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Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 1/2019

06-10-2018 | Original Empirical Research

Effects of channel members’ customer-centric structures on supplier performance

Authors: Andrew T. Crecelius, Justin M. Lawrence, Ju-Yeon Lee, Son K. Lam, Lisa K. Scheer

Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science | Issue 1/2019

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Abstract

The authors examine the upstream impact of a firm’s customer-centric organizational structure on its supplier, including both positive effects of greater revenue and negative effects of demanding services that raise the supplier’s costs. These countervailing effects on supplier profit are moderated by characteristics of the firm’s buying center and the firm–supplier relationship, in accordance with the value capture literature. Study 1 examines the proposed firm-level financial effects of the dual processes, using surveys of industrial firms matched with secondary data from their supplier. Study 2 assesses the supplier-level net impact of the dual processes, using publicly available data to shed light on the upstream financial impact of firms’ customer-centric structures across a broad sample of Fortune 500 suppliers. Findings highlight the need for a supplier to proactively assess the structure of each buyer-firm, as a supplier can take steps to mitigate cost effects and enhance revenue effects.
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Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Footnotes
1
We employ the term buyer-firm when describing the firm from the supplier’s perspective.
 
2
These statements are based on moderator levels one standard deviation above and below the mean.
 
3
Market orientation has also been linked to market intelligence; for a detailed discussion of the relationship between customer-centric structure, market intelligence, and market orientation, please see Web Appendix A.
 
4
We thank the review team for this suggestion.
 
5
We are thankful for the review team’s suggestion.
 
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Metadata
Title
Effects of channel members’ customer-centric structures on supplier performance
Authors
Andrew T. Crecelius
Justin M. Lawrence
Ju-Yeon Lee
Son K. Lam
Lisa K. Scheer
Publication date
06-10-2018
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science / Issue 1/2019
Print ISSN: 0092-0703
Electronic ISSN: 1552-7824
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0606-5

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