Title: The role of knowledge management in supply chains: evidence from the Italian food industry

Authors: Mariano Corso, Seyhan Firdevs Dogan, Riccardo Mogre, Alessandro Perego

Addresses: Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 20133 Milano, Italy. ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 20133 Milano, Italy. ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 20133 Milano, Italy. ' Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci, 32 20133 Milano, Italy

Abstract: This study deals with interorganisational Knowledge Management (KM) in the Italian food industry. Based on case studies, the paper defines the need for knowledge sharing amongst supply chain members in different collaborative activities. Then a framework is presented for investigating how Information Technology (IT)-based solutions for Supply Chain Management (SCM) fulfil the KM needs of the firms. Finally, the knowledge sharing and management enabled by the IT-based solutions for SCM are evaluated in terms of supply chain performance.

Keywords: knowledge management; supply chain management; SCM; supply chain collaboration; information technology; electronic business; e-business; food industry; food supply chain; collaborative supply networks; Italy; case studies; supply chain performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2010.031216

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2010 Vol.7 No.2/3, pp.163 - 183

Published online: 26 Jan 2010 *

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