Putting knowledge to work: the combined role of marketing and sales employees’ knowledge and motivation to produce superior customer experiences

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to adopt a contextual approach to the knowledge-performance linkage by deepening into the role of marketing and sales employees’ knowledge resources in the generation and delivery of superior customer experiences (CEs) and into the motivational antecedents of knowledge acquisition and development. Design/methodology/approach To gather information about the variables studied in this research, a survey was conducted among Spanish firms with at least 100 employees, resulting in a representative sample of 346 companies. Structural equation modeling based on partial least squares was then applied to test the hypothesized relationships. Findings The results show that employees’ motivation (and especially intrinsic motivation) affects CE both directly and indirectly through its influence on marketing-specific human capital. More precisely, customer knowledge and different types of marketing-related skills (creativity, targeting, problem-solving, social media management and communication skills) are the only constituents of marketing-specific human capital that significantly affect relative CE performance (i.e. performance vis-à-vis competitors), while product/service and market knowledge do not play a relevant role. Originality/value The results contribute both to the knowledge management and intellectual capital literatures by highlighting the motivational levers of human capital in the context of the marketing and sales function and the specific types of employee knowledge resources that induce superior CEs. Consequently, marketing and sales managers are provided with useful guidance to shape their human resource management policies and to establish their knowledge priorities.

The Power of Compensation System (CS) on Employee Satisfaction (ES): The Mediating Role of Employee Motivation (EM)

“…Additionally, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation produce positive job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and employee activity, according to previous studies (Çınar et al 2011;Silic et al 2020;Peñalba-Aguirrezabalaga et al 2021). Furthermore, compensation and benefits appear to have a favorable link with employee job satisfaction from this perspective (Leonova et al 2021).…”

Female consumer entrepreneurship in Asia: capabilities for micro-entrepreneurial success and the role of coaching and training

“…In the context of “selling”, cognitive and non-cognitive elements such as self-efficacy, intellectual capital, sales experience (Tolentino et al , 2014) and self-motivation (Conde and Prybutok, 2020; Kwak et al , 2019) are reported to have a significant impact on the performance of sales agents. Moreover, several studies have shown that an individual’s self-efficacy and intellectual capital (Peñalba-Aguirrezabalaga et al , 2022), knowledge and skills gained from experience (Peñalba-Aguirrezabalaga et al , 2021) and self-motivation (Ahmad et al , 2021) can have a positive effect on overall organization performance. It is not necessarily the case, however, that these individual capabilities will be beneficial to the success of direct selling female micro-entrepreneurs.…”

“…When examining the findings from Phase 2, intellectual capital and self-motivation become explanators of female consumer entrepreneurs' success. While extant studies have shown the value of intellectual capital(Peñalba-Aguirrezabalaga et al, 2021; …”

Characterizing Brand Knowledge and Identification as Predictors of Consumer-Based Brand Equity: Mediating Role of Employee-Based Brand Equity

“…Employees’ responses to the nature of the workplace are reflected in EBBE, which is highly dependent on the differential effect that brand knowledge has on them ( Awan et al, 2017 ). Employees at the other end play a critical role in bridging and strengthening ties between consumers and firms ( Peñalba-Aguirrezabalaga et al, 2021 ). However, due to a lack of focus on EBBE tools and metrics, there is no clear and widely acknowledged foundation for it ( Olanipekun et al, 2021 ).…”