The importance of the customer's role in the management of a firm has been increasing for the last twenty years. A firm's organizational capabilities, both internally and externally oriented, are essential for increasing customer value creation and the focus of this paper is on market orientation, knowledge management and customer relationship management. The aim of the study is also to identify possible combinations of these organizational capabilities and to propose and analyze a sequence that will allow the creation of superior customer value. Thus, the authors test how a firm should recombine its existing capabilities when customers demand superior value in the Spanish banking industry. The results show that a specific combination of organizational capabilities can increase the customer value.
Over the last few decades and in the current climate, a firm's attitude towards the customer is becoming crucial. The role of the customer has changed from that of a mere consumer to one of consumer, co-operator, co-producer, co-creator of value and co-developer of knowledge and competencies (Wang, Lo, Chi, & Yang, 2004). Furthermore, in the complex competitive environment in which firms operate, the customer now expects superior value (Sánchez, Iniesta, & Holbrook, 2009). More and more firms therefore see customer value as a key factor when seeking new ways to attain and maintain a competitive advantage (Woodruff, 1997).
A firm's organizational capabilities are of paramount importance for increasing customer value creation. Managers should therefore focus on developing the capabilities that view the customer as a key component, in order to create maximum customer value. The focus of this paper is on three capabilities: market orientation (MO), knowledge management (KM) and customer relationship management (CRM). Of interest is that, although many individuals consider these capabilities as being internal in nature, because companies develop them all, the growth of a relationship with the customer and the capabilities associated with market orientation depends on considerable external contact.
A review of the existing literature reveals a clear link between each of these three capabilities and customer value. The primary aim of market oriented firms, firms that manage their knowledge or those that manage customer relationships, is to offer superior customer value. However, no single or specific influence is important, but instead, the effect of the three capabilities has to be global and sustainable (i.e., permanent). According to Sirmon, Hitt, and Ireland (2007), merely possessing valuable and rare resources and capabilities does not guarantee the development of competitive advantage or the creation of value; firms must be able to manage them effectively. A firm can therefore create value by recombining its existing resources and capabilities (Morrow, Sirmon, Hitt, & Holcomb, 2007). A firm should be able to reconfigure its organizational capabilities in order to create value continually, which is where dynamic capabilities (DC) come into play.
Over the past few years, customers have become the focus of attention and every firm seeks to satisfy their clients in one way or another. Some firms orient themselves towards the market in order to create superior customer value through the culture and behaviors that this orientation promotes. Other firms prefer to manage their knowledge, while others focus on creating and maintaining long-term relationships with their customers.
Organizational capabilities are highly valuable attributes in a firm. Therefore, firms want to promote themselves as organizations that demonstrate a set of outstanding capabilities (Schreyögg & Kliesch-Eberl, 2007). Firms will very often invest heavily in resources and capabilities, yet not enough in the capabilities they require to select, develop and deploy them efficiently (Maklan & Knox, 2009). According to these authors, firms pay insufficient attention to developing the DC that they require to make these investments successful. A firm that possesses VRIN resources but does not use any DC, is unable to maintain its superior performance (Ambrosini & Bowman, 2009). Firms' competitive advantage in the current environment does not originate simply from the distinctive resources and capabilities they possess, but also from the way that firms use these resources (Teece, 1998).
DC is a relatively new subject in strategic management investigations, and therefore requires a great deal of analysis, particularly with regard to empirical studies. This paper responds to the demand for research within this knowledge area and the results of this study might also help firms to improve their current management style in order to create superior customer value.
