The paradoxical role of competence development in supply chain management: empirical findings from Norway

Abstract

Supply chain management (SCM) is an important way to enhance competitive strength. This paper focuses on the importance that commercial companies place on competence development in relation to SCM and the extent to which they are prepared to work systematically in order to develop the competence needed to meet the SCM challenges. Findings from a nation-wide empirical study, reported in this paper, show that companies generally consider SCM to be strategically important. Lack of competence and poor internal knowledge about logistics costs were highlighted as the main barriers to making the companies' value chains more effective. However, somewhat paradoxically, the same companies expressed little intention to address these barriers through developing the necessary level of competence and improving their systems for managing competence development. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, the companies' intention to improve the competence base appears to be unrelated to the financial rationale for doing so. The findings have a number of managerial and research implications, which are highlighted in the paper.

Keywords:

• Competence development
• Management skills
• Knowledge management
• Logistics
• Supply chain management

Acknowledgements

The authors express gratefulness to KPMG Norway and the Norwegian Logistics Barometer for their co-operation.

Notes

^†This view is primarily based on the authors' experience from numerous academic institutions (one author has also served as dean of one of Norway's leading business schools). In addition, the authors have been directly involved in collection and analysis of data regarding supply and demand for SCM/logistics/procurement programmes and courses, as part of strategic planning processes.