Knowledge Sharing Between Competing Suppliers in the Customer's Supply Chain Network

Abstract

Drawing on the marketing, strategic management, and supply management literature, this dissertation develops and empirically tests a theoretical model that delineates knowledge sharing and collaboration between competing suppliers in serving a buying organization. Data were collected through the means of a conjoint-decision study and a survey of suppliers in the optics and the automotive industries. One hundred and forty-six executive MBA students participated in the conjoint-decision study, and one hundred and ten companies participated in the survey. Statistical analysis results from both studies show strong empirical support to the theoretical model. This dissertation advances our understanding of the relative impacts of different factors in promoting or constraining knowledge sharing between competing suppliers when they collaborate with each other to create superior value for the customer. This dissertation demonstrates that a focal supplier's transfer of knowledge to its counterpart hinges not solely on the characteristics of the collaboration. More importantly, knowledge sharing between two competing suppliers is related to different facets of the customer's relationship with the focal supplier. In conclusion, this dissertation provides substantial insights into the role and influences of the customer on competing suppliers' knowledge sharing and collaboration, as well as the value of knowledge sharing to the strategic outcomes of the inter-supplier collaboration.