Knowledge and information flows in supply chains: A study on pharmaceutical companies Marcelo Caldeira Pedroso a , Davi Nakano b,Ã a Fundacao Instituto de Administracao, Sao Paulo, Brazil b Escola Politecnica, Production Engineering Department, Universidade de Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, trav2,128, 05508-070 Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil article info Available online 21 June 2009 Keywords: Supply chain management Information flow Knowledge flow Health care Pharmaceutical companies abstract A great deal of attention in the supply chain management literature is devoted to study material and demand information flows and their coordination. But in many situations, supply chains may convey information from different nature, they may be an important channel companies have to deliver knowledge, or specifically, technical information to the market. This paper studies the technical flow and highlights its particular requirements. Drawing upon a qualitative field research, it studies pharmaceutical companies, since those companies face a very specific challenge: consumers do not have discretion over their choices, ethical drugs must be prescribed by physicians to be bought and used by final consumers. Technical information flow is rich, and must be redundant and early delivered at multiple points. Thus, apart from the regular material channel where products and order information flow, those companies build a specialized information channel, developed to communicate to those who need it to create demand. Conclusions can be extended to supply chains where products and services are complex and decision makers must be clearly informed about technology- related information. & 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The concept of supply chain management has evolved from a narrow perspective, related only to material flows, to a broader view, encompassing material, information, financial and technical flows, both within each organiza- tion and between organizations (Arshider and Desmukh, 2008; Mills et al., 2004). The goal of supply chain management is the smooth, seamless flow of goods, services and information across the constituent organiza- tions. Demand information and material flows are intrinsically connected: demand information has to travel upstream the chain in order to create material or service flows, which are delivered to fulfill market needs. Thus, speed and accuracy are among the major concerns on managing information. Supply chain management has been increasingly viewed as a cross functional effort, concerned on activities starting from demand creation up to its fulfillment. Market oriented activities, as demand creation, are currently considered part of supply chain management, as indicated the survey conducted among the members of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) (Gibson et al., 2005). Also, integration and coordination between marketing and logistics is recog- nized as a significant organizational capability (Ellinger et al., 2006; Mollenkopf et al., 2000). That is even more important when supply chain management constitute a key channel for companies to deliver technical information to the market, and to receive feedback, related to quality and performance of their Contents lists available at ScienceDirect journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe Int. J. Production Economics ARTICLE IN PRESS 0925-5273/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2009.06.012 Ã Corresponding author. Tel.: +551130915363/331; fax: +551130915399. E-mail address: dnnakano@usp.br (D. Nakano). Int. J. Production Economics 122 (2009) 376–384