Purpose The identification of customer needs through relationship management and their transformation into marketing innovation are two key processes in customer value creation. When combined, they can improve a firm’s competitive position, not only in terms of profitability but also by reducing costs and promoting the use of technology. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the link between managerial relational capability and marketing innovation in customer value creation, and to look at how that value creation affects competitiveness. Design/methodology/approach We analyze 450 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the furniture industry in the metropolitan area of Guadalajara (Mexico). To this sample is applied a confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation model to analyze the impact of management capabilities in relationships and marketing innovation on customer value creation and to determine how the value created affects competitiveness. Findings The results show that management capabilities in customer relationships and in the way they convert knowledge of customer needs into specific choices in the market have a positive effect on customer value creation, as well as on financial performance, cost optimization and the use of technology, all of which can be used as indicators of competitiveness. Originality/value The study covers customer value creation in an emerging economy, that of Mexico, and relates it to business competitiveness from a holistic point of view which goes beyond profitability by also including cost reduction and the use of technology.

Innovation is a key factor to increase the competitive advantage for business. When the Innovation is improved by the Knowledge Management, it does in the firms based on the sense of information: for, from and about the customers and is called: Customer Knowledge Management. So, the aim of this study is to solve: which are the latent factors between Innovation and Customer Knowledge Management relationship? To achieve it, a questionnaire was designed and applied to the 500 Chief Executive Officers from the small & media enterprises software sector in Guadalajara, Mexico, that are part of the value chain, involving: designers, manufacturers and suppliers. The study applied the Structural Equations Model as a quantitative method to discover the underlying relationships amongst the most relevant variables between Innovation on Customer Knowledge Management, as: Driver of Innovation, Support, other Sources of Knowledge, Satisfaction, Experience and Performance with a total of 15 indicators.

Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the intellectual capital (IC) on the competitiveness in the manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mexico. Design/methodology/approach The approach of this investigation is developing a theoretical construct to determine the correlation between IC and competitiveness and find the most relevant factors that impact it, where IC is independent variable and the competitiveness is dependant variable. Using the Likert scale to determine the degree of agreement or disagreement, the survey was applied to 420 SMEs. The results were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis, Cronbach’s alpha and subsequently structural equation models. Findings The results show that the IC dimensions – the information obtained, IC developed and learning and feedback – have an effect on the competitiveness of SMEs. The paper presents the theoretical validation of the factors that impact on IC and competitiveness and hence they are the key elements that impact mostly on each analysed variable. Practical implications The results obtained measure the level of correlation between the variables in the study, helping to design strategies for the key factors needed to integrate the IC and to develop competitive synergies in the manufacturing SMEs. Originality/value This study shows the effects of the IC that are directly impacting the competitiveness of SMEs so that each factor of the dependent and independent variables should be analysed separately to propose improvements in implementing IC to seek higher level of competitiveness.

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Mundialmente, las mipymes enfrentan el reto de sobrevivir y tratan de realizar actividades que otorguen la creación de valor superior al cliente en la búsqueda de ventajas competitivas. En ese sentido, este trabajo tiene como propósito definir la correlación que existe entre los factores clave de la mercadotecnia, que impactan en la competitividad de las mipymes del comercio al menudeo (prendas de vestir) de Guadalajara, con la aplicación de 380 encuestas a directivos o gerentes de las empresas y con el uso de ecuaciones estructurales para medir la interrelación de las variables.