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This paper aims to improve customer knowledge management practices in industrial firms by examining the role of knowledge integration mechanisms (KIMs) and customer-oriented reward systems in non-marketing managers’ use of customer information.

Cross-sectional survey data were collected from 221 R & D and manufacturing managers from large, Finnish industrial companies. Ordinary least squares regression with bootstrap procedures was used to test the hypotheses.

The use of KIMs mediates the positive effect of customer-oriented reward systems on non-marketing managers’ use of customer information. However, non-marketing managers’ previous work experience in sales and marketing negatively moderates the effect of customer-oriented reward systems on the use of customer information. The use of knowledge integration systems mediates this moderation effect.

This paper provides empirical evidence concerning the antecedents of successful customer knowledge transfer from sales and marketing to R & D and manufacturing. The findings imply that non-marketing managers with T-shaped skills (previous work experience also in sales and marketing) are unlikely to increase their use of KIMs if they are exposed to customer-oriented reward systems. Hence, broadening employees’ knowledge base substitutes for using customer-oriented reward systems as a tool for improving customer information use.

Building on the research on customer knowledge management, marketing’s cross-functional relationships and the motivation for knowledge transfer, this paper increases our understanding of how to develop organizational support for customer knowledge transfer. The authors consider both the impact of reward systems and their interaction with employees’ knowledge and skills.

This study aims to show the contribution of the determinants of customer relationship management (CRM), namely, customer-centric organizational culture and customer-centric management system, in explaining CRM performance. The moderating role of employee support has also been examined.

A questionnaire was administered to 406 CRM users in 15 four- and five-star hotels in Tunisia. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results show that a consumer-centric managerial system positively affects CRM technology. Managerial system contributes to have an efficient CRM technology implemented that provides sales force with customer information, competitor information, leads for cross-sell/up-sell opportunities, tracks product availability and measures customer loyalty. These dimensions are negatively affected by a consumer-centric organizational culture. CRM technology once implemented with an adapted consumer-centric vision will enhance the CRM performance. Moreover, the use of CRM technology by employees leads to higher performance. CRM performance can improve when different CRM components are used and supported by employee. Exchange of relevant information that provides technology can improve in regaining lost customers, in acquiring customers and in improving the total return per customer and reducing customer migration.

The findings help managers to consider adopting a customer-oriented CRM strategy that considers all the variables that may affect the performance of this technology (initiation, maintenance and retention). Companies will be able to reconsider some notions related to CRM strategies: restructuring the human factor, disseminating information, changing hotel culture and training of users.

This study is the first to explain CRM performance in Tunisian hotels. It helps to highlight the importance of the visitors’ behavior in hotels, which explains, among other things, the difficulty of maintaining long-lasting relationship with hotel guests, despite a good system management and a good customer-centric culture.

Introduction: Digitalization has become crucial in our daily lives. The rapid rise of new technologies and high interest levels of individuals enforces companies to invest in these technologies. Nowadays, as customers are willing to try new experiences, companies dynamically start to find new ways to develop their products and services. One of the most popular technologies used by companies to improve their services is the Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. Education, health, transportation, retail, and energy are some of the industries in which the IoT is frequently being used. As security concerns of individuals arose and willingness to remote control increases, innovative and technological projects with IoT applications are engaged in the construction and real estate sector.

Aim: The purpose of this chapter is to explore IoT applications within the new generation smart home systems. In this framework, the effect of IoT technologies on architectural structure of the smart home and operating systems as well as IoT and mobile-supported customer-focused applications and difficulties are analyzed.

Method: The study is designed as an exploratory study. The data are obtained from face-to-face interviews with companies operating on technology-based commercial and residential projects. Descriptive analysis method is used to analyze data. Sample selection was carried out by the judicial sampling technique.

Findings: The results showed that smart home systems offer several customer-oriented experiences to their users like personalized accessibility, comfort, time control, and energy savings. Wired and wireless communication protocols are included in the architecture of the system. Linux core software-based Android and iOS operating systems are used in order to enhance personal accessibility. However, some difficulties are noticed in the sector. Lack of information and internet infrastructure of companies that install electrical set-up are mentioned. Contractors, after sales service support, and customer-oriented applications are evaluated.

This paper develops a customer‐oriented service model for the public sector. Although customer‐oriented service models have become popular since 1980, most studies have been restricted to the private sector. In addition, they have emphasised the management of service operations rather than system design. This paper proposes a customer‐oriented service‐enhancement system (COSES) for the public sector. The model employs two dimensions: design and management of a customer‐oriented service system; and the fostering of organizational service culture. In this COSES model, the best practices of public agencies are empirically examined with respect to: the types of customer‐oriented service activities that can be developed; and how they can be developed.

Governmental agencies are interested in improving the quality of their service delivery. One tool that has been used to manage their performance is performance based reward schemes (PBRS). The aim of this paper is to examine the degree to which a sample of these plans, used within the Botswana public sector, is customer-focused. Being more customer-focused should deliver improved public sector service quality.

This study carried out an evaluation of a sample of Botswana PBRS plans, using multidimensional content analysis undertaken by four expert “evaluators”, to identify the degree to which the PBRS were customer-focused.

Classifying PBRS plans as being customer-focused was difficult, as the plans had few objectives related to customer experiences or outcomes. Those that did had poorly defined performance objectives, their targets were not specific, or there was limited explicit role responsibility. Thus, PBRS plans seemed not to focus on improving customer outcomes.

The PBRS evaluated do not appear to be customer-focused and, thus, would have limited ability to improve customer experiences (i.e. public sector quality). Further research is needed in other countries to see whether these results are generalisable, and whether service levels vary with more customer-focused PBRS plans.

The results suggest improvements that could be adopted by organisations seeking to make their PBRS schemes customer-focused.

Extensive research suggests that PBRS plans can be used to improve service quality. Most of the studies have focused on the employees' perspectives and have not looked at the degree of customer orientation within the plans.

Customer Profitability Analysis (CPA) is a technique for assessing the real profitability of customers and markets and is currently the subject of growing interest. The Marketing Accounting Research Centre at the Cranfield School of Management recently conducted a study involving four diverse companies, the purpose of which was to review the concepts and approaches that could be used to implement a system of customer profitability accounting.

In the retail financial sector competitive pressure seems to challenge traditional management accounting systems, which often do not allow the identification of profitable customer relationships. Drawing on a stage model and data from management accountants, branch managers and frontline employees in Danish financial service companies, this article investigates barriers to the implementation of customer‐oriented management accounting. The article documents how financial institutions are increasingly integrating management accounting systems with customer‐related activities thus enabling customer profitability analyses. However, several barriers related to organization structure, resources and attitudes hamper further customer‐oriented changes. Data gathered at the branch level strongly indicate problems of ownership and project sponsoring, and it is argued that new accounting systems may be less important to customer orientation than empowerment and goal‐oriented participation of the frontline employees.

Based on a systematic literature review, requirements on a PPMS are identified in order to derive concrete demands and design features for such a system by using quality function deployment (QFD). The purpose of this paper is to formulate a proposal for design recommendations toward a holistic, customer-oriented Process Performance Measurement System (PPMS).

A literature review is used to identify customer demands and design features that characterize a PPMS. To determine the critical design features of a customer-oriented solution, the QFD method is applied.

The paper confirms that there is currently no published concept for an integrated, holistic PPMS. Therefore it provides a first approach to the formulation of a design recommendation based on the customer requirements and design features. A literature-based weighting facilitates a first identification of critical design features. The identified conditions specify the context which can be regarded as a prerequisite for the application of the system.

As a result of the investigation, two main issues were identified, which restrict the complete development of a House-of-Quality matrix and therefore require further research: First, no reliable relationships between the customer requirements and design features could be derived from the conducted content analysis and second, no correlations between the identified design features could be detected.

The paper provides a design basis for specific application systems and their information requirement analyses. It can also serve as an evaluation basis for existing software products in the market.

The connection of a literature review with the QFD procedure transfers a consolidated state of PPMS research into an applicable design recommendation and therefore supports rigor and relevance of the research.

Within the retail banking sector, the customer-centric business model has become an important and new business trend in recent years. The enhancement of the frontline service employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors are among the key factors affecting business performance (BP) in this sector of the banking industry. The purpose of this paper is to improve management decisions to enhance BP through examining the relationship between the frontline employees’ engagement and BP while taking into account the mediating effect of customer-oriented behaviors on this relationship.

A quantitative approach was adopted to conduct the present study, and the respondents were sampled from a large commercial bank in Iran using a structured questionnaire. Overall, 50 branch managers and 90 frontline employees were selected using random sampling. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to ascertain the validity and reliability of the observed items and a structural equation model was used for testing the proposed hypotheses and research framework.

The findings showed that customer-oriented behaviors mediated the relationship between the frontline employees’ engagement and bank’s branches’ BP. Higher levels of the frontline employees’ engagement enhance the customer-oriented behaviors. It was revealed that the frontline employees are engaged in their job and organization. Moreover, the engaged frontline employees listen carefully to customers, the customer’s problem is important to them and they complete their tasks precisely for customers. It has been confirmed that customer-oriented behaviors enhance branches’ BP. The bank frontline employees’ engagement and customer-oriented behaviors, in turn, affected the bank’s branches’ financial performance, process performance and employee performance compared with the bank’s key competitors.

This study highlights the value of empirically establishing how employee customer-oriented behaviors are affected by employee engagement as an integrative construct bringing together BP.

This study can help improve BP by increasing the frontline employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors. This study suggests that organizations using the findings of this study could effectively assess their frontline employees’ engagement and their customer-oriented behaviors and then plan for improving them.

This study offers a customer-oriented initiative as a social responsibility to be considered by retail banks. In light of the social exchange theory, the banks valuing customer-oriented can provide employees with knowledge, skills, values and support to develop motivation and abilities to demonstrate customer-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors.

Previous studies demonstrated that the employees’ engagement affects their customer-oriented behaviors. In addition, studies have referred to the effect of employees’ customer-oriented behaviors on BP. However, to the best of the knowledge, key questions regarding how the employees’ engagement at the branch level fosters customer-oriented behaviors and, in turn, the bank’s branches’ BP, remain unanswered. Hence, this study contributes to the investigation of the mediating role of the frontline employees’ customer-oriented behaviors in the relationship between their engagement and branches’ BP in the retail banking sector.

Although high-performance work systems (HPWS) have been shown to promote employees' proactive behavior, only a limited number of studies have examined this process. This study explores how HPWS promote proactive behavior through learning goal orientation (LGO) and customer-oriented behavior (COB).

A questionnaire survey was conducted with 279 healthcare workers in nursing homes. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the hypotheses.

The results show that HPWS positively influenced proactive behavior through COB and that HPWS positively influenced proactive behavior through LGO and subsequently through COB. The findings indicate that COB is vital in linking HPWS to proactive behavior in healthcare service organizations.

The results suggest that HPWS provide job resources that enable health care workers to take initiatives to change their work environment through performance management, incentive systems and training programs. This study is the first to identify the mediating role of COB in linking HPWS to proactive behavior.