Knowledge Hiding in a Buyer-Supplier Relationship

Knowledge management has been the subject of much research in buyer-supplier relationship literature. Many of these studies outline the benefits attributed to buying and supplying firms as a result of knowledge sharing between its managers. However, it is important to note managers across firms can also deliberately hide knowledge from each other during their business interaction. This study fills this important gap. The analysis of this study is based on a pilot study comprising six semi-structured interviews with the managers of buying and supplying firms. The findings suggest that managers of buying and supplying firms experience five different types of antecedents during their business interaction. This paper provides theoretical contribution to supply chain knowledge management literature by proposing five antecedents of knowledge hiding in a buyer-supplier relationship. The findings of this study also have practical implications. Specifically, firms can use initial findings from this study to understand what compels their management to engage in knowledge hiding.