WHY KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITION IS IMPORTANT TO EFFECTIVE SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT: THE ROLE OF SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGERS ‘AS KNOWLEDGE ACQUISITORS.

The acquisition of knowledge either by organisations or individuals is considered critical to the success of the organisation in a dynamic and uncertain business environment. Likewise, the acquisition of knowledge in supply chain is seen to be of great advantage to the complex activities that goes on in the supply chain, where it is difficult to forecast demand and therefore maximise competitive advantage. Despite data, information, knowledge and knowledge sharing being critical to the success of supply chain, there are dearth of studies exploring how knowledge is acquired. This paper explores the importance of knowledge acquisition for effective supply chain management. In doing so, supply chain managers are conceptualised as either active acquisitors of knowledge, and thereby potential sources of competitive advantage, or merely passive recipients of data and information. We argue that to achieve improved supply chain management performance supply chain managers need to engage in active knowledge acquisition