Existing literature on distributor opportunism investigates the phenomenon from a dyadic perspective. One cannot rule out influence of network embeddedness within the supply-chain context, especially in an IT-enabled digital world. This paper investigates how a distributor’s relationship with other distributors in the network influences its opportunism toward the primary supplier and whether the outcome differs with national culture. Based on the social network theory and in-depth interviews of 21 managers, it develops a model to examine the role of three-dimensional “network embeddedness” on “distributor’s opportunism towards supplier” moderated by “national culture,” validated using structural equation modeling on a survey data of 250 managers. There is a significant effect of network embeddedness on distributor opportunism toward supplier. However, there are differences in the impact of the three dimensions: relational, structural, and cognitive embeddedness. National culture influences the outcome of only relational and cognitive embeddedness.

The value of customer analytics (CA) and artificial intelligence (AI) has been discussed separately at the forefront of research for business, marketing, and operations management. In spite of the strategic importance of CA and AI, there has been a paucity of research regarding the role of AI in operationalizing customer analytics (CA) capability. To address the gap, this study draws on a systematic literature review and thematic analysis for identifying the value-based CA capability antecedents that operationalize through AI in the context of retailing. The findings of this study extend the resource-based view (RBV)-capability theory in the spectrum of market orientation, and technology orientation to generate a better intelligence of CA capability in the retail context; while also providing theoretically grounded guidance to the practitioners. Hence, retail practitioners will likely be able to engage customers and enhance customer delight by incorporating CA capability dimensions, which is powered by AI.