An Integrative Framework of Buyer–Supplier Negative Relationship Quality and Dysfunctional Interfirm Conflict

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Problems of relationship quality and interfirm conflict in business-to-business settings are serious concerns that need to be addressed. Thus, the authors have engaged in an extensive review to promote an understanding of these complex issues. This article develops an integrated framework for analyzing wide-ranging relations between individual representatives and patterns of interfirm incompatibility for managerial control.

Methodology/approach: The review involves numerous sources that include articles and monographs. A theoretical framework is constructed to integrate fragmented empirical data. In particular, social identity and commitment-trust theories are mobilized for this framework.

Findings: The review of studies has a substantial consistency with the theoretical framework. The article outlines a causal chain from interpersonal agent dissimilarities to dysfunctional buyer–supplier relations, culminating in interfirm pathological conflict. Moderating factors in the causal chain are: agent identity differentiation (for interpersonal dissimilarity), supplier relations mismanagement (for buyer–supplier relationship quality), and interfirm opportunism (for interfirm pathological conflict). Buyer–supplier interfirm incompatibility mediates the causal link between interpersonal dissimilarity and buyer–supplier relationship quality. Identity differentiation, the validation of one’s self-image, is introduced as a process that determines buyer–supplier agent interpersonal dissimilarity judgments. This framework uses a contextual perspective. It describes interactions between observations of micro-level phenomena of interpersonal dissimilarities and macro-level models of interfirm fit. From a managerial perspective, interpersonal relations between individual buyer and supplier agents may be further strengthened by such strategies as expanding the scope of the interpersonal relationship, relaxation of role responsibilities, and volunteering business-related contact referrals.

Originality/value: A new theoretical framework has been devised to predict and explain relationship quality and interfirm pathological conflict in the business-to-business context. The framework contributes to the value of the knowledge base by serving as a means for building new diagnostic tools for assessment of interfirm behavioral issues affecting exchanges. New concepts are introduced to enhance current literature on business-to-business marketing. The framework provides concrete

indicators that operationally define ideas and enable or improve measurement for empirical modeling.     

BOOK REVIEWS

No abstract available for this article.     

The Role of Buyer Trust in Outsourced CRM: Its Influence on Organizational Learning and Performance

Purpose: Company outsourcing of customer relationship management (CRM) functions is increasing (Kalaignanam and Varadarajan 2012). Although outsourcing CRM may provide financial benefits, the tasks of developing and utilizing the complex, cross-functional processes needed to gain enhanced customer knowledge from CRM may be more difficult when some or all CRM activities are outsourced. Trust in the information provided by the outsourced CRM supplier is vital. In this study, the authors examine the influence of buyer trust in its outsourced CRM supplier on cross-functional learning processes and firm performance within the buyer firm.

Methodology: Data were collected from a survey of marketing managers in 221 firms. LISREL 9.2 was used to assess convergent, discriminant, and nomologic validity using the two-step approach (Anderson and Gerbing 1988). Convergent and discriminant validity were evaluated in the measurement model phase, whereas the structural model provided an appraisal of nomologic validity.

Findings: The results provide evidence of buyer firm trust in the outsourced CRM supplier playing a critical role in the buyer firm’s success with information sharing, and both trust and information sharing strongly influencing information interpretation and information access in the buyer firm. All three organizational learning processes positively influence buyer firm customer satisfaction/retention and market performance.

Research implications: An important area for future research is the possibility of varying levels of trust needed for success with outsourced CRM depending on the buyer firm’s goals for its CRM system. It is possible that the simpler CRM functions could be outsourced effectively through efficiency strategies that do not require significant levels of trust, whereas the more complex CRM activities that affect organizational learning require more stringent coordination and inter-organizational development. Varadarajan’s (2009) cost versus quality classifications of outsourcing could be a useful starting point for this type of analysis. Considering the finding in this study that information sharing is critical for information interpretation and information access in the buyer firm, another area for future research is possible differences in the extent of information sharing required by firms that are outsourcing CRM versus those that conduct the CRM function in-house. One starting point could be possible differences in relevance among Maltz and Kohli’s (1996) factors affecting information dissemination.

Practical implications: For effective use of CRM data, it is important for buyer firms to develop trust in their outsourced CRM supplier. Managers can assist in this by communicating qualifications of the outsourced CRM supplier, such as any trade-specific certifications, awards, information about the supplier’s number of years in business, and examples of other companies the supplier has assisted. Managers can also help employees develop confidence in the supplier’s integrity by sharing the supplier’s code of ethics and serving as a champion for the supplier. In addition, firms engaged in outsourced CRM are encouraged to develop reward systems that motivate employees to build relationships with their counterparts in the supplier firm, and it would be useful for the buyer firm to help its employees understand the importance of the CRM outsourcing relationship to the buyer firm’s success. Finally, it is important for management to provide opportunities for interaction between the outsourcing partner and key buyer firm employees who will use the CRM data, to encourage effective processes in information sharing, information interpretation, and information access.

Contribution of the article: This article addresses the significance of outsourcing the CRM function and provides evidence that buyer trust in its CRM supplier is a critical factor in its utilization of CRM data for organizational learning and firm performance. It also demonstrates that effective sharing of information, cross-functional integration of customer data, and CRM information accessibility are critical for firm success.     

BOOK REVIEWS

ABSTRACT

The paper examines Africa's progress towards AACSB accreditation, especially to satisfy the 5 strategic management standards. Sadly, although there are 515 accredited business schools (as of January 2006) in 28 countries, Africa-with 54 nations-does not have a single AACSB accredited school. Many African business schools (ABSs) have the capacity to meet Standard 1 (mission statement), Standard 3 (student mission), and Standard 4 (continuous improvement objectives). But they have limited capacity to meet Standard 2 (mission appropriateness) and Standard 5 (financial strategies). Therefore, if AACSB-International wishes to truly become the accrediting agency for business schools worldwide, the agency and its members will need to play a more proactive, facilitative and enabling role in assisting business schools in Africa tackle these significant obstacles to accreditation.     

Information Asymmetries as Antecedents of Opportunism in Buyer-Supplier Relationships: Testing Principal-Agent Theory

ABSTRACT

Purpose: A severe problem in supplier selection refers to moral hazard: suppliers not behaving in the expected way once contracted. Principal-agent theory could provide insights on how to reduce this problem. Because buyer–supplier relationships can be interpreted as principal-agent situations, the application of agency theory should facilitate improved supplier selection. Although theoretically compelling, empirical tests verifying this assumption are not prevalent. Regarding the advancement of theory, this paper tests whether both ex ante and ex post information asymmetries influence moral hazard. In particular, in the context of a globalizing economy with a subsequent increase in information asymmetries as a problem in supplier selection, this conceptual approach may be contributive.

Design/methodology/approach: The authors use a set of 87 buyer–supplier relationships to conduct a test, applying a partial least squares model with latent variables. A particularity of the data set is that it contains information on ongoing as well as on discontinued relationships.

Findings: The analysis indicated that both ex ante information asymmetries (operationalized by a reputation variable) and ex post asymmetries (operationalized by a monitoring variable) have shown to be significant and strong antecedents explaining the occurrence of moral hazard. Interestingly, and opposed to the common assumption, the length of a relationship and the amount of direct meetings have not revealed any explanatory significance. Buyer dependency hardly showed influence on supplier opportunism.

Research limitations/implications: Data were collected from a multitude of buyer–supplier relationships from a single firm in the chemical-pharmaceutical industry. Generalizations to other industries still need to be tested. Socially desirable answering behavior cannot fully be excluded because relationship discontinuation is not a desirable situation. In terms of theory implications, this research adds to the notion that both hidden action and hidden intention can lead to moral hazard.

Practical implications: An agency-based analysis can be operationalized with the help of an agency-based supplier classification portfolio. It might be of particular value to firms to discuss those suppliers that scored high in risk of opportunism but did not (yet) reveal any signs of moral hazard. Finally, the strong explanatory power

of reputation alerts buyers to pay more attention to behavioral information on the (potential) supplier available in the market.

Originality/value: Analyzing the occurrence of moral hazard and including terminated relationships adds to the emerging stream of literature on relationship discontinuation in B2B markets. Further, the strong empirical results may encourage researchers to elaborate on principal-agent theory-based assumptions, adding another layer of explanation to buyer–supplier relationships. Findings show that reputation is unduly neglected as supplier selection criterion in current theory and practice.     

Service Business Markets: Relationship Development in the Maritime Industry

ABSTRACT

Purpose: Prior literature has acknowledged the growing importance of service business markets (SBMs). However, relatively little research has examined the relationships and the motives for relationship development in SBMs. The aim of this paper is to investigate the nature of relationships and the various motives for relationship development between service provider and customers.

Methodology: This paper adopts a qualitative research strategy and a case study approach. The context is the maritime industry. One of the largest container terminals in China represents a unique and revelatory case study, wherein nine container terminal-shipping line dyads are the units of analysis. The data were mostly collected via 34 semistructured interviews with maritime industry professionals. The data were triangulated by including archival records and industry reports.

Findings: The interdependence and nonidentical nature of service delivery episodes are identified and considered to add to the knowledge on SBMs. This research provides evidence of the applicability of three groups of motives—economic, strategic, and social—for relationship development to SBMs. The motives are found to coexist and to have greater or lesser weight in the actors’ decision making depending on external factors, such as industry and company development stage, and internal factors, including the companies’ common vision and desire to collaborate.

Contribution: Academic papers have usually focused on specific types of motives, associated with a particular theoretical framework (e.g. transaction cost theory). Motives have rarely been discussed from multiple theoretical lenses. When motives are identified it is not clear what they really imply in different contexts, and what factors cause them to appear. This paper provides a number of contributions. First, it integrates several theoretical perspectives and specifies three groups of motives for relationship development in SBMs: economic, strategic, and social. Second, through the analysis of empirical findings the paper provides a deeper understanding of each group of motives, proposing an integrated framework of motives and the factors affecting their appearance. Subsequently, the research is carried out through a dyadic perspective, which is relatively rare in SBM research. A dyadic perspective allows similarities and differences in actors’ perceptions and actions to be illuminated. Finally, the research brings in a relatively new and important context—the Chinese maritime industry.

Practical implications: Knowing the needs and motives of counterparts can greatly assist SBM actors in formulating their strategies and planning their investments. It is also important that actors realize that the extent to which the other side is open to collaboration depends on the interplay of various motives. In general, business professionals should realize that end users increasingly perceive various service delivery stages within a supply chain as interdependent. Thus, to deliver a more integrated and flawless service to the end user, service providers and customers in SBMs should develop communication and collaboration beyond the operational level.     

Considering Technological Impacts When Selecting Food Suppliers: Comparing Retailers' Buying Behavior in the United States and Europe

Purpose: The research investigates the impact of emergent technologies, specifically supply-chain technology and food-production technology (i.e., genetically modified organisms [GMO]), on global food retailers' supplier decisions.

Methodology/approach: Qualitative research is conducted to examine technology-related vendor selection criteria of food retailers in 5 European countries comparing to those in the US.

Findings: Our findings show that global food retailers view supply-chain technology as a competitive advantage and is integrated as an important selection criteria; however, selection criteria differ for food-production technology between the United States and the European countries. European food retailers explicitly oppose food-production technology (GMO), while U.S. food retailers implicitly accept food-production technology. Emerging from this opposing view, global food retailers establish similar criteria for organic food (non-GMO) supplier selection: reliability, distance, consistent quality, and relationships with suppliers.

Research implications: Applying the supplier choice criteria framework (Lehmann and O'Shaughnessy 1982 Lehmann, D. R. and 'Shaughnessy, J. O. 1982. Decision criteria used in buying different categories of products. Journal of Purchasing and Materials Management, 18: 9–14.  [Google Scholar]) to further analyze organic food suppliers, we find that reliability (adaptive criterion), distance (integrative criterion), consistent quality (performance criterion), and relationships with suppliers (economic criterion) are essential, but price is not.

Practical implications: This study suggests that to sustain competitiveness in the global food market, food suppliers not only need to ensure technological compatibility in supply-chain, but also adapt to the local food-production restriction (GMO) and organic food selection criteria preferences.

Originality/value/contribution: Supply-chain technology is strategically important and is adopted by global food retailers for competitive advantage; yet, there are dramatic differences regarding the acceptance of food production technology. This research contributes to the better understanding of how technologies exert significant and strategic weight in the food supplier selection process.     

关系营销理论与顾客关系管理

关系营销将建立和发展与相关个人、企业组织的关系作为市场营销的关键变量 ,把握了现代市场竞争的时代特点 ,体现了电子商务时代的互动性、合作性和个性化发展趋势。因特网作为一种有效的双向沟通渠道 ,使企业与顾客之间可以实现低成本、高效率的沟通和交流 ,为关系营销提供了有效的技术保障。在电子商务时代 ,抢占市场的关键已从管理营销组合转变为企业与顾客的互动关系管理 ,顾客关系管理为关系营销提供了有效的技术支持     

Customer Retention Strategies of Fast-Food Outlets in South Africa: A Focus on Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Nando's,and Steers

The primary aim of the research was to critically analyze and evaluate the different customer retention strategies being implemented by fast-food outlets such as Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Nando's, and Steers in South Africa. The fast-food industry in South Africa is experiencing numerous market-related changes, which range from intense globalization forces to heightening competition levels. The pressure on businesses today is further increased by a market where the customer acquisition rate is slowing, customer loyalty is decreasing, and sales cycles are lengthening. In such an environment, losing a valuable customer to a competitor can have a significant impact on profitability and growth. As a result, many companies have shifted their focus from customer acquisition to customer retention. The research was primarily concerned with assessing customer relationship management, relationship marketing, and communication through technology as strategies to maintain intimate relationships with customers. Personal interviews and in-depth interviews with the help of questionnaires were used to collect primary data in the research. The results indicated that KFC, Nando's, and Steers adopt similar marketing strategies or use the same concepts to manage their relationships with both internal and external customers and other stakeholders. These strategies and concepts include customer relationship management, relationship marketing, and technological means of communication.     

Loyalty in the Business-to-Business Service Context: A Literature Review and Proposed Framework

Loyalty has been named as one of the greatest competitive advantages for companies operating under high competition conditions. However, different authors look at this concept from different views and take different factors into account. This article consolidates academic research on loyalty in business services. The determinants of loyalty are identified and the development of loyalty as a process is investigated. These findings, together with the relationship development process and the possible influence of culture, are integrated into the resulting research framework. This framework suggests that relationship quality, comprising trust, satisfaction, and commitment, is a mediator of the loyalty development process. Furthermore, it suggests that these mediators, determining the transition from one stage to the other, are influenced by different antecedents. Finally, managerial recommendations and directions for future research are provided.     

Relationships between Entrepreneurs in Business Incubators. An Exploratory Case Study

Purpose: Business incubators are areas created to help firms find their feet and are devised to promote entrepreneurial initiatives. From the relationship marketing approach, the present study seeks to identify the key differentiating variables involved in relations between entrepreneurs located in the same incubator.

Methodology/approach: The research process is grounded on an exploratory qualitative analysis, based on in-depth interviews with entrepreneurs who belong to two Spanish public business incubators, which form part of the Chamber for Business Creation and Development (INCYDE) network of incubators.

Findings: Findings allow us to highlight aspects such as complementarity of resources, awareness and shared values, frequent contact, and a psychological commitment, as well as certain specific aspects of the relations to emerge in such contexts.

Originality/value/contribution: The article contributes to the literature on business-to-business relationships by developing a conceptual framework of relations among entrepreneurs located in incubators. Moreover, it provides an agenda for future research on the process whereby value and social capital is created through business incubators.     

Communicating Competency in References: A Qualitative Analysis of the Utilization of References in Mechanical Engineering

ABSTRACT

Purpose: In order to explore the multiplicative interaction between clustering and reach, as well as their effect on members’ knowledge production and patent value, the authors researched university–industry collaboration networks in the emerging interdisciplinary field at a corporate level.

Methodology: The authors based their research on a platform of nano-biopharmaceuticals complex network analysis. Furthermore, they built a network to analyze the influence of small-world properties, as well as the impact of the largest component on the patent value of innovation activities at a corporate level. In this article, the authors conduct an empirical investigation of university–industry patent innovation collaboration in the nano-biopharmaceutical field and propose that their research be considered as new evidence in addition to the previously published literature in this field. Given the pre-existing high skew of patent values in relation to registered patents, they used weighted patent value in the measurement of university–industry innovation performance, rather than simple patent counts.

Results: The results show that small-world structures have a parabolical influence on patent innovation performance at corporate level.

Findings: The findings go beyond previous research results and can contribute to policy formulation and relevant entrepreneurial decisions in the establishment of university–industry collaboration.     

Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing Part I: Subject Listing

The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing (JBBM), an important thematic journal within the field of marketing, serves as a vital venue for both academicians and practitioners interested in business-to-business marketing phenomena. Articles cover a broad spectrum of topics related to business marketing management. A subject-based listing classifies these articles into sixteen categories according to their key research issues. Those categories are: Advertising and Communication, Brand Management, Buyer-Seller Dyad and Relationships, Channels, Customer Relationships, Education, International Issues, Literature Reviews, Methodology, Networks and Strategic Alliances, Organizational Buying Behavior, Pricing and Value, Product Development, Segmentation, Selling and Salesforce Management, and Technology. After the subject listing, titles and abstracts of all articles appearing in the first fifteen volumes of JBBM are listed in volume/issue order. We hope that this index will provide a useful tool for academicians and practitioners who are interested in business-to-business marketing research     

Enhancing Export Performance for Business Markets: Effects of Interorganizational Relationships on Export Market Orientation (EMO)

Purpose: Drawing on the relationship marketing perspective, this study explores the effects of interorganizational relationship variables on export market orientation (EMO), in turn enhancing the export performance. Furthermore, firm internationalization was included as a moderator between export market-oriented behavior and export performance.

Methodology: The authors tested the hypotheses via a mail survey involving 235 exporting firms. LISREL and regression analysis were used to test the proposed model.

Findings: The results support the hypotheses, which posit that commitment, trust, and social interaction are positively related to EMO behavior, whereas power is negatively related to such behavior. Second, firm EMO behavior is positively related to export performance. Third, the degree of internationalization strengthens the effect of EMO on export performance.

Research implications: This study improves existing theoretical understanding by supporting the relationship marketing perspective and international channel research for performing export market-oriented behaviors.

Practical implications: The leverage of interorganizational relationships appears a solid strategy for performing export market-oriented behaviors. Exporters can focus not only on export market-oriented behaviors being performed but also on expansion to new markets.

Originality/value: This study contributes to the marketing and international business literature and provides insights to exporters by examining the relationships among interorganizational relationship variables, EMO, and export performance. This study also introduces the degree of internationalization from a contingency-based view and demonstrates that internationalization complements EMO, and thus facilitates export performance.     

Customer Involvement in Product Development: An Industrial Network Perspective

Purpose: In business markets, working with customers and users has become increasingly important to get knowledge about customer needs and to develop new products. The purpose of this article is twofold: (1) to develop a framework for analyzing customer involvement in product development in a business market context, and (2) to apply this framework to a particular company to describe and analyze how it practices customer involvement.

Methodology/approach: The article takes its main theoretical starting point in the industrial network approach, but also uses other literature from the innovation and product development field. The empirical study applies a qualitative case study approach and focuses on one company in the truck business.

Findings: The suggested framework deals with four key aspects of customer involvement: Why, when, how, and who. The observed pattern of the truck manufacturer shows how dealers, hauliers, and truck drivers are all part of the overall understanding of the customer. These actors are involved for different, typically very clear, purposes at different points in time through surveys, product clinics, and field testing. The pattern, referred to as mixed facilitative, is not one of close collaboration with individual customers, but one of broad involvement of several customers through business intelligence and direct involvement.

Research implications: First, the article provides researchers with a framework and method for studying customer involvement in product development. Second, the case study provides an illustrative example of the customer involvement pattern pursued by a leading company in a major industry. This enhances the understanding of the focal phenomenon, leads to managerial implications, and gives ideas for future research.

Practical implications: There are several managerial implications related to the why, when, how, and who questions. For example, it is pointed out that managers should consider involving customers more extensively than what seems to be common today—for example, by using customers as codevelopers, working with them throughout the entire development process (i.e., not only early and late), and including different types of users (with different requirements and wishes).

Originality/value/contribution of the article: The contribution lies in the development of a framework centered on the four key questions of customer involvement in

product development and using this framework for observing a pattern, and finding explanations and relating this pattern to how other firms are doing.     

One-to-One and One-to-Many Business Relationship Marketing: Toward a Theoretical Framework

ABSTRACT

Purpose. This work addresses mixed findings in relationship marketing literature regarding the importance of micro-level (interpersonal) relationships on firm outcome.

Methodology/Approach: The article leverages impression formation theory to advance a framework to understand one-to-one and one-to-many marketing relationships to better predict firm outcome.

Findings: The authors suggest that 5 framework moderators—the type and consistency of the encounters, relationship age, purchase frequency, relationship interruptions, and two customer side characteristics (i.e., need to evaluate [NTE] and need for cognitive closure [NFCC]”)—can qualify the relationship building process and impact the effectiveness of interpersonal and/or group relationships on firm outcome.

Practical Implications: The framework suggests that (1) highly consistent sales team behaviors reduce the risk of losing business in case of a sales team member leaving; (2) low frequency purchases are better suited for one-to-many selling relationships; (3) temporarily suspending relationships by individual salespeople is more harmful than suspending relationships by sales teams; (4) involving the customer in the acquisition process facilitates team selling; and (5) a positive first impression is more important for high (vs. low) NFCC and high NTE customers.

Originality/Value. The theoretical framework (1) distinguishes between individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships, (2) suggests a distinction between micro-level individual-to-individual and individual-to-group relationships and macro-level individual-to-firm relationships, (3) analyzes the impact of micro-level relationships under the influence of context-related and customer-related factors, and (4) provides managerially relevant guidelines for strategic sales planning.     

The Effects of Relationship Marketing on Share of Business: A Synthesis and Comparison of Models

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The article synthesizes the extensive empirical work on relationship marketing (RM) and compares the various conceptualizations to give a better understanding of the relational factors (i.e., characteristics of the business relationship) that improve a seller’s objective performance (i.e., share of business) in a business-to-business (B2B) services context. These conceptualizations, taken from the literature, link relational antecedents (i.e., communication, domain expertise, relational value, and mutual goals) to relational mediators (i.e., trust, satisfaction, commitment, relationship quality) to explore how they in turn affect a seller’s share of business.

Methodology/approach: All 4 models derived from the literature review were assessed using a dataset drawn from a survey of 948 client firm representatives of a Portuguese hotel chain in a B2B services context.

Findings: The best of the models in terms of model fit and prediction of share of business shows that only customer commitment directly drives a seller’s share of business, and simultaneous interrelated changes in customer trust and satisfaction, as well as customer perceptions of relational value, drive customer commitment, and so exert indirect effects on performance. The model that proposes that a seller’s performance is strengthened by simultaneous interrelated improvements in customer trust, satisfaction, and commitment (i.e., with these three mediators being conceptualized as a single, combined, higher-order mediator, termed relationship quality [RQ]) shows inferior fit. No combination of mediators (satisfaction, trust, or commitment) improves the seller’s objective performance over and above their individual effects (i.e., there are no synergistic effects).

Research implications: The literature review suggested four ways of modeling RM antecedents, mediators, and their effect on performance. Complex second-order constructs such as RQ lack explanatory power when predicting outcomes and mask the effects of individual relational mediators. Correct conceptualization is important, as conclusions vary drastically even with the same set of relational mediators and same dataset.

Practical implications: B2B service providers’ investments in RM will lead to improved share of business only if customer commitment is high or there is at least the potential to improve it. This requires an understanding of how valuable

the customer believes the relationship to be, and how the customer rates the relationship with the firm in terms of satisfaction and trust. A customer segmentation approach to relationship building and maintenance is advocated and detailed suggestions are put forward.

Originality/value/contribution: Apart from the work by Palmatier, the relationships between RM antecedents and mediators have not yet been examined simultaneously and findings are fragmented. The article provides a synthesis of this expansive literature. It contrasts different interplays between RM mediators, including their interrelationships as a higher-order construct, and explores possible synergy effects. Unlike previous work, this study focused on an objective measure of seller performance (i.e., share of business), whereas previous studies have tended to examine subjective measures, especially within the B2B context. Furthermore, four full models were assessed here, each of which included the antecedents to RM mediators and their links to objective performance.     

客户关系管理研究进展及其未来发展方向

客户关系管理在过去十多年得到了快速发展。然而目前由于不同学者研究视角和研究出发点等方面差异,他们研究的结论并不相同,甚至是相互矛盾,因此有必要从客户关系管理的理论基础、客户关系管理的内涵及其演进、客户关系管理对组织绩效的影响效应等几个方面对该领域现状进行了系统研究,并在此基础上探明现有研究存在的局限及其未来发展趋势。