The primary question addressed in this research is: what are the factors affecting organisations‘ adoption of CRM? The customer relationship management system (CRM) is an information technology system that effectively manages interaction and long-term relationship with customers. The number of organisations in the world adopting CRM has been rapidly increasing and the concept of CRM has resonated considerably in recent years with both academics and practitioners. While literature often cites CRM projects as failing to deliver promised improvement in business performance, our empirical knowledge about what constitutes a successful adoption of CRM remains inherently narrow. The potential for substantially improved customer relationships and the tremendous amount of confusion regarding what constitutes successful CRM adoption, calls for a critical investigation into the adoption process, and its key success factors. To do this, the research aims to develop effective guidelines to assist in the adoption of CRM in organisations, by showing that the concept of CRM is a joint development between marketing, management and IT disciplines. The methodology in this study is based on mixed methods by combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. There were two phases of data collection for this research. The qualitative exploratory study with varied stakeholders dealing with CRM was conducted to assess and explore the relevance of factors identified from the literature, and to contextualise the research question in relation to organisations in Jordan. The question led to the design of a survey instrument completed by 321 practitioners from ten organisations across four sectors (banking and finance, telecommunication, hospitality, and automotive) in Jordan. The data was then analysed using a variety of appropriate statistical techniques such as Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA). In the light of the EFA, the hypotheses of the study were modified to accommodate the underlying structure of identified factors. In order to test the conceptual model with relevant hypotheses, structured equation modelling (SEM) was performed. This study provides insight into the complexity of CRM through a new multi-disciplinarily approach, which alters the view of CRM amongst academics and practitioners and brings about a new understanding of what constitutes CRM. This approach serves the study purpose of developing a holistic picture of the impetus of CRM adoption in organisations. Moreover, two different perspectives are investigated, at individual (employee) and at organisational level. By doing so, this study unravels the complexity of CRM adoption process. Analysis results revealed that employees‘ perception of CRM benefits serves as reasonable proxy for actual organisational implementation. In this study, there were four factors found to influence and explain employee perception of CRM: i) having a clear objective of CRM influences, ii) strategically measuring CRM performance, iii) X traditional segmentation analysis, and iv) knowledge management. Moreover, there were three factors which were found to have direct impact on the implementation stage: i) clear direction of CRM, ii) rewarding usage, and iii) managing project changes. Theoretical and practical implications based on the current study results and their meanings emerged to shed new light on the potential processes and practices which managers can use to address the complexity of CRM, enabling them to exploit the potential of CRM. Moreover, this study has considered a holistic approach to CRM and its adoption, and has highlighted key areas of poorly implemented practices. It represents one of the rare attempts to thoroughly incorporate different elements of CRM into the adoption process and illuminating reasons that explain the adoption process hierarchy.
Jaber, Faten
Department of MarketingFaculty of Business
Year: 2012
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