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Building on the service‐centered dominant logic, this paper aims to investigate the effects of firm knowledge (knowledge of customers, industry, and practices) and synergistic combinations of different types of employee knowledge as a foundation for competitive advantage in retail and service organizations. Specifically, it seeks to theorize that the firm's operant knowledge resources combine to develop the service‐based value proposition of enhanced ability to meet customer needs that results in greater performance.

A survey methodology was used to test the hypotheses using a sample of 293 retail and service providers.

Employees' knowledge of its customers and competitors allow the firm to enhance its ability to meet customer needs, whereas knowledge of firm practices, in isolation, does not enhance a firm's ability to meet customer needs. When looking at the synergistic combination of employees' knowledge (i.e. the two‐way interactions and the three‐way interaction of knowledge of customers; knowledge of firm practices; knowledge of industry) several interesting insights emerge to help to understand how to enhance a firm's ability to meet customer needs.

Since researchers have yet to fully explore the effects of knowledge as operant resources and their conversion into capabilities, this study uses a dynamic capabilities approach and demonstrates that providing front‐line employees with the knowledge necessary to understand the firm's consumer base allows the firm to develop the ability to meet customer needs (i.e. a capability), which in turn allows the organization to reap the economic benefits of a satisfied and returning customer base.

The two‐way and three way interactions provide new insights into the synergistic employment of operant knowledge resources.

The results suggest that operant knowledge resources may not be equally created as different combinations of operant resources result in superior capabilities than other combinations.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the microfoundations of customer knowledge acquisition during logistics innovation development. Specifically, the authors explore the activities and behaviors of employees with customer contact (i.e. boundary-spanning employees (BSEs)) to deepen and broaden their knowledge about customers for the development of innovations.

Qualitative research based on multiple semi-structured interviews with BSEs of six logistics service providers was conducted to explore the deepening and broadening of customer knowledge during innovation development. Data were analyzed for similarities and differences in BSEs’ knowledge acquisition and their interactions with customers across six innovations.

Results show that BSEs engage sequentially in deepening and broadening customer knowledge throughout the logistics innovation development process. Yet, the specific sequence depends on the type of innovation developed (customized vs standardized). Customer knowledge tends to be deepened in one-on-one interactions, while knowledge tends to be broadened in interactions with numerous and diverse customer firm members.

In general, this paper contributes to the understanding of the individuals’ behaviors underlying organization-level phenomena, such as logistics service providers’ customer knowledge acquisition.

Findings illustrate that BSEs are well advised to concentrate on either deepening or broadening their customer knowledge in a single stage of the logistics innovation development process but switch between these two knowledge acquisition approaches from stage-to-stage to leverage customer interaction.

By investigating firms’ customer knowledge acquisition at the individual level, this paper addresses the calls in the literature for more research into the microfoundations of organizational phenomena.

This paper aims to discover the key elements for generating and protecting innovations based on the customer-supplier relationship in industrial sectors.

This exploratory qualitative study was performed using semi-structured interviews with chief executive officers and innovation managers of 22 industrial firms and institutions from the machine-tool industry.

Key forms of knowledge must be shared by the two agents. Producers have to obtain in-depth knowledge about customers’ needs and customers need knowledge on producer’s absorptive capacity. Producers distinguish between three types of customers: reference customers, necessary for innovations with greatest scope, clientes amigos or test users, required to test innovations currently being developed, and traditional customers, associated with incremental innovations. The traditional means of protecting innovations is a detailed contract between customer and supplier; and patents are used for innovations of greater technological scope, as a form of defense against third-party patents and as a signaling element of absorptive capacity.

The paper draws on the direct experience of executives from companies whose innovation is based on a close relationship with customers to answer questions to which the literature has yet to provide definitive answers: What sort of information to be shared is relevant for the generation of innovations? Are all customers equal or are there profiles that contribute more effectively to the development of innovations? What attitude and mechanisms are most effective for protecting the knowledge and competitiveness generated through knowledge sharing?

The knowledge of inhibitors of internal customer knowledge transfer in b‐to‐b professional service organizations is still in its infancy. Previous literature on professional service organizations has focused on knowledge processes on a general level without paying closer attention to inhibitors of internal knowledge transfer. This study aims to contribute by increasing the knowledge of various inhibitors of customer‐related knowledge transfer and their influence on customer‐related knowledge utilization in collaborative customer relationships.

The present empirical article is based on a case study of two professional service organizations in the field of business‐to‐business education and consultancy services. An in‐depth analysis of organizations developing collaborative relationships was conducted.

This paper shows that internal fragmentation seems to be inherent in this type of organization, and may cause many problems in customer‐related knowledge transfer among individuals, collegial groups and hierarchical levels in a professional service organization. All these problems in collective knowledge utilization influence both the service offering creation and general relationship coordination in the collaborative relationship.

This paper provides managerial suggestions for how to deal with the inhibitors of customer knowledge transfer. This includes developing unified goals, strengthening cultural cohesion and cooperation in the organization, building forums of dialogue between individuals and subgroups, and structuring relationship coordination systems (i.e. key account management systems), keeping customer‐related knowledge transfer in mind.

This study examines the influence of different user innovator mindsets on new product development (NPD) performance. The current research explores the relative impact of a product-focused user innovator mindset vs a customer-focused mindset on feedback volume and feedback diversity and investigates the effect of each type of feedback on product improvement and product diffusion.

This study examines these relationships using two distinct types of data. Data on user innovator mindset, feedback characteristics and user innovator improvisation were obtained via an online survey. Archival data on NPD performance measures were acquired directly from an online research database, and results were obtained using confirmatory factor analysis.

The authors find that while neither type of user innovator mindset directly influences NPD performance, user innovators, who are highly customer-focused, have a significant advantage in sourcing knowledge from users in the form of a higher volume of feedback and more diverse feedback. In turn, feedback volume appears to positively influence product improvement, while feedback diversity positively influences product diffusion. Finally, the effect of both types of feedback on product improvement is enhanced for user innovators who are highly improvisational.

This research highlights the important role that customer focus plays in directly obtaining knowledge from customers (i.e. customer feedback) and the effects of that feedback on NPD performance. This study provides evidence that a user innovator's interest in accurately understanding the needs of their peers improves their access to external knowledge and enhances their innovation efforts.

This study aims to examine the relationship between market orientation and product innovation and the mediating role of technological capability in this relationship. It also aims to examine the effect of market orientation on product innovation within the framework of technological intensity classification of the fields of business activity.

The research data were obtained from 186 senior and mid-level managers of 627 manufacturing firms that are widely considered to be innovative, and that are ranked among Turkey's largest 1,000 manufacturing firms (ISO 1000). The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling.

Customer orientation and interfunctional coordination, two distinct dimensions of market orientation, had positive effects on product innovation. Technological capability played a mediating role in the effect of customer orientation and interfunctional coordination on product innovation. In addition, interfunctional coordination positively affected product innovation in firms with low technological intensity, whereas customer orientation positively affected product innovation in firms with medium-high technological intensity.

For the success of product innovations, firms should establish mechanisms to obtain information about customer needs and expectations and to disseminate and effectively use this information among organizational functions. They also need to improve their technological capabilities to effectively transform market knowledge into product innovation.

The relationship between market orientation and product innovation has been examined in previous studies; however, there is an insufficient number of studies on the mediating role of technological capability in this relationship. This study aimed to eliminate the gap in the literature regarding the mediating role of technological capability. In addition, innovation activities of firms vary depending on the technological intensity, but only a limited number of evaluations have been conducted on this subject. This study contributes valuable knowledge to the relevant literature by examining the impact of market orientation dimensions on product innovation according to technological intensity.

This paper aims to examine how customer relationship management (CRM) systems are implemented in practice with a focus on the strategic application, i.e. how analytical CRM systems are used to support customer knowledge acquisition and how such a system can be developed.

The current practice of CRM application is based on examining data reported from a four‐year survey of CRM applications in the UK and an evaluation of CRM analytical functions provided by 20 leading software vendors. A conceptual model of an analytical CRM system for customer knowledge acquisition is developed based on the findings and literature review.

Current CRM systems are dominated by operational applications such as call centres. The application of analytical CRM has been low, and the provision of these systems is limited to a few leading software vendors.

The findings shed light on the potential area in which organisations can strategically use CRM systems. It also provides guidance for the IT industry as to how an analytical CRM system should be developed to support customer knowledge acquisition.

The latest findings on CRM systems application are reported, and an innovative analytical CRM system is proposed for customer knowledge acquisition.

Customer knowledge is an important asset for all businesses. The rhetoric of e‐business emphasises the opportunities for knowing customers in the digital economy. This article sets the context with a brief summary of the key characteristics of the knowledge management paradigm. This is used as a platform for the formulation of the questions that form the core of this article: What customer knowledge do businesses require? What customer data can be collected? What are the challenges for translating data into information and knowledge? Can knowledge cultures be created in online customer communities? Whose knowledge is it anyway? How can knowledge assets be identified and managed in virtual organisations? How can customer knowledge from e‐business be integrated with customer knowledge from other channels? Who needs customer knowledge anyway?

The purpose of this paper is to propose a research model exploring the link between knowledge management processes and customer relationship management (CRM) performance. It seeks to answer two research questions: What are the effective drivers of knowledge management processes in the context of a CRM initiative? Do these processes make a real impact on CRM performance?

The paper is based on data obtained from a sample of 93 service companies located in Spain. The authors conducted a structural equation modeling analysis using PLS to test the proposed hypotheses.

It was observed that both technological and organizational readiness were effective drivers of knowledge management. However, it was contrasted also that the usage of social media tools was not significantly related to knowledge management. Results show a real impact of knowledge management processes on CRM performance, so companies can understand how to implement successfully those initiatives.

The main limitations of the study are that it was based on cross-sectional data and that variables were measured based on the perceptions of general managers.

Service companies need to invest in technological infrastructures, and create an appropriate organizational climate (top management support, employees commitment) in order to promote effective knowledge management processes, that will enable CRM success, paving the way for the development of marketing innovations.

This is the first empirical work that examines in confirmatory way what are the main drivers of knowledge management processes, including in the analysis the impact of both organizational and technological readiness, and considering also the usage of social media tools, in the context of a CRM initiative.