Key account managers' identification profiles and effectiveness: A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

Key account managers handle a supplier's most strategically important customer relationships. The success of a key account relationship essentially depends on the competencies, skills, and mindset of the key account manager. Previous research indicates that mindset and identity have a significant impact on the performance and effectiveness of (sales) employees. The concept of identity and identification, rooted in social identity theory and self-categorization theory, as well as literature on key account management and the unique role of key account managers provide the theoretical framework, proposing four relevant identification foci of key account managers: identification with organization, key account, leader, and occupation. This study uses survey data from 218 respondents and conducts a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to identify configurations of identification foci that foster key account manager effectiveness. The findings reveal four different configurations, consisting of different identification profiles and contextual factors, which are sufficient for high key account manager effectiveness. The results of the analysis contribute to identity and key account management research and show that high effectiveness of key account managers can be achieved with different identification patterns and depending on different contextual factors.