Revisiting the relationship between CRM, business strategy and firm performance by complementing the sources-position-performance framework with value curve analysis

: an empirical study of the competitiveness in the industrial and small business segments of the liberalized electricity market in Portugal

Abstract

In Portugal, the Electricity Market is characterized by assuming strategies strongly anchored in its external competitive environment (Raimundo and Domingues 2021) and by having a low degree of innovation of the product. Although there is still a significant presence of the ex-monopolist company in the sector, companies increasingly seek to adopt an attractive position in the market, capturing the attention of the stakeholders in a different, unique and innovative way, that is, defining a positioning strategy. According to several studies, an effective positioning allows companies to respond to the needs of their customers, differentiating themselves from competitors and, thus, improving the company's financial performance, as well as customer loyalty and satisfaction (McAlexander et al. 1993; Porter 1996; Pham and Muthukrishnan 2002; Fuchs and Diamantopoulos 2010, 2012). In addition, different studies have been identified that analyse the differential impact of CRM on company performance, through the application of the sources-position-performance framework (Day and Wensley 1988; Reimann et al. 2010). However, no article was found that analysed the link between CRM, positioning strategies and performance in the liberalized electricity market in Portugal. This study also presents as a complementary element the analysis of the value curves, for the definition and study of the perception of value of the customers of the electricity sector in the respective segments. This tool will later allow to analyse and compare the perception of customers with the positioning strategies defined by the different energy companies. That said, the main objective of this study is to analyse the relationships between CRM, business strategies and performance of the four largest companies in the electricity sector in Portugal, in particular, in the small business segment and in the industrial segment, through the sources-position-performance framework and further, analyse through the value curve tool, developed within the scope of the Blue Ocean Strategy, the perception of value of customers in the different segments under study. This study is divided into six parts: in the first part there will be a literature review of the key concepts for the development of all the work; in the second part, a brief contextualization of the Portuguese electricity sector will be presented; the third part consists of defining the different hypotheses; the fourth part consists of the methodology adopted in the study, as well as the presentation of the variables present; in the fifth part the results and the discussion are presented; and finally, in the sixth part, the final conclusions of the study are reported, as well as the limitations and suggestions for future research.

Date of Award	19 Oct 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Luis Rebelo (Supervisor)