A Fuzzy DEMATEL Method to Identify Critical Success Factors of Knowledge Management Adoption in Supply Chain

Abstract

In globalisation of business, Knowledge Management (KM) plays an important role in Supply Chain (SC) to create, build and maintain competitive advantage through utilisation of knowledge and through collaborative practices. Literature review have suggested the performance of KM adoption in SC may be affected by various influencing factors but it is always difficult for the practitioners to improve all aspects at the same time. The aim of this study is to identify Critical Success Factors (CSFs) of KM adoption in SC. This study presents a favourable method combining fuzzy set theory and the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to segment the critical factors for successful KM adoption in SC. The empirical case study analysis of an Indian hydraulic valve manufacturing organisation is conducted to illustrate the use of the proposed framework for identifying the CSFs of KM adoption in SC. According to the results of the empirical study, six CSFs of KM adoption in SC are identified out of 25 influencing factors, these are top management support, communication and collaboration techniques, employee involvement, employee training and education, communication among the SC members and trustworthy teamwork to exchange knowledge within SC which will help to improve effectiveness and efficiency of KM adoption in SC. The decision makers can apply a phased implementation of these CSFs to ensure the effective KM adoption in SC under the constraints of available resources. This proposed method provides a more accurate, effective and systematic decision support tool for identifying CSFs of KM adoption in SC.