The Role of Frontline Employees’ Competitive Intelligence and Intraorganizational Social Capital in Driving Customer Outcomes

Abstract

Grounded in social capital theory, this study explores the influence of intraorganizational social capital on frontline employees’ (FLEs) competitive intelligence activities and the subsequent effects of engaging in competitive intelligence on their information communication behavior and relational customer outcomes. We empirically test the hypothesized relationships using multisource, multi-industry data collected from business-to-business (B2B) FLEs and their customers. The results indicate that bridging social capital directly relates to FLEs’ competitive intelligence activities, while bonding social capital functions as a positive moderator of this relationship. Job autonomy also positively moderates the relationship between bridging social capital and competitive intelligence. Results further indicate that FLEs’ competitive intelligence directly and positively relates to customers’ perception of information communication, which positively influences customer loyalty and engagement behavior. These results indicate that the firms’ cultivation of social capital can improve the capability of their FLEs to provide information-based service to industrial customers.