EMPIRICAL EXPLORATION OF CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT FOCUS AND ITS IMPACT ON BUSINESS PERFORMANCE

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.