Knowledge exchange within multi-stakeholder initiatives: tackling the Sustainable Development Goals

Within global value chains (GVCs), firms are increasingly working to create value together with stakeholders to address social and environmental issues such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). One approach is through Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs), where multinational enterprises (MNEs), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and governments share information, resources, activities, and capabilities to address challenges. For collaboration between these partners to be successful and enable partners to seek and share value, their knowledge exchange should be based on collective stakeholder orientation. However, the conditions that allow for a collective stakeholder orientation in practice remain under-researched and academics have called for research on the management of knowledge exchange between MSI partners. The present study aims to fill this gap by considering how partners within MSIs exchange tacit and explicit knowledge and create a collective stakeholder orientation, given dynamic relationships and the diversity of partners' absorptive capacity and knowledge superiority. This field study was undertaken in Cape Town, South Africa, using a qualitative multiple case study design analyzing four MSIs present in the global food & beverage supply chain. The findings demonstrate first, that the exchange of tacit and explicit knowledge between MNEs, NGOs, and governments is perceived as effective when it is based on a collective stakeholder orientation, resulting from (i) joint learning, (ii) dialogue, (iii) mutuality, (iv) consultation, and (v) trust. Second, absorptive capacity and knowledge superiority impact both the process of knowledge exchange as well as the perceived effectiveness of such exchange. Propositions are provided suggesting how MSIs manage knowledge exchange in light of differences between partners concerning absorptive capacity and degree of knowledge. These propositions show how MSI partners can enhance their knowledge management processes and create collective stakeholder orientation in order to create shared value within GVCs.