Knowledge management in client-vendor partnerships

Highlights? We examine factors affecting knowledge transfer, mechanisms for knowledge dissemination and the impact on the IT function. ? Communication among team members is crucial for knowledge sharing. ? Firms need to have mechanisms to disseminate knowledge gained from vendors. ? Key impact of partnerships includes obtaining efficient and effective IT solutions and streamlining of business processes. ? Results provide better understanding of how client-vendor partnership can be managed more effectively. Partnerships between business clients and vendors are increasingly becoming more common as firms strive to reduce cost and outsource non-core activities. Some firms proactively manage the knowledge gained from such partnership while others do so to a lesser extent. Through a questionnaire survey of business clients in Singapore, this study helps to shed some light on the nature of client-vendor partnership, factors affecting knowledge transfer (defined in terms of knowledge codifiability, client's motivation for partnership, vendor's willingness to share, and trust between client and vendor). In addition, we also examine mechanisms for knowledge dissemination within the client organization and the impact on the IT function. The results should be of interest to both researchers and practitioners in better understanding how such partnership could be managed more effectively.

[1]  E. Autio,et al.  SOCIAL CAPITAL, KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION, AND KNOWLEDGE EXPLOITATION IN YOUNG TECHNOLOGY-BASED FIRMS , 2001 .

[2]  P. Drucker.  Managing in a Time of Great Change , 1995 .

[3]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test , 1995 .

[4]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  Expertise Integration and Creativity in Information Systems Development , 2005, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[5]  L. Zucker.  Production of trust: Institutional sources of economic structure, 1840–1920. , 1986 .

[6]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[7]  R. Grant,et al.  Environments: Organizational Capability as Knowledge Integration , 2022 .

[8]  Martin Schulz,et al.  Pathways of Relevance: Exploring Inflows of Knowledge into Subunits of Multinational Corporations , 2003, Organ. Sci..

[9]  L. Argote.  Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge , 1999 .

[10]  Jae-Nam Lee,et al.  The impact of knowledge sharing, organizational capability and partnership quality on IS outsourcing success , 2001, Inf. Manag..

[11]  Shu-Chen Yang,et al.  International Journal of Information Management Social Capital, Behavioural Control, and Tacit Knowledge Sharing—a Multi-informant Design , 2022 .

[12]  Daniel Beimborn,et al.  Knowledge transfer processes in IT outsourcing relationships and their impact on shared knowledge and outsourcing performance , 2009, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[13]  Maria Burke,et al.  A case analysis of knowledge sharing implementation and job searching in Malaysia , 2009, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[14]  Kay M. Nelson,et al.  International Conference on Information Systems ( ICIS ) 1993 THE CONTRIBUTION OF SHARED KNOWLEDGE TO IS GROUP PERFORMANCE , 2017 .

[15]  Preet S. Aulakh,et al.  The influence of complementarity, compatibility, and relationship capital on alliance performance , 2001 .

[16]  Rangamohan V. Eunni,et al.  KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PROCESSES IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS ALLIANCES: A REVIEW OF EMPIRICAL RESEARCH, 1990-2003 , 2006 .

[17]  P. Attewell.  Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning: The Case of Business Computing , 1992 .

[18]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  Knowledge Networks: Explaining Effective Knowledge Sharing in Multiunit Companies , 2002 .

[19]  I. Nonaka,et al.  The Concept of “Ba”: Building a Foundation for Knowledge Creation , 1998 .

[20]  B. Frey,et al.  Motivation, Knowledge Transfer, and Organizational Forms , 2000 .

[21]  Linda Argote,et al.  Managing Knowledge in Organizations: An Integrative Framework and Review of Emerging Themes , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[22]  Justin J. P. Jansen,et al.  Managing Potential and Realized Absorptive Capacity: How Do Organizational Antecedents Matter? , 2005 .

[23]  Leslie P. Willcocks,et al.  IT and business process outsourcing: the knowledge potential , 2004 .

[24]  Salleh Yahya,et al.  Managing human resources toward achieving knowledge management , 2002, J. Knowl. Manag..

[25]  M. Lindvall,et al.  Knowledge management in software engineering , 2002, IEEE Software.

[26]  Thompson S. H. Teo.  Meeting the challenges of knowledge management at the Housing and Development Board , 2005, Decis. Support Syst..

[27]  Andrew C. Inkpen.  Learning through Alliances: General Motors and Nummi , 2005 .

[28]  P. R. Balasubramanian,et al.  KnowledgeScope: managing knowledge in context , 2003, Decis. Support Syst..

[29]  AttewellPaul.  Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning , 1992 .

[30]  Massimo Magni,et al.  IT knowledge integration capability and team performance: The role of team climate , 2010, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[31]  N. Luhmann.  Trust and Power , 1979 .

[32]  Ephraim R. McLean,et al.  The DeLone and McLean Model of Information Systems Success: A Ten-Year Update , 2003, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[33]  Thompson S. H. Teo,et al.  Knowledge portals in Chinese consulting firms: a task–technology fit perspective , 2008, Eur. J. Inf. Syst..

[34]  Peter J. Sher,et al.  Information Technology as a Facilitator of Enhancing Dynamic Capability through Knowledge Management , 2020 .

[35]  William R. King,et al.  Antecedents of Knowledge Transfer from Consultants to Clients in Enterprise System Implementations , 2005, MIS Q..

[36]  I-Chieh Hsu,et al.  Enhancing employee tendencies to share knowledge - Case studies of nine companies in Taiwan , 2006, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[37]  Peter H. Gray,et al.  Knowledge sourcing methods , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[38]  Marina du Plessis,et al.  Drivers of knowledge management in the corporate environment , 2005, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[39]  Bandula Jayatilaka,et al.  Information systems outsourcing: a survey and analysis of the literature , 2004, DATB.

[40]  Morten T. Hansen,et al.  What's your strategy for managing knowledge? , 1999, Harvard business review.

[41]  L. Sproull,et al.  Coordinating Expertise in Software Development Teams , 2000 .

[42]  Samer Faraj,et al.  Why Should I Share? Examining Social Capital and Knowledge Contribution in Electronic Networks of Practice , 2005, MIS Q..

[43]  Young-Gul Kim,et al.  Effect of Partnership Quality on IS Outsourcing Success: Conceptual Framework and Empirical Validation , 1999, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[44]  J. Lewis,et al.  Trust as a Social Reality , 1985 .

[45]  J. B. Quinn,et al.  STRATEGIC OUTSOURCING: LEVERAGING KNOWLEDGE CAPABILITIES , 1999 .

[46]  Mark Goh,et al.  Leveraging Collaborative Technologies to Build a Knowledge Sharing Culture at HP Analytics , 2011, MIS Q. Executive.

[47]  Allen S. Lee.  Rigor and relevance in MIS research: beyond the approach of positivism alone , 1999 .

[48]  O. Williamson.  Calculativeness, Trust, and Economic Organization , 1993, The Journal of Law and Economics.

[49]  Chia-Ying Li,et al.  The impact of knowledge stickiness on knowledge transfer implementation, internalization, and satisfaction for multinational corporations , 2009, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[50]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues , 2001, MIS Q..