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<p>In the digital age, do technologies broaden the customer base or consolidate existing ties? This fundamental question concerning competitive advantages has not been fully explored. Through the lens of Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT), we examine how suppliers’ digital technology (DT) adoption relates to customer relationships using data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2023. On the one hand, DT adoption is associated with lower major customer concentration, with market expansion and reputation accumulation emerging as plausible channels; on the other hand, it predicts higher major customer retention through enhanced reputation and improved supply chain information coordination. We further find that the negative association with major customer concentration is stronger under higher environmental uncertainty, whereas the positive association with major customer retention is more pronounced when suppliers’ boards possess greater IT expertise. By integrating ROT into the customer relationship management (CRM) literature, this study reveals the complex mechanisms through which DTs reshape buyer–seller relationships and provides novel theoretical insights and practical implications for constructing balanced and resilient customer portfolios in turbulent environments.</p>

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A resource orchestration perspective: does suppliers’ adoption of digital technology affect customer relationships?—The role of environmental uncertainty and board IT expertise

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月3日

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  • Airong Zhang,
  • Longying Hu,
  • Xiaoming Ren

摘要

In the digital age, do technologies broaden the customer base or consolidate existing ties? This fundamental question concerning competitive advantages has not been fully explored. Through the lens of Resource Orchestration Theory (ROT), we examine how suppliers’ digital technology (DT) adoption relates to customer relationships using data of Chinese A-share listed firms from 2013 to 2023. On the one hand, DT adoption is associated with lower major customer concentration, with market expansion and reputation accumulation emerging as plausible channels; on the other hand, it predicts higher major customer retention through enhanced reputation and improved supply chain information coordination. We further find that the negative association with major customer concentration is stronger under higher environmental uncertainty, whereas the positive association with major customer retention is more pronounced when suppliers’ boards possess greater IT expertise. By integrating ROT into the customer relationship management (CRM) literature, this study reveals the complex mechanisms through which DTs reshape buyer–seller relationships and provides novel theoretical insights and practical implications for constructing balanced and resilient customer portfolios in turbulent environments.