Does customer portfolio analysis relate to customer performance? An empirical analysis of alternative strategic perspective

An important managerial task in business‐to‐business marketing is the strategic management of supplier‐customer relationships, which is concerned with a portfolio of relationships. A review of existing customer portfolio theories reveals that: most of the portfolio dimensions have not yet been empirically validated; the theoretical base of relevant dimensions may be conceptually inadequate in terms of strategy analysis; and the link between customer portfolio dimensions and customer performance has not yet been examined. Attempts to address these gaps in the literature by studying customer portfolios of large UK‐based banks. The main results indicate that the common industrial organization perspective may only give a short run picture of customer performance. Suggests that long run positioning value of a customer portfolio can be accounted for by resource‐based analysis and strategic approach to customer portfolio analysis. Concludes with a discussion of the results and implications.