The capability to develop and sustain superior knowledge of markets and supply chains, or supply market intelligence (SMI), is an important element in increasing the strategic relevance of purchasing and supply management (PSM). This study draws on information processing theory (IPT) to shed light on how firms acquire SMI. In particular, the study aims to identify the drivers and mechanisms of information processing in SMI acquisition and to explore how the two constructs are related. Our findings emerged from an abductive multiple case study including 22 SMI tasks in eight case companies operating in various manufacturing industries. We find that the drivers of information processing needs in SMI acquisition are related either to uncertainty or equivocality. Uncertainty describes a situation in which decision-makers may be ignorant of a variable's value while equivocality describes a situation in which they may be ignorant of the variable's existence. We identify four structural mechanisms and three information technology mechanisms for information processing in the SMI context. We also find that equivocality seems to trump uncertainty in determining the use of the identified SMI acquisition mechanisms. In addition to elaborating IPT in the SMI context and exploring the theoretical foundations of SMI, we offer practitioners a framework for supporting the design of SMI practices in procurement organisations.

开发和维持对市场和供应链的高级知识或供应市场情报（SMI）的能力是提高采购和供应管理（PSM）的战略相关性的重要因素。这项研究借鉴了信息处理理论（IPT）来阐明企业如何获取SMI。尤其是，该研究旨在确定SMI采集中信息处理的驱动因素和机制，并探讨这两种结构之间的关系。我们的发现来自一个诱人的多案例研究，包括在不同制造业中运营的八家案例公司的22个SMI任务。我们发现，SMI采集中信息处理需求的驱动力与不确定性或模棱两可有关。不确定性描述决策者可能不知道变量值的情况，模棱两可描述情况时决策者可能不知道变量的存在情况。我们为SMI上下文中的信息处理确定了四个结构性机制和三个信息技术机制。我们还发现，在确定使用已确定的SMI采集机制时，模棱两可似乎比不确定性要重要。除了在 我们还发现，在确定使用已确定的SMI采集机制时，模棱两可似乎比不确定性要重要。除了在 我们还发现，在确定使用已确定的SMI采集机制时，模棱两可似乎比不确定性要重要。除了在SMI背景和探索的理论基础SMI，我们提供从业配套的设计框架SMI的做法在采购组织。