BUS631: Brand Management

The RBV and dynamic capabilities theories were adopted as the theoretical foundation for developing the research model. The RBV emerged from strategic management to demonstrate how different organizational resources contribute to organizational performance. RBV has been considered as a principle theory in the last two decades for exploring different IT outcomes as resources that influence firm performance, and many studies concluded that different IT outcomes could add value to firm performance. However, many prior studies criticized RBV for its lack of explanatory power with regard to how different IT resource outputs can create different capabilities in organizations. Similarly, dynamic capabilities theory was proposed by Teece and Pisano in 1994 to overcome the limitations and shortcomings of the RBV. The RBV ignores the surroundings of organizational resources and the development of resources, such as how these resources can be integrated with others and how such integration can develop new capabilities. The RBV focuses on selecting existing factors and uses them to obtain a competitive edge and increase organizational performance, whereas dynamic capabilities theory focuses on developing capabilities through existing resources and factors that can react according to the dynamic environment. The RBV places emphasis on the sustainability of organizational performance through existing resources, whereas the concept of dynamic capabilities indicates that sustainability in this era of changing environment cannot be achieved through the outcomes of static resources and that resources should be developed to enhance capabilities for tackling environmental changes. The study of Wade and Hulland concluded that information system or technology outcomes as resources could create dynamic capabilities in organizations and that the enhancement of performance is solely dependent on the outcomes provided by IT.

Given that the study aims to investigate employees' perception about the impact of BDA on sales performance through the organization dynamic capabilities, the choice of dynamic capabilities theory as partially supported by RBV to develop a comprehensive research framework is deemed suitable. The existing view of big data has been extended by the notion of BDA that is important to transform the data into valuable insights, and its implication in the decision-making process to improve the sales performance. Therefore, it is worthwhile to examine the impact of BDA on various organization dynamic capabilities and how they affect sales performance. On the basis of the RBV and dynamic capabilities theory, the current work considers BDA measures through its most influential benefits as IT resource of organizations and CRM capabilities as dynamic capabilities. Moreover, BDA benefits as resources of organizations are expected to develop the CRM capabilities of pharmaceutical organizations in Pakistan and enhance their PSP. CRM capabilities are also proposed to enhance the PSP of pharmaceutical organizations and mediate of the relationship between BDA on PSP. Figure 1 presents the proposed research model.

Figure 1 Research model.

Benefits of Big Data Analytics

The literature on BDA uses its benefits to directly and indirectly measure the overall relationship between BDA and organizational performance through different capabilities and also investigate the impact of BDA on the service innovation. In this study, the most prominent perceived benefits of BDA are incorporated on the basis of a systematic literature analysis (Table 1). The BDA benefits are considered as the IT resources of organizations. As a well-established myth, the adoption and implementation of any technology will provide several benefits to organizations, and these benefits will ultimately become the resources of organizations for competitive advantage. Therefore, this study considers BDA benefits, such as BCS, personalization, AA, and the IRK, as resources of organizations for developing CRM capabilities and increasing PSP.

Better Customer Service

BCS is the first step in improving the CRM capabilities of organizations. Prior studies already established the relationship of BCS with PSP and CRM capabilities. In the study of BDA, Lee highlighted the importance of BCS as benefits of BDA. The study explained that BCS is possible due to the data gathering method of BDA as such data originates from all possible resources of the target segment of customers. Furthermore, the study claimed that BDA also supports the prediction of customer problems, such as real-time demands and fraudulent activities. Akter and Fosso demonstrated BDA in the context of e-commerce and concluded that BDA could provide more BCS than other existing systems and thus greatly influences the sales performance of organizations. Many studies already concluded the positive relationship of BCS as IT resource of the organization with CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC in different contexts other than BDA such as marketing effectiveness, the performance of services industry, and overall organizational performance.

The studies mentioned above already empirically established the significant relationship of BCS with PSP and CRM capabilities (CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC) in contexts other than BDA, but few studies highlighted the importance of this factor in the context of BDA. The literature on the potential relationship of this BDA with PSP and CRM capabilities is insufficient. Therefore, the current work incorporates BCS as BDA benefits that will influence PSP and CRM capabilities, such as CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC. H1: BCS has a positive impact on PSP. H1a: BCS has a positive impact on customer interaction management capability. H1b: BCS has a positive impact on customer relationship upgrading capability. H1c: BCS has a positive impact on customer win-back capability.

Personalization

Today's business world is full of competition, and survival is only possible by providing customized products or services. In contexts other than BDA, studies incorporated personalization as a predictor variable to investigate its relationship with PSP and CRM capabilities. For example, Parasuraman et al. considered personalization and reported its impact on PSP in the context of an electronic service quality system. Simanjuntak et al. also highlighted the importance of personalization as an IT system benefits and concluded its positive influence on CRM capabilities. Previous studies in different sectors such as marketing, insurance, banking, and e-commerce already proved the strong relationship of personalization with CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC but lacking in the context of BDA.

In the context of BDA, few empirical studies investigated the impact of personalization on PSP and discussed importance of the personalized information provided by BDA and its potential in increasing the PSP and CRM capabilities. A recent study explored the important of BDA in services personalization in multisector organizations such as insurance, banking, telecommunication, and e-commerce and suggested the need of more empirical studies on it especially in healthcare sector. These studies also suggested that personalization should be empirically investigated in the context of BDA. Therefore, the present study proposes personalization as a BDA benefit that will influence PSP and CRM capabilities (CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC). H2: Personalization has a positive impact on PSP. H2a: Personalization has a positive impact on customer interaction management capability. H2b: Personalization has a positive impact on customer relationship upgrading capability. H2c: Personalization has a positive impact on customer win-back capability.

Advanced Analytics

AA is one of the primary benefits of BDA that makes BDA superior to other existing decision support systems. In this study, AA is considered as the advanced analyzed information that a sales person can get by using BDA for better sales performance. As a well-established myth, the results regarding organization sales and CRM improve with the quality of AA. Prior studies in contexts other than BDA justified that AA has a positive influence on PSP and CRM capabilities. For example, Acharya et al. considered AA in investigating sales performance in the context of the fashion industry and concluded that the sales performance of organizations increases with AA quality. Another study incorporated AA as a predictor variable and established its positive impact on CRM capabilities. Prior studies highlighted the importance and empirically proved the positive relationship of AA with CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC but unfortunately this important relationship was ignored in the context of BDA.

In the context of BDA, a recent study explored that different BDA benefits especially the advanced analytical ability of BDA create different dynamic capabilities in the organization that ultimately help improve performance. Investigations into the influence of AA on PSP and CRM capabilities in the context of BDA are rarely reported. Arunachalam et al. highlighted the importance of AA in the context of supply chain management and concluded that the AA outcome of BDA could influence the PSP of organizations. Therefore, to bridge this gap, the current research proposes that AA as a benefit of BDA has an impact on PSP and CRM capabilities (CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC). H3: AA has a positive impact on PSP. H3a: AA has a positive impact on customer interaction management capability. H3b: AA has a positive impact on customer relationship upgrading capability. H3c: AA has a positive impact on customer win-back capability.

Improved Relational Knowledge

Prior studies on different technology benefits already concluded that an organization's relationship with existing and potential customers strengthens as the relational knowledge of employees improves. In the context of decision-making for household purchases, a prior study concluded that IRK can influence the sales performance of the organization. Wang and Feng also proved the positive relationship between IRK and CRM capabilities.

As BDA is a concern, existing studies only investigated the importance of IRK in improving organizational performance and CRM capabilities and thus lack empirical investigations. Akter et al. only conceptually highlighted the importance of IRK in improving organizational performance. Another study considered IRK in the context of education and discussed its importance in improving sales and CRM capabilities. Previous studies also reported the positive impact of IRK on CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC in different contexts other than BDA. In the context of BDA, these important relationships of IRK with PSP, CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC are lacking and need to be studied. On the basis of the aforementioned literature, this study proposes that IRK as a benefit of BDA influences PSP and CRM capabilities (CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC). H4: IRK has a positive impact on PSP. H4a: IRK has a positive impact on customer interaction management capability. H4b: IRK has a positive impact on customer relationship upgrading capability. H4c: IRK has a positive impact on customer win-back capability.

CRM Capabilities

On the basis of dynamic capabilities theory, this research considers CRM capabilities as dynamic capabilities. CRM capabilities refer to the multifunctional process of building, maintaining, and enhancing relationships with customers in the long term to increase the sales performance of an organization. Thus, to create CRM capabilities, an organization must have a data analytics system or technology, and the quality of CRM capabilities in the organization increases with that of the analyzed information. Furthermore, prior studies explored three components of CRM capabilities, that is, CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC. CIMC refers to "customer identification, customer acquisition, and customer retention," and CRUC refers to "cross-selling and up-selling," while CWBC refers to "reestablishing relationships with lost but profitable customers". Therefore, this study incorporates the cited three CRM capabilities and proposes that there is a positive influence of CRM capabilities on PSP. The detailed explanation about CIMC, CRUC, and CWBC is discussed below.

Customer Interaction Management Capability

CIMC can be defined as the ability or the skill that the organization uses to identify, attain, and retain profitable customers. In this study context, CIMC refers to the skills and ability of pharmaceutical organization employees that pharmaceutical organizations use to identify, acquire, and retain profitable customers. Many prior studies highlighted the importance of this factor that relates to the effect of CRM capabilities on PSP. For example, Rapp et al. highlighted the importance of CIMC under the umbrella of CRM capabilities, investigated its impact on the sales performance of organizations in the USA, and concluded that CIMC is a significant predictor of the sales performance of organizations.

Wang and Feng considered dynamic capabilities as a lens to explore the overall organizational sales performance and confirmed the positive impact of CIMC on the sales growth of an organization. Other studies also revealed the importance of CIMC in increasing sales performance. In the context of BDA, a prior study only highlighted the importance of CRM in increasing the sales performance of organizations and failed to consider the aforementioned factor in investigating its impact on PSP. Therefore, the current research proposes the influence of CIMC on PSP.

H5: CIMC has a positive impact on PSP.

Customer Relationship Upgrading Capability

CRUC refers to the skills and abilities of employees that firms use to increase sales and cross-sales to existing customers with the help of analyzed information. In this study context, CRUC refers to the BDA-related skills and abilities of employees that organizations use to sell large quantities of products or services to existing customers. Previous studies highlighted the importance of this CRM capability on the increment of PSP in different contexts. For example, the study of Wang and Feng in the context of the service sectors of China and the USA explored the importance of CRUC in PSP and developed a scale for this factor. Harrigan et al., in the context of entrepreneurial marketing in small- and medium-sized enterprises, concluded that CRM capabilities, including CRUC, have a positive relationship with the PSP. Other prior studies also described the important role of CRUC in increasing the research performance of organizations. In the context of BDA, Pietro et al. explained CRM as an important factor of marketing and a primary factor in increasing sales performance and suggested its intensive study in the context of BDA. Therefore, the current work proposes that CRUC positively influences the PSP of the pharmaceutical organizations in Pakistan. H6: CRUC has a positive impact on PSP.

Customer Win-Back Capability

CWBC refers to the skills and ability used by an organization in rebuilding its relationship with lost and inactive profitable customers. CWBC can be defined in this study context as the skills and abilities of employees used by organizations in rebuilding relationships with lost or inactive profitable customers. The important point that must be understood is that CWBC only places emphasis on customers who are profitable, that is, those with a positive impact on the PSP.

Customers who harm organizations' performance or sales performance are not acquired by such organizations again. According to the previous literature, CWBC is a significant influencer of PSP; Wang and Feng, for example, concluded that PSP increases with the CWBC of the organization. The study of Alshura considered CWBC and reported its positive impact on the PSP of mobile phone operating organizations. Another study proposed the impact of CRM capabilities on an organization's performance, including CWBC, and reported a high impact. Several other studies also described the importance of CWBC because of its influence on PSP in different contexts, but they unfortunately lack content that is applicable to BDA. Therefore, the current research proposes that CWBC influences the PSP of pharmaceutical organizations in Pakistan.

H7: CWBC has a positive impact on PSP.

Mediating Role of CRM Capabilities

CIMC is a factor that creates superior CRM capabilities in an organization and is dependent on the quality of the IT system outcomes of such organization. Hence, the CIMC of the organization will increase as the analysis quality of the system improves. CIMC is dependent on how a system takes the daily data of market-related activities. It also relates to how these data are analyzed using AA to provide information on new customers and personalized information on individual customers so as to offer them BCS and retain them in the organization. The study of Wang and Feng considered the mediating role of different CRM capabilities, such as CIMC, between the different benefits of IT systems and PSP and concluded that these capabilities have a significant mediating impact. Therefore, the current study also proposes that CIMC plays a mediating role between the relationships of BDA (BCS, personalization, AA, and IRK) and PSP in pharmaceutical organizations. Therefore, the following hypotheses are formulated. H5a: CIMC has a mediating impact in the relationship of BCS and PSP. H5b: CIMC has a mediating impact in the relationship of personalization and PSP. H5c: CIMC has a mediating impact in the relationship of AA and PSP. H5d: CIMC has a mediating impact in the relationship of IRK and PSP.

CRUC is also totally dependent on the quality of analysis that the IT system provides to the employees of organizations. Given the core purpose of CRUC of increasing the quantity of sales and cross-sales to existing profitable customers, the quantity of sales increasing with the IT system provides employees AA information regarding the existing customers to provide those BCS. In this way, the employees of the organization can increase the importance of the product or service in the eyes of existing customers and motivate them to use it regularly. The second factor of cross-sale is possible when the IT system increases employees' relational knowledge by providing personalized information about existing customers so that the employees can provide new customized products or services to existing customers and increase cross-selling. Therefore, CRUC is dependent on the quality analysis, service provision information, personalized information, and knowledge that improves the quality of the IT system. The study of Harrigan, in the context of e-CRM, considered the mediating role of CRM capabilities, including CRUC, and concluded that CRUC mediates the impact of IT system benefits on PSP. On the basis of the suggestions provided by previous studies, the current research also proposes that CRUC mediates the relationships among BDA (BCS, personalization, AA, and IRK) and the PSP in pharmaceutical organizations. Thus, the following research hypotheses are formulated. H6a: CRUC has a mediating impact in the relationship of BCS and PSP. H6b: CRUC has a mediating impact in the relationship of personalization and PSP. H6c: CRUC has a mediating impact in the relationship of AA and PSP. H6d: CRUC has a mediating impact in the relationship of IRK and PSP.

CWBC is also a product of IT systems and is the most important CRM capability because the loss of customers impacts the sales performance severely. CWBC has a double negative impact on organizations because it not only decreases the sales of organizations but also causes the loss of the substantial investment made on acquiring customers. Another reason why CWBC is critical is the ambiguous acquisition of new customers; it rebuilds profitable relationships with the loss of inactive customers. Therefore, to rebuild the relationship with inactive or angry customers, the employees of organizations must obtain their customers' personalized information, provide better services, employ the latest analysis techniques that extract hidden secrets about customers, and improve their customer knowledge. Wang and Feng considered CWBC as a mediator factor among the benefits of IT systems and the PSP and reported that CWBC partially mediates the relationships among IT system and PSP. In this research context, CWBC mediates the relationships between BDA (BCS, personalization, AA, and IRK) and the PSP in pharmaceutical organizations. Therefore, the current research forms the following hypotheses: H7a: CWBC has a mediating impact in the relationship of BCS and PSP. H7b: CWBC has a mediating impact in the relationship of personalization and PSP. H7c: CWBC has a mediating impact in the relationship of AA and PSP. H7d: CWBC has a mediating impact in the relationship of IRK and PSP.