E – SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT
QUESTION: Discuss the emerging importance of knowledge
management in supply networks
Victor Hamadziripi Student No.: L0202920L
12-11-2020
ANSWER
According to Sanghani, P. (2009) knowledge refers to “the ideas or understandings which an
entity possesses that are used to take effective action to achieve the entity’s goal(s).” Although
there is no exact definition for knowledge in simpler terms it can be described as actionable
information. Just like knowledge, knowledge management is described in many different ways
but from all the different definitions it can be described as “the systematic, explicit and deliberate
building, renewal, and application of knowledge to maximize an enterprise’s knowledge related
effectiveness.” (Sanghani, 2009)
Knowledge management has recently emerged as an important source of competitive advantage
in supply chain networks. It has been regarded as a major enabler of supply chain management,
and is a vital component in information intensive organization environments that are also multi-
cultured (Samuel, Goury, Gunasekaran, & Spalanzani, 2011). The importance of knowledge
management emanates from the very definition of supply chain networks which refers to the
flow and movement of materials & information, by linking organizations together to serve the
