Market‐oriented resource management in customer relationships

Purpose – To model how resources and capabilities co‐evolved in a contract research provider's customer relationships and how this affected market orientation, and to develop hypotheses for further testing. Design/methodology/approach – Single qualitative and abductive longitudinal case study. Findings – The provider focused on generating knowledge of current and near future customer needs through interactions with customers and other key actors. The provider also pursued the building of capabilities which would enable it to broaden the application areas to the needs of a larger group of potential customers. Exchanges with specific customers were used by the provider for the acquisition of resources and capabilities concerning details related to functions and, especially, applications, yet these resources and capabilities were subsequently broadened to all‐around solutions. In contrast, customer interactions were less important in acquiring resources and capabilities. Eight hypotheses were also formulated. Research limitations/implications – One cannot be certain of the external validity of the findings. Practical implications – Knowledge‐intensive firms with a high degree of customer interaction must seek to balance their individual customer relationships and their customer relationship portfolio across time with regard to four customer types, so that the firm achieves the desired levels and balance of mutuality, particularity, mutual relationship capability (in the shorter term) and more generic capability and general market orientation (in the longer term). Originality/value – It examines the interface between the resource‐based view of strategy and relationship marketing. It is relevant to strategy and marketing scholars as well as to practitioners in knowledge‐intensive organisations that have customer relationships.