Final Report Summary - KNOWNET (Engaging in Knowledge Networking via an interactive 3D Social Supplier Network)
As EU and global markets experience higher levels of turbulence and uncertainty, firms are increasingly recognising the importance of knowledge sharing, and supply chain network learning, as a means to sustainability. Indeed, knowledge sharing across organizational boundaries (as well as internally) has always been considered pivotal in reaping competitive advantage, and a learning supply chain can offer significant benefits. These include enhanced planning and decision making, improved long term relationships and a better understanding and ability to meet customer preferences and needs. Learning across supply partners additionally can lead to tighter co-ordination among member firms facilitated by knowledge management practices that support market place responsiveness and higher innovation capability than a network with less effective knowledge sharing.
However, finding the right mechanisms for sharing knowledge (and subsequent learning) within organisations and increasingly across supply chains, has been a major issue for both organisations, and knowledge management/supply chain research.
With the rise and success of complementary technologies such as social media, digital technologies, and big data, the potential to effectively connect all types of supplier to a knowledge sharing network, and generate new and useful insights to drive wider supply chain improvements and learning, is an exciting, innovative and necessary area for development. While social media platforms have largely shaped public perceptions of social networking, knowledge intensive companies (KIO’s) in particular have begun experimenting with blogging, etc. ‘behind the firewall’, for facilitating internal communication and group processes. However, research into the commercial use of social networking beyond organisational boundaries and into the external supply chain, is still in its infancy.
The KNOWNET project aimed to explore the benefits of peer to peer knowledge sharing and communication using social media tools across knowledge intensive organisations such as insurers and their supply chains. A customised Social Supplier Network (SSN) platform was designed and built to support such a company and its supply chains to engage in ongoing and interactive communication and knowledge sharing, outside of formal f2f Principal led meetings and ad hoc workshops.
The customised SSN was established as both a research tool and information/knowledge sharing facility across two of the insurers supply chains. A knowledge sharing trial was launched in 2014 and run over a 24-month period. Within the trial period, 6 ‘interest’s groups evolved, totalling over 200 supply chain users. Since launch, a number of interactive information and knowledge sharing practices and activities have emerged across all groups indicating sharing of implicit and explicit knowledge assets, and learning activities. These activities include open discussion forums, brainstorming sessions, Q&A’s, finding expertise ‘knowing who knows what’, keeping a pulse on what is going on’, and sharing good and best practices in multimedia formats. The platform has also been used as a repository for new informational input via links, and reports (downloads), which are easily and quickly accessed. Inadvertently, the platform has facilitated the building of a shared context, through conversations, discussions and enabling users get to know each other, learn what is, and interpret correctly other people’s questions, problems, requests for ideas, and others’ input.
Prior to the implementation of the SSN system within the UK Insurance supply chain environment, informal communication, and knowledge exchange occurred in the main on an ad hoc basis, usually during focussed workshops or formal meetings. The KNOWNET platform however takes informal communication and local knowledge sharing to a wider audience, albeit with controlled access, instantly. The KNOWNET findings demonstrate how a user’s knowledge base encompassing customer related insights and experiences, process improvement knowledge and other local insurance claims based knowledge can be shared via suggestions, stories, tips and opinions to support improvements in supply chain performance and key objectives of delivering customer service and customer value in the sector.
KNOWNET project data was gathered during secondment activities hosted primarily by the insurer, and via supplier interviews, surveys and web based approaches and evaluated via multiple methods using a multi stage approach. A systematic classification of user posts over an extended period illuminate not only emerging knowledge sharing practices across a buyer-led supply chain but also the effects of buyer power on users in an online community. This research builds on current thinking in social media theory by providing a window into organizational and supply chain attributes that can explain knowledge sharing within the context of social media adoption platforms.
It is essential that the strategy for development of such a platform is set as a top down business need, however the effective uptake depends on champions and enthusiasts at the user level. For this to be possible, there needs to be a clear business reason to implement such an approach and with positive leadership and direction set by the principal, and a complementary willingness to share by the supplier base.
A word of caution however: the findings illustrate social media platforms are appropriated by their users in emergent ways, and determining the way a social networking extranet is to be used will not necessarily lead to desired results.
The KNOWNET innovations and results have contributed to further development within the company as it continues to roll out the platform to other insurance lines and indirect suppliers increasing the size of the online community. Given that typically supply chain knowledge sharing would often be linked to some high degree of inter-company collaboration which stresses mutual dependence between players, sharing information and knowledge using social media tools across a semi integrated and partially competitive supply chain as is demonstrated in KNOWNET, is quite an achievement and truly innovative.
The website for the KNOWNET project is : www.knownet.org.uk
However, finding the right mechanisms for sharing knowledge (and subsequent learning) within organisations and increasingly across supply chains, has been a major issue for both organisations, and knowledge management/supply chain research.
With the rise and success of complementary technologies such as social media, digital technologies, and big data, the potential to effectively connect all types of supplier to a knowledge sharing network, and generate new and useful insights to drive wider supply chain improvements and learning, is an exciting, innovative and necessary area for development. While social media platforms have largely shaped public perceptions of social networking, knowledge intensive companies (KIO’s) in particular have begun experimenting with blogging, etc. ‘behind the firewall’, for facilitating internal communication and group processes. However, research into the commercial use of social networking beyond organisational boundaries and into the external supply chain, is still in its infancy.
The KNOWNET project aimed to explore the benefits of peer to peer knowledge sharing and communication using social media tools across knowledge intensive organisations such as insurers and their supply chains. A customised Social Supplier Network (SSN) platform was designed and built to support such a company and its supply chains to engage in ongoing and interactive communication and knowledge sharing, outside of formal f2f Principal led meetings and ad hoc workshops.
The customised SSN was established as both a research tool and information/knowledge sharing facility across two of the insurers supply chains. A knowledge sharing trial was launched in 2014 and run over a 24-month period. Within the trial period, 6 ‘interest’s groups evolved, totalling over 200 supply chain users. Since launch, a number of interactive information and knowledge sharing practices and activities have emerged across all groups indicating sharing of implicit and explicit knowledge assets, and learning activities. These activities include open discussion forums, brainstorming sessions, Q&A’s, finding expertise ‘knowing who knows what’, keeping a pulse on what is going on’, and sharing good and best practices in multimedia formats. The platform has also been used as a repository for new informational input via links, and reports (downloads), which are easily and quickly accessed. Inadvertently, the platform has facilitated the building of a shared context, through conversations, discussions and enabling users get to know each other, learn what is, and interpret correctly other people’s questions, problems, requests for ideas, and others’ input.
Prior to the implementation of the SSN system within the UK Insurance supply chain environment, informal communication, and knowledge exchange occurred in the main on an ad hoc basis, usually during focussed workshops or formal meetings. The KNOWNET platform however takes informal communication and local knowledge sharing to a wider audience, albeit with controlled access, instantly. The KNOWNET findings demonstrate how a user’s knowledge base encompassing customer related insights and experiences, process improvement knowledge and other local insurance claims based knowledge can be shared via suggestions, stories, tips and opinions to support improvements in supply chain performance and key objectives of delivering customer service and customer value in the sector.
KNOWNET project data was gathered during secondment activities hosted primarily by the insurer, and via supplier interviews, surveys and web based approaches and evaluated via multiple methods using a multi stage approach. A systematic classification of user posts over an extended period illuminate not only emerging knowledge sharing practices across a buyer-led supply chain but also the effects of buyer power on users in an online community. This research builds on current thinking in social media theory by providing a window into organizational and supply chain attributes that can explain knowledge sharing within the context of social media adoption platforms.
It is essential that the strategy for development of such a platform is set as a top down business need, however the effective uptake depends on champions and enthusiasts at the user level. For this to be possible, there needs to be a clear business reason to implement such an approach and with positive leadership and direction set by the principal, and a complementary willingness to share by the supplier base.
A word of caution however: the findings illustrate social media platforms are appropriated by their users in emergent ways, and determining the way a social networking extranet is to be used will not necessarily lead to desired results.
The KNOWNET innovations and results have contributed to further development within the company as it continues to roll out the platform to other insurance lines and indirect suppliers increasing the size of the online community. Given that typically supply chain knowledge sharing would often be linked to some high degree of inter-company collaboration which stresses mutual dependence between players, sharing information and knowledge using social media tools across a semi integrated and partially competitive supply chain as is demonstrated in KNOWNET, is quite an achievement and truly innovative.
The website for the KNOWNET project is : www.knownet.org.uk