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......Research Review
The role of manufacturers in the auto industry has traditionally been to continually pressure suppliers for lower costs and threats of consolidating and trimming their ranks in exchange for continual lower prices and customization done at little or no cost (Epert, 2004). This has created an economic ecosystem that thrives on competition between suppliers, with knowledge typically withheld for the sake of competitive advantage. In researching the influence of knowledge management on the performance of supplier networks in the automotive industry (Dyer, Nobeoka, 2000) the finding emerged that the most profitable and successful auto manufacturers create learning ecosystems that foster knowledge sharing both between suppliers and with the manufacturers themselves (Lanzara, Patriotta, 2007). The ability to create these learning ecosystems that foster greater competition on product quality, not just price, there is a gradual recognition that knowledge management requires a process, not product, orientation first (Von Hippel, 1998). In finding learning opportunities at the process level, the auto industry is finding entirely new opportunities for gaining greater time-to-market and process efficiencies not seen before. For this process-centric approach to be successful, it is essential that an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) framework be put into place for the accurate

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