The Effect Of Customer Relationship Concentration On Corporate Financial Performance Under The Perspective Of Resource Efficiency

Customer relationship is a firm's invisible strategic resource. It plays a role in a firm's operation, and then finally affects the firm's financial performance.Based on the date of manufacturing listed firms from 2001 to 2014, we examine the effect of customer relationship concentration on corporate financial performance, and test the mediating role of three tangible resources'efficiency which includes inventory resource, marketing resource and accounts receivable resource efficiency. Our result shows that the more concentrated the customer relationship, the higher the firm's financial performance. The concentration of customer relationship has significant positive influence on the efficiency of inventory resource, marketing resource and accounts receivable resource. The efficiency of the three tangible resources play an intermediary effect in the process of customer relationship concentration affecting corporate financial performance. The influence of customer relationship concentration on corporate financial performance and the mediation effect of three tangible resources'efficiency vary in firms with different levels of financial performance.After introducing competitive market conditions, the influence of customer relationship concentration on corporate financial performance and the mediation effect of three tangible resources'efficiency will change.If the competition is fierce, the dynamism or the uncertainty of market environment is strong, the positive impact of customer relationship concentration on corporate financial performance will be significantly stronger.Companies in more competitive environment or facing higher uncertainty, the positive impact of customer relationship concentration on the efficiency of the typical tangible resources is more significant and the mediation effect only exist in these firms. Companies which face stronger dynamism, the positive impact of customer relationship concentration on the efficiency of the typical tangible resources is stronger, the efficiency of the typical tangible resources play a fully mediating role; while the efficiency of the typical tangible resources play a partial mediating role in firms facing weaker dynamism.Our findings enrich the theory of corporate financial performance and customer relationship management, and they reveal an important way that how customer relationship influences firm's financial performance, which provide some theoretical basis and practical guidance for firms to make full use of customer relationship resource to improve their performance.