Empirical Exploration of Customer Management Focus and Its Impact on Business Performance

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate the impact of different focus in customer management strategy on business performance. Strategies investigated in the paper are IT-focused strategy, data warehouse-focused strategy, and integration-focused strategy. The effect of the strategies is examined in relation to both short-term and long-term performance. Combination of questionnaire and individual interviews was used to explore the particular dimensions of strategy focus. The sample for empirical research consisted of 195 companies from seven industry sectors in Slovakia. The findings show that different focus in strategy may bring different effects in performance outcomes. We also find that combining certain management styles may generate performance advantage.

Digital Skills as a Significant Factor of Human Resources Development

“…Many skills that were considered optional a few years ago and were not considered very important then have in a few years become critical. It is also necessary for jobseekers to be equipped with soft skills, such as communication in online and offline environments or organizational skills [33,34].…”

Integrated Management System and Corporate Risk Management

“…Increasing production capacity, research results and their application to technical means, technologies, the use of automatic control systems, the volume of hazardous substances used in production and transport and a set of other factors have a negative impact on the company's safety level. Such risk is new in all areas of economic activity, categories of production processes, but also in services [10].…”

“…However, due to the interconnectivity of management systems, the integrated risk determined according to equations (10) and ( 11) is not entirely accurate and suitable for corporate governance, as it does not provide an estimate of the extent to the actual state of affairs, i.e., does not reflect the impact of the interconnections of the subsystems, which act in such a way that for each protected interest the impacts are direct, and the impacts caused by the interconnection of the subsystems.…”

“…In addition to probability, another key attribute of estimating the risk of an adverse event is determining the consequences of their occurrence. If we disregard such serious financially incalculable losses as the death of an individual or a group of people, it turns out that economic aspects play a significant role, especially in prevention and in providing the means to improve the quality of safety and reliability [10], [12]. The most accurate quantification of the costs resulting from the consequences of possible accidents, accidents, disagreements, or other adverse events can positively influence the decision-making process not only in matters directly focused on safety but also the effectiveness of management systems.…”