- Title
- An examination of the impact of a relationship marketing orientation on business performance outcomes in Hong Kong
- Creator
- Kwan, Rebecca Yuet Han
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- Professional Doctorate - Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
- Description
- The concept of relationship marketing (RM) has received considerable research attention from marketing academics over the past two decades. Several studies have emphasized that when a buyer (i.e. the client) and a seller (i.e. provider) choose, and follow, a relationship marketing orientation (RMO), both parties will gain enhancement in their business performance outcomes (Gordon, Pires and Stanton 2008; Ngo, Le and Lee 2010). However, these studies have been largely conducted in Western economies with a limited number of empirical studies available in comparison to Asian markets investigation RMO and its effect on business performance outcomes, particularly in the information systems (IS) outsourcing service sector. The RMO research that does exist in the Asian context has found that RMO is conceptualized by six constructs, (i.e. bonding, empathy, reciprocity, trust, communication, shared value) which has a positive association with business performance outcomes (Sin, Tse, Yau, Lee and Chow 2002). Meanwhile, scholars in recent times have called for research to examine conflict resolution behavior as an additional construct to the RMO model (Pervan, Bove, and Johnson 2009), since relationships are improved when disputes are aired and disagreements between partners are resolved harmoniously (Morgan and Hunt 1994; Goo, Kishore and Rao 2009). Therefore, this study seeks to fill this gap to understand the extent to which an RMO approach adopted by an IS outsourcing service provider with its clients, affects its clients’ business performance outcomes in Hong Kong. Thus, the following research problem addressed in the study is: “To what extent does a Relationship Marketing Orientation impact on business performance outcomes in Hong Kong IS outsourcing industry?” Further, based on a review of literature, a conceptual model showing the constructs of RMO that drive positive business performance outcomes was developed, and seven hypotheses were then generated and tested in this research. To gather empirical quantitative data, this study employed validated and reliable scales from a convenience sample of client firms of an IS outsourcing service provider located in Hong Kong, for hypotheses testing. Interestingly, the findings of the research provided mixed evidence to support the relationships between the RMO constructs on various business performance outcomes based on the client-provider relationship. Specifically, the findings revealed that variables of trust have a positive and significant impact on business performance outcomes of market share, sales growth, and ROI, and bonding shows partial support on the positive and significant impact on business performance outcomes of market share, and customer retention. On the other hand, empathy, reciprocity, communication, shared value and harmonious conflict resolution were found not to influence business performance outcomes of the research model. Overall, the findings provide implications for theory and practice. From a scholarly research perspective, these results enhance the understanding of relative significance between the RMO components on IS outsourcing firms’ business performance outcomes. From practitioners’ point of view, this research result facilitates management of IS outsourcing service providers to focus strategically on components contributing most to their client firms’ business performance outcomes. Limitations and directions for future research are presented.
- Subject
- relationship marketing orientation; business performance outcomes; information systems; outsourcing service sectors; Hong Kong
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/937538
- Identifier
- uon:12579
- Rights
- Copyright 2013 Rebecca Yuet Han Kwan
- Language
- eng
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