In order to survive in the competitive environment of today’s business world, it is imperative for organisations to cope with uncertainty and unrest. The strategies pertaining to survival /coping are the result of accumulated/ acquisition of new knowledge that occurs through learning (Bhaskar & Mishra, 2014). An organisation’s ability in learning, applying and spreading new insight has been persuaded as the fundamental strategic capability (Fiol & Lyles, 1985). Bontis et al. (2002) noted that in order to continue to exist in today’s complex environment, organisations must learn efficiently and effectively. The rate at which individuals and organisations learn is the leading source of competitive advantage (Stata, 1989). Thus, learning is pondered …show more content…
Both from the customer and the company point of view, each customer interaction is part of an iterative learning process (Ballantyne, 2004). Further, Yau et al. (2000) advocated that the relationships between business firms and its customers have been constantly encouraged as successful business practices worldwide. The strategy of relationship marketing is of high relevance particularly in the service industries because of the intangible nature of service and their high level of customer interaction (Al-Hersh, Aburoub, & Saaty, 2014). Relationship marketing is defined as the process of engaging in proactively creating, developing and maintaining committed, interactive and profitable exchanges with targeted customers (Haker, 1999). Furthermore, Gronroos (1990) asserted that relationship marketing is to establish, maintain, enhance and commercialise customer relationship so that the objectives of the parties involved are met which can be done by a mutual exchange and fulfillment of promises. Moreover, the implementation of the relationship marketing concept at the operational level refers to relationship marketing orientation (Hau & Ngo, 2012). Relationship marketing orientation indicates the firms’ philosophy of doing business concerning relationship building by propagating developing trust, empathy, bonding, and reciprocity between a firm and its customers (Sin et al., 2005a, b; Tse et al., 2004). Trust is an important element for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). First, trust is an essential component for a successful relationship between the firm and its customers (Berry, 1995). Trust It refers to a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence (Morgan & Hunt, 1994). Empathy, as a dimension of business relationship, enables the two parties to see the situation from
This book is important to business students because it shows that even the most seasoned executive runs into unexpected challenges and can find themselves in uncharted territory. Jim Barton’s experiences and lessons can be lessons for anyone. Any employee, whether they are support staff or a top executive, should always maintain an open mind and be ready to learn from a situation or the people around them at any time.
Grönroos, C. (2004). The relationship marketing process: communication, interaction, dialogue, value. Journal of Business & Industrial marketing, Vol 19, Issue: 2, 99-113.
Organizations need to maintain their competitive advantage by quickly adapting to change and promoting new and innovative strategies to ensure their success. Researchers have determined that since most popular strategies focus on people and knowledge as assets in order to improve performance, learning at all levels is necessary for an organization to succeed (Kotter, 2012). Therefore, organizations should function as Learning Organizations (LOs) by creating an environment where members can learn continuously (Slater and Narver, 1995). Senge (1990: 3) considered a LO to be an organization “where people continually expand their capacity to create the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where collective aspiration is set free, and where people are continually learning to see the whole together.” Others, such as Pedler et al. (1998: 3) simply defined it as “an organization that facilitates the learning of all its members and consciously transforms itself and its context”.
The impact of exploration-exploitation is unpredictable and there is no general rule how to trade-off between these two learning in dynamic environments (Laureiro-Martínez, Brusoni, & Zollo, 2009). It is difficult to integrate both exploration and exploitation simultaneously to improve efficiency in short terms and innovation in long-term as different firm has a different way of thinking and routines for exploration compared to those needed for exploitation (Gupta et al., 2006). Understanding how both knowledge exploration and exploitation can be implemented is crucial. Pursuing both learning is depending on how these tasks are considered either as competing or complementary source for (Gupta, Smith, & Shalley, 2006) value creation that lead to firm performance. As such, the result of pursuing both explorative and exploitative learning towards firm performance is different. Whether it is in terms of its individual effect (Isobe, Makino, & Montgomery, 2004; Yu & Yang, 2011), interaction of both learning (Z.-L. He & Wong, 2004; Zhan & Chen, 2010), imbalance (Z.-L. He & Wong, 2004; Zhan & Chen, 2010) or balance effect (Z.-L. He & Wong, 2004; Lavie & Rosenkopf, 2006; J. Lee & Bae, 2012).
Marketing involves making consumers aware of the value of a product or service offering with the aim of increasing sales for the product or services, developing brand loyalty, and promoting the good or service. There are several techniques used by companies in marketing. These techniques are aimed at ensuring consumers are aware of how the new offering by the company satisfies their needs. Further, application of sound marketing techniques ensures that marketing is an exchange process that results in the long-term relationship. Transactional marketing and Relationship market are two of the common types of marketing applied by organizations who seek to develop their long-term relations with consumers or increase immediate sales for a product
Nichels, W. G., McHugh, J. M., & McHugh, S. M. (2010). Moving toward Relationship Marketing. In W. G. Nichels, J. M. McHugh, & S. M. McHugh, Understanding Business (p. 363). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Knowledge oriented view of the organizations argue that knowledge and learning capacity influence the organizational performance and also direct the firm to achieve sustainable and continuous competitive advantage (Zhang, 2008). In last thirty years extensive research have been conducted on the OL and it has contributed a lot in the organizational development and change management, but still there is a little agreement on what is meant by the term OL and its nature. (Crossan, Lane & White, R.E, 1999; Huber, 1999 and Kim, 1993). The reason for this problem is that the OL has been studied by many disciplines and perspectives (Lopez, et al, 2006). According to (Argyris, 1995),” Learning occurs whenever errors are detected and corrected or when a match between intentions and consequences is produced for the first time.” (p.20). According to Huber (1991), when knowledge is acquired, information is spread, correctly analyzed, and recalled, organization learning eventually takes place. He further assumed that learning occurs in the organization if any of its unit acquires information useful to the organization. This is also supported by DeNisi & Griffin (2008) that “OL is the process by which the organization “learns” from past mistakes and adapts to its environment.”
In most organizations, effective utilization of knowledge increases productivity, creates competitive advantage and, ultimately, improves profits.
To this organisation, every problem, difficulty or obstacle it encounters become a source of learning. It thrives on analysis, action and feedback. Similarly, it is able to forecast the future learning needs – the competencies it will require in order to have the strategic and pragmatic advantage over its competitors.
Relationship marketing is a part of the marketing concept and strongly applies to this article. A company wants to build trust with its customers in order to build customer loyalty and a long-term bond. This gives the customer a value-added feature of doing business with a particular company. In marketing orientated companies, the customer's needs have to be targeted and different social classes or issues need to be taken into account. If a company does not take different sensitive and social groups into account when marketing, then they will not build a feeling of goodwill with the consumers. The consumer will think that the firm cares more about selling its goods than the consumer.
Learning and development contains many different forms. When it is strategically aligned with effective performance management systems, learning and development can enhance productivity, performance and increase staff commitment and loyalty. This is of considerable significance given Ireland’s commitment to a knowledge-based economy; strategic training and learning and development have become even more essential...
Gummesson (2004) describes CRM as "the values and strategies of relationship marketing with particular emphasis on customer relationships- turned into a practical application." CRM has become a necessity to successfully and profitability manage customers and a firm’s relationship with them, with the market reaching a value of approximately $11.5 billion in 2002. (Xu et al. 2002). However, despite this large spending it is estimated that 70% of CRM implementations fail. (Xu et al. 2002). There are a number of reasons for these failures, such as a failure to implement it throughout the organisation and resistance from employees. But in some cases the buyer-seller relationship does not merit a collaborative-style relationship; the customer may only require a transactional relationship. It is because of this reason than I believe that CRM does not always have to constitute the heart of B2B marketing.
“… It is not advisable […] to include the phrase managing customer relationships in a generic marketing definition” (Grönroos, 2006, p. 402) since there is no widely recognised definition of what a relationship is (Harker 1999 cited in Grönroos, 2006, p. 401). Although the terminology of the word is not clear, it is fair to say that in the definition every non-relational marketing process is being disregarded. Trying to force customers into a relationship (no matter what a relationship is being interpreted as to be) could lead to a marketing form that is not efficient because of not targeting all potential customers (Grönroos 2006, p. 403). The word “relationship” should be removed entirely from a generic marketing definition.
Knowledge is a key organizational resource. The acquisition of knowledge is a problem as most organizations greatly depend on knowledge of their success.
Organisations should increase the number of products and services that add value for the customer and are profitable for the organisation, since it can ensure that the rewarding lifetime value of the relationship is maximised. The impact of existing market information helps to manage the relationship with customers effectively, and the linkage between marketing, communication and CRM must be strong. CRM adds information regarding marketing, sales and service functions through organisation process automation, technology advancements and information resources like market research institutions in order to maximise customer contact. Therefore understanding customers’ needs and purchasing behavior, effectively manage interaction which they have with a customer. These interactions can arise when customers interact with employees in the organisation through customer contact centres, but also through advertising and sales promotion activities. CRM raises the bar for customer service expectations as organisations exhibit greater customer recognition and treat customers as individuals. Thus, CRM can provide organisations with a competitive advantage (Baran et al., 2008:9-10; Du Plessis et al., 2005:81-87). Customers will trust organisations that they (through past experiences) have learnt can be trusted. Unfortunately,