Customer Intimacy through Intra-Firm Relationship Governance

Globalization, acute competition, the information technology revolution, and increasing customer sophistication are radically redefining environmental conditions, and, meanwhile, challenging managerial representations and traditional organizational recipes for managing intraand inter-firm relationships. Hence, we examine in this study the way companies interact with their employees and customers. As such, the research question poses itself: how does the management of intra-organizational relationships create superior customer value and close business relationships. The results of our empirical study indicate that there exists a strong association between the key constructs involved. From contingency point of view, especially, moderate market dynamism and technology-driven business logic influence this interface. These findings are of evident practical interest crystallized by the following implication for management: by developing organizational design in line with the dominant business logic and evolving market structures, companies are able to enhance their customer value and intimacy. Indeed, the point is of a real managerial dilemma and key challenge within our rapidly evolving information era.