SME Managers' Causal Beliefs of the Role of Inter-organizational Learning in Supply Chain: An Empirical Study

This study answers the call for empirical research on how managers ́ perceive their business network. Here we focus on SME managers ́ reasoning regarding inter-organizational learning. We combine the concept of managerial cognition with inter-organizational learning (IOL) theories, and study CEOs ́ cognitive maps to find out how managers deduce the effects of learning to their company ́s performance and success. The data consists of interviews of five CEOs of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) representing technology industries in Finland. The SMEs also represented different positions in their supply chains: one subcontractor, one hub, and three companies in the middle of the supply chain. Interviews with the CEOs revealed strong learning intent with effects of relational learning and interactive learning. Learning was described to occur both upstream and downstream of the supply chain, and the CEOs perceived the effects of learning to be beneficial both for the relationships and for the individual companies. We contribute to the knowledge of the role of IOL and CEOs ́ cognitive reasoning paths concerning its effects on company ́s performance. By using laddering, a rarely used interview technique in management and organization research, together with managerial cognitive maps, our study provides also methodological contributions.

[1]  William Mackaness,et al.  Management 'intuition': An interpretative account of structure and content of decision schemas using cognitive maps , 2001 .

[2]  Fred Langerak,et al.  A Laddering Approach to the Use of Methods and Techniques to Reduce the Cycle Time of New‐to‐the‐Firm Products , 1999 .

[3]  Kathleen M. Eisenhardt,et al.  Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges , 2007 .

[4]  K. Weick.  FROM SENSEMAKING IN ORGANIZATIONS , 2021, The New Economic Sociology.

[5]  F. Selnes,et al.  Promoting Relationship Learning , 2003 .

[6]  G. Day,et al.  Managerial Representations of Competitive Advantage , 1994 .

[7]  Gerry Johnson,et al.  Entrepreneurial Intentions and Outcomes: A Comparative Causal Mapping Study , 1997 .

[8]  J.-C. Spender,et al.  Industry recipes : an enquiry into the nature and sources of managerial judgement , 1989 .

[9]  Shih-Chieh Fang,et al.  Relationship learning and innovation: The role of relationship-specific memory , 2011 .

[10]  Damien Chaney.  Analyzing Mental Representations: The Contribution of Cognitive Maps , 2010 .

[11]  Lars-Erik Gadde,et al.  Systematic combining: an abductive approach to case research , 2002 .

[12]  K. Möller.  Sense-making and agenda construction in emerging business networks — How to direct radical innovation , 2010 .

[13]  Peter Naudé,et al.  Network pictures: concepts and representations , 2006 .

[14]  K. Grunert,et al.  Measuring subjective meaning structures by the laddering method: Theoretical considerations and methodological problems , 1995 .

[15]  J. L. Stimpert.  Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Theory, Methods and Research , 1999 .

[16]  Gerry Johnson,et al.  Differences in Managerial Cognitions of Competition1 , 1994 .

[17]  Cliff Liu.  An investigation of relationship learning in cross-border buyer–supplier relationships: The role of trust , 2012 .

[18]  Donald F. Gotcher,et al.  Conflict-coordination learning in marketing channel relationships: The distributor view , 2010 .

[19]  Dennis A. Gioia,et al.  Mapping Strategic Thought. , 1992 .

[20]  S. Henneberg,et al.  Understanding network picture complexity: An empirical analysis of contextual factors , 2010 .

[21]  Marko Kohtamäki,et al.  Co-creating value from knowledge-intensive business services in manufacturing firms: The moderating role of relationship learning in supplier–customer interactions , 2016 .

[22]  J. Walsh.  Managerial and Organizational Cognition: Notes from a Trip Down Memory Lane , 1995 .

[23]  Rudolf R. Sinkovics,et al.  Drivers and Performance Outcomes of Relationship Learning for Suppliers in Cross-Border Customer–Supplier Relationships: The Role of Communication Culture , 2010 .

[24]  M. Jenkins,et al.  Eliciting Managers’ Personal Values: An Adaptation of the Laddering Interview Method , 2005 .

[25]  Robert E. Spekman,et al.  Supply Chain Competency: Learning as a Key Component , 2002 .

[26]  Peter Naudé,et al.  Actor network pictures and networking activities in business networks: An experimental study , 2010 .

[27]  Ravipreet S. Sohi,et al.  The development of interfirm partnering competence: Platforms for learning, learning activities, and consequences of learning , 2003 .

[28]  David J. Ketchen,et al.  Supply Chain Knowledge and Performance: A Meta-Analysis , 2013, Decis. Sci..

[29]  Gerry Johnson,et al.  French and British top managers' understanding of the structure and the dynamics of their industries : a cognitive analysis and comparison , 1992 .

[30]  Rudolf R. Sinkovics,et al.  Drivers and Performance Outcomes of Supplier Innovation Generation in Customer-Supplier Relationships: The Role of Power-Dependence , 2012, Decis. Sci..

[31]  Manuel Sánchez-Pérez,et al.  Inter‐organizational governance, learning and performance in supply chains , 2010 .

[32]  Carlos Brito,et al.  Network pictures and supplier management: An empirical study , 2013 .

[33]  Yu‐Shan Chen,et al.  The positive effects of relationship learning and absorptive capacity on innovation performance and competitive advantage in industrial markets , 2009 .

[34]  Peter J. Lane,et al.  Relative absorptive capacity and interorganizational learning , 1998 .

[35]  R. Axelrod.  Structure of decision : the cognitive maps of political elites , 2015 .

[36]  Y. Kor,et al.  Dynamic managerial capabilities: Configuration and orchestration of top executives' capabilities and the firm's dominant logic: Research Notes and Commentaries , 2013 .

[37]  J. Mentzer,et al.  Does relationship learning lead to relationship value? A cross-national supply chain investigation , 2010 .

[38]  J. Mentzer,et al.  The value of relational learning in global buyer‐supplier exchanges: a dyadic perspective and test of the pie‐sharing premise , 2011 .

[39]  Wenyi Chu,et al.  Enhancement of product development capabilities of OEM suppliers: inter‐ and intra‐organisational learning , 2010 .

[40]  A. Werr,et al.  Understanding the role of representation in interorganizational knowledge integration: A case study of an IT outsourcing project , 2013 .

[41]  Sylvia M. Brown,et al.  Cognitive mapping and repertory grids for qualitative survey research: some , 1992 .