The Impact of Customer-Centric Knowledge Management Systems on Strategic Decision-Making

For organizations to make strategic decisions, they require knowledge derived from either internal resources or the external environment. This research examines the sharing of knowledge between an organization and its external customers, including the role of a customer-centric knowledge system. A recently developed customer-centric knowledge system is observed to determine the support it provides for the identification and utilization of customer knowledge, and the influence it has on strategic decision-making processes. Factors considered to influence an organization’s utilization of customer knowledge in decision-making are the perceptions and beliefs regarding customer knowledge, knowledge management support processes, types of knowledge being captured, and system design processes adopted by the organization. The effects of the newly implemented customer knowledge management system and the captured customer knowledge on strategic decision-making are examined through a qualitative case study situated in an international health care systems provider. A survey administered to the sales function collects collaborating quantitative data that is utilized to understand the impact of customer knowledge, including the sales function’s role in acquiring this knowledge from medical professionals. This research serves to answer the following questions: 1) what do organizations consider customer knowledge, 2) what types of customer knowledge may be captured using knowledge management systems and processes, and 3) what impact does customer knowledge have on strategic decision-making.