Intangible Capital

Object: This paper analyses the relationship between adaptation and servitization with  absorptive capacity as mediating variable in local media companies. The study focus such relationship within the use of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems in those companies. Results show that low levels of absorptive capacity of the companies are related not only to technological aspects of guidance or investment in R & D companies in this sector but they are also closely related to motivation to change of its members as well as the involvement of managers in adapting to servitization. This fact allows the firms to identify the needs of their current and potential customers through the provision of services to add value to the media product.

Design / Methodology: This article is based on a sample of 54 publishers of regional and local press. We used path analysis, which allows us to determine the degree of influence of each of the dimensions of the constructs studied ( motivation to change, absorptive capacity, and performance of the company in the dual capacity as workers and processes).

Contributions & Results: The results support the hypothesis that absorption capacity is essential to evaluate, assimilate and apply especially, for commercial purposes, external expertise to guide these companies towards new business models that add new value to the customer. In order to integrate the customer inside the value chain a shift from an operations model to a production model of service operations is crucial. Currently, newspaper companies are going through difficult times. Readers and advertisers which are the two main sources of income seem to be turning to other means of communication which adversely affects its financial performance. To meet these challenges, newspapers must change the way they organize their activities. However this requires a catalyst such as motivation to change,such as in the case of web newspapers trying to maximize servitization based on knowledge of customer needs. This evolution of the traditional model weakness occurs due to low levels of absorption capacity of these companies explained by other variables such as low motivation towards change of the members of the organization.

Limitations: Our work presents the characteristics of an exploratory study with limitations as we deal exclusively with media release written for regional and local character, which makes the results difficult to extend to other sectors and even within the publishing industry nationwide. Some aspects of this work have not been sufficiently developed, such as those related to the importance of multidisciplinary training, the organization of work in these companies and their leadership, and the origin of the dual nature of these companies.

Added value: We are facing a shortage of scientific literature that relates, directly, absorptive capacity, CRM and servitización applied to media companies in print and much less so obviously highlight the importance of motivation change as a variable to explain the varying ability of companies belonging to this sector. This Research also proves that  this sector has a special need to develop motivation to initiate servitization strategies for future survival.