SME Managers´ Causal Beliefs of the Role of Inter-organizational Learning in Supply Chain: An Empirical Study

Anne Söderman, Anni Rajala, Anne-Maria Holma

2017

Abstract

This study answers the call for empirical research on how managers´ perceive their business network. Here we focus on SME managers´ reasoning regarding inter-organizational learning. We combine the concept of managerial cognition with inter-organizational learning (IOL) theories, and study CEOs´ cognitive maps to find out how managers deduce the effects of learning to their company´s performance and success. The data consists of interviews of five CEOs of small and medium sized companies (SMEs) representing technology industries in Finland. The SMEs also represented different positions in their supply chains: one subcontractor, one hub, and three companies in the middle of the supply chain. Interviews with the CEOs revealed strong learning intent with effects of relational learning and interactive learning. Learning was described to occur both upstream and downstream of the supply chain, and the CEOs perceived the effects of learning to be beneficial both for the relationships and for the individual companies. We contribute to the knowledge of the role of IOL and CEOs´ cognitive reasoning paths concerning its effects on company´s performance. By using laddering, a rarely used interview technique in management and organization research, together with managerial cognitive maps, our study provides also methodological contributions.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Söderman A., Rajala A. and Holma A. (2017). SME Managers´ Causal Beliefs of the Role of Inter-organizational Learning in Supply Chain: An Empirical Study.In Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management - Volume 3: KMIS, ISBN 978-989-758-273-8, pages 114-120. DOI: 10.5220/0006492801140120

in Bibtex Style

@conference{kmis17,
author={Anne Söderman and Anni Rajala and Anne-Maria Holma},
title={SME Managers´ Causal Beliefs of the Role of Inter-organizational Learning in Supply Chain: An Empirical Study},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management - Volume 3: KMIS,},
year={2017},
pages={114-120},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0006492801140120},
isbn={978-989-758-273-8},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Knowledge Discovery, Knowledge Engineering and Knowledge Management - Volume 3: KMIS,
TI - SME Managers´ Causal Beliefs of the Role of Inter-organizational Learning in Supply Chain: An Empirical Study
SN - 978-989-758-273-8
AU - Söderman A.
AU - Rajala A.
AU - Holma A.
PY - 2017
SP - 114
EP - 120
DO - 10.5220/0006492801140120