Supply chain as an autopoietic learning system

Author:

Breite Rainer,U. Koskinen Kaj

Abstract

Purpose – This paper seeks to present a comprehensive overview of the supply chain as an autopoietic system. The new autopoietic approach suggests a transition from traditional cognitivist epistemology to the theory of learning as a creational matter, and this type of thinking can potentially shed light on the role of knowledge creation as a part of supply chain management. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is structured as follows: the first section describes the theoretical background of the concept of knowledge management in the supply chain. After that, the paper examines the general systems theory and the role of an autopoietic system within it. Then the paper addresses autopoietic epistemology. In particular, the notions of knowledge, learning, and knowledge flows are described so that the focus is on the context of the supply chain and supply chain management at operational level. Findings – The supplier's, customer's, and firm's own organization and parts of the organization have autonomy system memories, which ultimately formulate how the intended development ideas are in fact realized and how they are adopted by the organization. Supply chain managers should take into account the fact that the routines and norms of the node are part of the system that are not controlled from outside. Instead, the system can modify its objectives internally as part of its autonomous operation, which should be taken into consideration in the knowledge sharing process. Originality/value – The description of a supply chain as an autopoietic knowledge system is a new way to examine knowledge sharing in a supply chain.

Publisher

Emerald

Subject

General Business, Management and Accounting

Reference40 articles.

1. Agyris, C. and Schön, D.A. (1978), Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

2. Agyris, C. and Schön, D.A. (1996), Organizational Learning 2, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA.

3. Becker, A. (1991), “A short essay on languaging”, in Steier, F. (Ed.), Research and Reflexivity, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, CA, pp. 226-234.

4. Beer, S. (1981), Brain of the Firm, Wiley, Chichester.

5. Bontis, N. , Crossan, M. and Hulland, J. (2002), “Managing an organizational learning system by aligning stocks and flows”, Journal of Management Studies, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 437-469.

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3