How customer knowledge dissemination links to KAM

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to identify the organizational antecedents of intra‐organizational customer knowledge dissemination in the context of key account management (KAM).Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from large industrial companies in Finland by means of a structured survey. Linear hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings of the study show thatesprit de corpsamong employees and the formalization of key account management facilitate customer knowledge dissemination in industrial key account organizations. Moreover, the findings show that the intra‐organizational dissemination of customer knowledge is positively related to the supplier's KAM performance and dissemination fully mediates the relationship betweenesprit de corpsand KAM performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contributes to research on key account management in providing quantitative empirical evidence about the antecedents and consequences of the intra‐organizational dissemination of key account‐related knowledge.Originality/valueBuilding on previous research on customer knowledge management, market orientation and key account management, the study identifies customer‐specific knowledge dissemination as an intra‐organizational determinant of the successful management of industrial key account relationships.