relationship management practices affect supply chain performance and organizational performance in the pharmaceutical industry of South Africa. Furthermore, the research adds to the current body of knowledge by considering the moderating influence of top management support on the link between supply chain performance and organizational performance. These findings offer valuable insights for academics and industry professionals in the realm of supply chain management.
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Mohammad Reza Zahedi, Shayan Naghdi Khanachah and Shirin Papoli
The purpose of this study paper is to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the knowledge flow in high-tech industries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study paper is to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the knowledge flow in high-tech industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey in terms of data collection method. This research has been done in a qualitative–quantitative method. In the qualitative part, due to the nature of the data in this study, expert interviews have been used. The sample studied in this research includes 35 managers and expert professors with experience in the field of knowledge management working in universities and high-tech industries who have been selected by the method of snowball. In the quantitative part, the questionnaire tool and DANP multivariate decision-making method have been used.
Findings
In this study, a multicriteria decision-making technique using a combination of DEMATEL and ANP (DANP) was used to identify and prioritize the factors affecting the knowledge flow in high-tech industries. In this study, the factors affecting the knowledge flow, including 8 main factors and 31 subfactors, were selected. Human resources, organizational structure, organizational culture, knowledge communication, knowledge management tools, knowledge characteristics, laws, policies and regulations and financial resources were effective in improving knowledge flow, respectively.
Originality/value
By studying the research, it was found that the study area is limited, and the previous work has remained at the level of documentation and little practical use has been done. In previous research, the discussion of knowledge flow has not been very open, and doing incomplete work causes limited experiences and increases cost and time wastage, and parallel work may also occur. Therefore, to complete the knowledge management circle and fully achieve the research objectives, as well as to make available and transfer the experiences of people working in this field and also to save time and reduce costs, the contents and factors of previous models have been counted. It is designed for high-tech industries, a model for the flow of knowledge.
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Yaw Agyabeng-Mensah, Ebenezer Afum and Charles Baah
The growing relevance of environmental sustainability calls for identification of factors that contribute to green innovation and build green corporate reputation. Drawing on the…
Abstract
Purpose
The growing relevance of environmental sustainability calls for identification of factors that contribute to green innovation and build green corporate reputation. Drawing on the resource-based view theory, this study aims to explore the influence of green logistics knowledge, green customer knowledge, green supplier knowledge, green competitor knowledge, non-supply chain learning on green innovation and green corporate reputation.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts the quantitative research method where questionnaire is used to gather data from managers of the sampled 208 small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The structural equation modelling is used to analyse the survey data and test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
The findings reveal that non-supply chain learning, green customer knowledge and green competitor knowledge have both direct and indirect impact on green innovation and green corporate reputation. However, green supplier knowledge and green logistics knowledge directly impact green innovation but indirectly impact green corporate reputation through green innovation.
Originality/value
Despite the growing literature exploring the relationship between learning, innovation and reputation, their literature in emerging economies remains underdeveloped. This study provides empirical evidence to confirm the role of non-supply chain learning and green supply chain knowledge in building green corporate reputation and developing green innovation of SMEs in an emerging economy.