Knowledge complementarity and knowledge exchange in supply channel relationships

• Published in: International journal of information management Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 35 - 49
• Main Authors: Kim, Kyung Kyu, Umanath, Narayan S., Kim, Joo Young, Ahrens, Fred, Kim, Beomsoo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.02.2012; Elsevier; Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: Applications; Applications (e.g. Digitizing,...); Assessments; Channels; Contents management (GED, EMS: enterprise management system, web sites conception, workflow…); Contingency; Cost; Economics; Electronics; Electronics industry; Electronics manufacturing services; Exact sciences and technology; Industry; Information and communication sciences; Information and communication technologies; Information policy; Information science. Documentation; Information technologies: storage media, equipment; Initiatives; Knowledge; Knowledge complementarity; Knowledge exchange; Knowledge management; Manufacturing; Risk; Sciences and techniques of general use; Social capital; Stems; Studies; Supply chain management; Supply chains; Transaction costs; Knowledge exchange; Knowledge complementarity; Supply chain management
• ISSN: 0268-4012; 1873-4707
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2011.05.002

► This study seeks to explore the contingency effect of knowledge complementarity on knowledge exchange behavior among supply chain partners. ► We test a research model driven by competing theories of social capital and transaction risk. ► We used data collected from purchasing managers at 82 firms in the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry. ► When knowledge complementarity is low, the risk of opportunism in inter-firm knowledge exchange dominates over the social capital perspective. ► When knowledge complementarity is high, the social capital perspective does indeed govern, although the effect is opposite to the predicted positive direction. Existing literature on knowledge exchange in inter-organizational relationships (e.g., a supply channel) reveals two opposing forces at work: (1) collaborative behavior and (2) opportunistic behavior. A concurrent assessment of the opposing perspectives and the contingencies under which each is relevant for supply channel performance can add valuable insights about the dynamics of knowledge exchange. We juxtapose the two behavior patterns using social capital theory and transaction cost economics (TCE) respectively as the explicators and employ knowledge complementarity as the contingency to reconcile the opposing behavior patterns. The choice of knowledge complementarity in this role stems from ample theoretical and empirical support in prior literature about the criticality of this factor in inter-firm knowledge exchange. We propose a research model, and use data from a field study of 82 firms in the Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) industry to test our model. Our findings indicate that overall inter-organizational trust (a surrogate for social capital) and knowledge complementarity promote knowledge exchange behavior in a supply channel. The retarding effect of risk of opportunism (a TCE dimension) manifests only when knowledge complementarity is low. However, when knowledge complementarity is high, contrary to expectations, inter-organizational trust appears to impede knowledge exchange. Our post hoc analysis of this intriguing, counterintuitive result leads us to knowledge interdependence and dependence asymmetry as potentially critical antecedents to knowledge complementarity. Implication of our findings to academic research and supply chain scenario is also articulated.