What characterizes the culture of a relationship-focused organization applying a customer intimacy strategy

• What characterizes the culture of a market-oriented firm applying customer intimacy philosophy? To answer this question, a theoretical lens that enables focus on the resources embodied in the people and culture that underlie any advantages on the product market is adopted. This is the second paper from a six-year longitudinal case study conducted at a Swedish insurance company. Findings: the outcome of the firm’s strategy is attributed to its culture; the firm’s commitment to continuous improvement is considered as a point of parity and the passion and behaviour of people in the firm toward their customers and each other is the point of difference of the strategy. Concludes that moving from sales to a customer intimacy philosophy requires an appreciation of the current and changing needs of customers that continuously fine-tune the strategy’s compatibility with corresponding values in the firm’s business culture, and maintain an informed workforce that is aligned with the philosophy. This paper demonstrates how cultural reasoning can lead to useful insights for practitioners, particularly with regard to strategies for dealing with a firm’s internal and external environments. Implications are that practitioners of systems thinking must understand a new definition of a system, especially when dealing with new market forces and empowered customers.

Keyword

Strategy

Market orientation

Customer intimacy strategy

Organisational learning

Organizational culture

Systems thinking

Knowledge-era organization

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rap (subject category)