Supply chain as knowledge management

The present article studies the supply chain management of two automobile manufacturers of India and traces the relationship between supply chain and knowledge chain management. The efforts of building up the supply chain are examined under three broad headings, namely, knowledge hierarchy, geographical proximity and cultural reorientation of the supply chain. An enterprise's knowledge domain, defined as critical, subcritical or common market knowledge, is related to various organisational forms. The study deconstructs the technological knowledge of automobile manufacturing through a three-tier distinction of suppliers in terms of technological knowledge input needed in their production. This has determined the extent and intensity of the firm's involvement in developing and nurturing the supplier firms. The success of the supply chain is also explained by the creation of a suppliers' cluster within the geographical proximity of the buyer firm. This has helped closer interaction and building up of trust and commitments between buyer and supplier. Lastly the cultural reorientation of supplier firms has enabled them to become part of the same dynamics.