When do customer orientation and innovation capabilities matter? An investigation of contextual impacts

Abstract

Grounded on resource-advantage (R-A) theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how customer orientation, as a higher-order or interconnected operant resource, enhances firm performance through creativity capability (i.e. idea generation and problem solving) and innovation capability (i.e. the implementation of creative ideas) – among firms of different sizes and within different market contexts. The authors conceptualize customer orientation as a firm’s capacity to create and deliver superior customer value through the processing of market intelligence, as demonstrated by the firm’s composite operant resources of market-sensing, customer-relating and customer-response capabilities.