Profiting from customer relationship management: The overlooked role of generative learning orientation

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the direct and moderating effects of generative learning on customer performance.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test the relationships between customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities, generative learning, customer performance, and financial performance with a cross industry survey of CEOs and senior marketing executives from 199 firms. Partial least squares are used to estimate the parameters of the resulting model.

Findings

The results reveal that generative learning affects customer performance directly. Moreover, the interaction of CRM capabilities and generative learning contributes to customer performance. This finding suggests that firms need a well-developed generative learning orientation to fully benefit from translating new insights resulting from CRM capabilities into establishing, maintaining, and enhancing long-term associations with customers, and vice versa.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations are those that typically apply to cross-sectional surveys. Although several steps were taken to reduce the concern of key informant bias and common method variance, dependent and independent variables were collected from the same source at a single moment in time.

Practical implications

Ceteris paribus, an increase of generative learning orientation by one unit (seven-point scale) can command an increase of up to 7 percent of the average customer performance due to its direct and interaction effect. Because even small changes in customer performance have a strong impact on financial performance, this finding indicates a remarkable and substantial result for managers.

Originality/value

Though previous research provides evidence of the adaptive learning consequences of CRM, a review of the literature reveals a lack of studies that analyze the importance of generative learning orientation for successful CRM.

Citation

Herhausen, D. and Schögel, M. (2013), "Profiting from customer relationship management: The overlooked role of generative learning orientation", Management Decision, Vol. 51 No. 8, pp. 1678-1700. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-08-2012-0582