Title: Investigating relationships between organisational commitment, employee empowerment, customer intelligence and Customer Relationship Performance among small service firms

Authors: Nichaya Suntornpithug, Gokhan M. Karaatli, Joseph N. Khamalah

Addresses: Department of Management and Marketing, Richard T. Doermer School of Business and Management Sciences, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA. ' Department of Management and Marketing, Richard T. Doermer School of Business and Management Sciences, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA. ' Department of Management and Marketing, Richard T. Doermer School of Business and Management Sciences, Indiana University Purdue University, Fort Wayne, Fort Wayne, IN 46805, USA

Abstract: This article investigates the role of organisational commitment, employee empowerment and customer intelligence on Customer Relationship Performance (CRP) among small firms in the service sector. A survey was conducted to validate the proposed theoretical model. The results showed that firms with a high degree of top management commitment toward Customer Relationship Management (CRM) were more likely to put greater emphasis on employee empowerment and generate better CRP than firms with a low degree of top management commitment toward CRM. The results also revealed that firms with a high degree of employee empowerment were more likely to effectively track and understand customer needs and satisfaction over time, resulting in the ability to better satisfy and retain profitable customers (CRP). This article also discusses implications of the study.

Keywords: competitive advantage; customer satisfaction; customer intelligence; customer knowledge; customer relationship management; CRM; employee empowerment; profitability; structural equation modelling; SEM; customer relationship performance; CRP; small firms; service industries; organisational commitment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2010.032883

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2010 Vol.14 No.1, pp.77 - 91

Published online: 05 May 2010 *

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