Interdepartmental Collaboration, Customer Success and Company Ethics

Chantilly VA - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - Space Shuttle Enterprise OV-101 12, October 21, 2011 | © Courtesy of Daniel Mennerich/Flickr.
Chantilly VA - Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center - Space Shuttle Enterprise OV-101 12, October 21, 2011 | © Courtesy of Daniel Mennerich/Flickr.

On October 5, 2018, Eva Tomaskova has published an article entitled “Interfunctional Coordination and its Influence on Customer Success” in Open Economics.

A Blog Post by Pablo Markin.


In her research, Tomaskova has explored the notion of interfunctional coordination (IFC) that relates to “collaboration between the diverse departments within an organization” (105). This author has inquired into this phenomenon via a survey among “companies producing electronic components and electrical equipment in the region of South Moravia in the Czech Republic” (105). Tomaskova’s results have shown that “the implementation of IFC in a company has a positive relationship on the success of its customers” (105).

In her literature review, Tomaskova indicates that IFC has emerged in the context of supply chain management. This author also highlights that “the relationship between IFC, customers and their success has not been analysed. Some scientific studies have touched on this subject, however, e.g., Zhou et al. (2009). They stressed that IFC reflects the coordination of customer oriented activities and resources within a company. Luo et al. (2006) and Jüttner et al. (2007) noted that IFC is key for creating customer value” (107).

Based on her empirical findings, Tomaskova concludes that “IFC can be identified as the spirit of a company” (110), while showing “the positive influence of IFC on customer success” (110). This corresponds to past studies “which deal with the relation between IFC and ethics, e.g. Manurung et al. (2015). They noted that workers want to work consistently with ethical principles and they do not wish to break the rules. Cheng a Wang (2015) mentioned that high levels of ethics in a company increase the identification of workers with the company. Bigné et al. (2003) stressed that ethics can influence workers and that the relation between workers and ethics can lead to an increase of IFC and in return,  can lead to the higher satisfaction of workers” (109).

By Pablo Markin


Featured Image Credits: Chantilly VA – Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center – Space Shuttle Enterprise OV-101 12, October 21, 2011 | © Courtesy of Daniel Mennerich/Flickr.

Cite this article as: Pablo Markin, "Interdepartmental Collaboration, Customer Success and Company Ethics," in Open Economics Blog, 20/04/2019, https://oeb.hypotheses.org/944.

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