Investigating the Moderating Role of Customer Knowledge Mobilization Resources in the Relationship between Customer Participation Capability and Service Firms Performance

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 MSc. Student, Department of Business Management, Guilan University, Rasht, Iran.

2 ., Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities of Guilan University, , Iran.

3 Associate Prof., Department of Management, Faculty of Literature and Humanities of Guilan University, Rasht, Iran

Abstract

Objective
GDP index in service sector in Gilan province, Iran is about 72%, which has the highest income share compared to other areas. Therefore, paying special attention to this sector can help improve the employment situation and ultimately the economy of the province. Due to the importance of the service sector in creating job opportunities and improving the economic status of the community and the existence of such problems in the city of Rasht, managers of service organizations have many concerns about the decline in the performance of their units and are looking for a way to improve the performance of their organizations in order to be able to remain competitive and improve the conditions of their society. The main purpose of this study is to find out whether customer participation capability has an impact on the performance of service units and does the mobilization of customer knowledge resources have a moderating role in the relationship between participation capability and process and service innovation?
 
Methodology
The present study is applied in nature and is descriptive survey in terms of data collection. The data were collected using questionnaires from managers of 60 service units (banks, insurance, training centers, health centers) in Rasht. In this study, structural equation modeling based on Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach was used to analyze the data and test the conceptual model.
 
 
Findings
Based on the findings of the study, customer participation capabilityhas have significantly direct and indirect impacts on the performance of service units through innovation. The effect of the moderating role of mobilizing customer knowledge resources on the relationship between participation capability and process innovation and service innovation was also confirmed.
 
Conclusion
The higher customer engagement capability, the more improvements for service performance is observed. Building customer engagement capability means getting relevant information and feedback, enabling companies to identify customers' needs quicker, respond to changes faster and improve customer satisfaction. Customer engagement in service companies enables them to place customers in the dual role of information providers and production partners who can thus benefit from faster access to information. They will also be able to identify explicit and implicit needs and implement appropriate innovations to address them. Moreover, a high level of customer engagement as a source of knowledge can help meet with the current and future needs to service and process innovation. Creating partnerships enables customers to identify and affect processes that provide them with added value. The potential to engage with customers will increase flexibility in processes, support employee engagement with customers, and enable customers to manage the interactions and making innovation faster and more accurate. The easier it is to do so, the more effective the service is. As service companies increase their customets’ engagement, partnerships are achieved through borderless interactions with customers which is considered as an essential element for developing and innovating new services. Building close relationship with the customers which is triggered by partnerships capablities helps companies develop innovative services tailored to customers’ preferences; thereby, improving overall company performance. Integration and mobilization of customer knowledge refers to the formal steps and structure of the company that ensures the assimilation, analysis, interpretation and integration of customer information and other types of knowledge across different functional units within the company. The inability of service companies to manage the relationship between these factors is the underlying component of many failures in process innovation.

Keywords

Main Subjects

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Journal of Business Management
Volume 11, Issue 4
2019
Pages 919-943

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