Customer knowledge management antecedent factors: A systematic literature review

Abstract

Customer knowledge (CK) is recognized as a critical organizational resource that provides competitive advantage. Capability of absorbing, sharing, and applying CK can be a challenge for organizations. Human, Organizational, and Technological conditions that facilitate CK management (CKM) are vital capabilities for organizations. This article intends to delve into the world of CKM by appraising and scrutinizing the present state of research and extracting organizational, individual, and technological CKM precursor factors. On the basis of a systematic literature review, this study gathers, integrates, and scrutinizes 66 papers pertaining to CKM precursor factors published during the period 2003–2016 on seven databases by adhering to a predefined review convention. The chosen articles have been appraised so as to mine pertinent information on a series of research questions. We noted a general rise in the number of related papers in the last 8‐year period. Selected articles have investigated CKM in 14 different contexts and 19 different countries. The result of extracting CKM antecedent factors shows that “Customer‐Centric Culture,” “Collaboration System,” and “CRM Technology Infrastructure” have the most frequency in the literature. However, “Intellectual Property,” “Program Champion,” and “Trust” are less iterative factors. Therefore, companies and researchers can use the result of this research for developing Human, Organization, and Technological capabilities in order to implement CKM successfully.