Mapping Research on Customer Centricity and Sustainable Organizations

Sergio Pardo-Jaramillo,Ignacio Osuna,Andrés Muñoz-Villamizar,Rolando Roncancio

doi:10.3390/su12197908

Sergio Pardo-Jaramillo, Ignacio Osuna + Show 2 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197908

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Abstract

Firms are increasingly organized around the client. At the same time, there is customer pressure on green and sustainable organizations. The purpose of this paper is to map the current state of the research in the domain of customer-centric organizations from a sustainability perspective. We conducted a bibliometric analysis from published documents between 1990 and 31 July 2020. Key findings indicate that research on customer centricity and sustainability has increased in recent years, finding some trends and that the topic is structured into three clusters: (1) Sustainable Development, Customer-Centric Perspective, and Sales; (2) Sustainability and Commerce; and (3) Customer-Centricity and Sustainability Trends. The implementation of a bibliometric methodology and the focus given to the definition, the relationships, and the evolution of the three main clusters within the topic are the characteristics that differentiate our study from other publications or reviews in the field of research. In addition, all the documents that refer to practical cases were identified, and the main ones were analyzed, to provide highlights to practitioners who aim to deploy the customer centricity approach in their firms from a sustainable perspective and seeking that the corporate purpose is followed.

Highlights

As firms cannot succeed without worrying about the real needs of their client, they have become customer-centric organizations [1]
Throughout this century, the marketing literature has had a special focus on presenting vast evidence of the organizational economic benefits of focusing on the customer—or, as it has been referred to more recently, customer centricity
We present the most relevant constructs and concepts that are that make a literature review of the main topics necessary to facilitate the reader’s understanding of the relationship between the customer centricity and sustainability

Summary

Introduction

As firms cannot succeed without worrying about the real needs of their client, they have become customer-centric organizations [1]. Throughout this century, the marketing literature has had a special focus on presenting vast evidence of the organizational economic benefits of focusing on the customer—or, as it has been referred to more recently, customer centricity. Customer centricity is a business strategy that emphasizes placing customers at the center of all the organization activities and that their needs must be understood and properly satisfied [2]. It is necessary that corporate governance includes indicators that measure the environmental, social, and financial sustainability [5]

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