INTRODUCTION:

Since the beginning of the new millennium, traditional marketing practices have not been effective in yielding good returns. Companies have turned reluctant to spend huge advertising expenditure and marketing research- the potent tool of getting deeper insights of customer has lost its charisma. Due to enigmatic consumer behavior it becomes inevitable for the companies to develop new marketing strategies. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has emerged as a new marketing strategy in that tenor. The 1990s have been a dynamic period within the information systems field. One of the most exciting uses of new technologies has beenin thearea of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Today the availability of econometric, demographic, lifestyle and psychographic data, decision support systems, Internet and other customer access techniques are helping marketing and senior management make customer care a reality rather than just a vision.

Companies no longer want to treat their customer base as a homogeneous collection of revenue generating units; they want to get up close and personal with each of them individually.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a relatively new marketing concept that requires complex information technology solutions rivaling those of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. CRM concept is the idea that businesses should select, cultivate and manage the most profitable customer relationships with a view to increasing long-term profitability (CRMguru.com). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is an enterprise approach to understand and influence customer behavior through meaningful communication in order to improve customer acquisition, customer loyalty and customer profitability. The purpose of CRM is the building of relationships in order to affect customer acquisition, retention, loyalty and profitability. The importance of technology and its use in CRM is in the increased use of these technologies to establish relationships and develop loyalty and retention among existing customers. The effective use of CRM systems can assist in the organisation’s relationship building activities while also contributing to the profitability of the organization (Ngai, 2005).

Kumar and Ramani (2004) viewed Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as the process of achieving and maintaining an ongoing relationship with customers across multiple customer touch points through differential and tailored treatment of individual customers based on their likely responses to alternative marketing programs, such that the contribution of each customer to the overall profitability of the firm is maximized.Achieving this goal requires a company to understand its customer base at both the macro and micro levels. At the macro level, customer knowledge is needed for making strategic decisions and to focus marketing efforts. At the micro level, customer information is needed to deliver personalized products and services to individual customer in order to develop customer loyalty and trust.

CRM facilitates relationships among enterprises and their customers, business suppliers and employees. Therefore, the term “customer”, in this sense, refers not only to the end-consumer, but also includes business-to-business customers, channels/distributors/franchises and internal customers (Swift R, 2001).

CRM and IT:

Exploitation of IT that will facilitate the use and management of information is regarded as one of the key contributors to future marketing success, both for large and small firms. IT plays an important role in CRM, enabling the assembly of customer information and the creation of customer knowledge, which is critical for maintaining customer relationships (Cooper, B. L, 2000). Ryals and Payne (2001) stress that CRM seeks to provide a strategic bridge between IT strategies and marketing strategies in building long-term relationships and profitability.

The trend toward IT-enabled management of customer relationships has different origins, of which a principal one is a supply-side push from the IT industry. Moreover, technological advances have increased the number of marketing channels, and also have precipitated changes in shopping behavior. At the same time, developments have increased the potential for data capture and extended the capabilities of data management. IT-enabled channels, such as the Internet, have made it possible to deal with a segment of one, and allow one-to-one dialogue with current or prospective customers in which the product configuration, price and required service can be negotiated individually.

CRM IMPLEMENTATION:

CRM strategies have gained momentum in recent years. Understanding and responding to customer needs and improving customer service have become important elements of corporate strategy. IT based CRM applications are being used by companies to support corporate strategies. CRM allows the system to identify the different needs of the different customers, so that products can be target marketed and suggestively sold to the most appropriate clients, this facilities an effective model of cross selling (Waltner, C, 2000). However, a company has identified the touch point and the areas where information is stored and gathered, there is also need to consider the implementation of the CRM.

Boulding et al (2005). construed the scope of CRM as encompassing strategy, management of the dual creation of value, intelligent use of data and technology, acquisition and dissemination of customer knowledge to appropriate stakeholders, development of appropriate (long-term) relationships with specific customers and/or customer groups, and the integration of processes across the many areas of the firm and across the network of firms that collaborate to generate customer value.

Review of Literature:

Powell (1997) explained that the study of IT adoption in the retail sector showed that IT alone does not produce sustainable performance advantages, but that some firms have gained advantages by using IT to leverage intangible, complementary human and business resources such as flexible culture, strategic planning, IT integration, and supplier relationships. To deliver sustained advantage, IT must be embedded in and complemented by other non-IT based resources.

Mitchell (1998) explained that CRM systems capture a broad range of information about customers such as product purchase history, product satisfaction and customer contact with sales, marketing, support and service departments. Organizations use CRM to collect, store and analyze customer behavior information in view of attracting and retaining their customers.

Galimi (2000) described that CRM, like any other IT innovation, is not solely technology-driven. CRM is believed to be one of the broadest innovations that organizations have encountered so far since CRM technological initiatives normally imply the implementation of customer-centric business strategy, a redesign of functional activities, and a re-engineering of work processes.

Simon Kriss (2003) stated that driving a technology project most would assume that knowing what the customer wants is enough to ensure success. Many companies go further by making sure that the technology solution fits within the IT architecture. Despite all this, many companies have failed in their CRM implementations.

NASCIO (2006) explained that the proven customer relationship service strategies and tactics are essential in maintaining and growing enterprise IT services. Customer-focused enterprises mobilize the entire state technology office to better serve agency customers, locking in long-term relationships that benefit both the agencies and the technology office.

Mario Caldeira (2007) stated that although information systems and technology play an important role in CRM implementation, CRM is much more than technology and there is empirical evidence in the literature that a very high percentage of CRM projects fail to fulfill management expectations and business requirements.

Alhassan G Abdul-Muhmin (2012), examined CRM awareness, perceptions and extent of CRM technology adoption among organizations in an emerging market – Saudi Arabia. It also examines the specific uses of analytical CRM and the perceived benefits of CRM technology among adopting organizations. The empirical results show a reasonably high level of CRM awareness and a relatively high CRM technology adoption rate, particularly among large organizations. Contrary to expectations, however, service organizations are no more likely to adopt CRM technologies than their non-service counterparts. CRM technology-adopting organizations report the greatest implementation benefits in improved customer insight and employee productivity.

MiladFarzin and TannazRostamAbadi (2014), explained that the businesses can enhance their relationships with customers through CRM and therefore it leads to greater customer loyalty, retention and profitability. Information Technologyand information systems have a significant role in CRM and can be used to enhance CRM process to satisfy customer needs. In this paper authors described four basic CRM tasks, identification, differentiation, interaction and customization, then review the role of IT-based interactivity and IT factors of CRM, and finally identified the relations among CRM and central infrastructures to CRM applications, namely data warehousing technology, enterprise resource planning systems, internet and data mining.

Dilip.B(2019), said that the business flows can help in implementing a CRM strategy. This will require the examining of the business processes which includes- Planning and executing of marketing strategies driving lead to sales and ensuring that customers are being served at a low cost. The companies need to focus on the key business flows that have the highest priority within the company. These may relate to the targeting of marketing expenditures, cost of sales or the saving of money on customer’s transactions over the web. In order to implement CRM, the company should be clear with the statement of work and the change management processes. The implementation services cost at least double the price of the software itself. Implementations on a larger scale are more complex in scope and methodology. A marketing director is responsible for tracking the cost, schedule, performance and risk factors involved in the project.

METHODOLOGY:

The study adopted descriptive method of research and employed survey method to collect data.

Data Sources:

Primary Data:

Marketing managers and technical associates were chosen to get their views and opinions on the impact of IT on CRM implementation. Some of them are interviewed to get their opinions and inputs on what extent the Information Technology influences the CRM Implementation in the company in which they are working at present.

Secondary Data:

Information about the IT structure of CRM implementation is gathered from various books, magazines, journals and websites.

Choice of Organizations:

In the current study both manufacturing and service sectors are selected. The data was collected from Visakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Bangalore based companies in South India from the list of industries in these cities.

SAMPLING:

The questionnaire was pre-tested using a sample of 306 respondents. It was revised and validated. The samples were selected by using quota sampling technique among the target sectors. Within the sectors convenience sampling method was used.

Data Analysis:

· Friedman test is used for ranking the factors

· Chi square test is performed to compare the mean difference between the scores of different factors between Service and Manufacturing industries. Similar comparison is made between Technical Associates and Marketing Managers.

· The first three factors are selected for describing the importance of these factors.

Profile of the Respondents:

The sales and marketing departments are usually the initiators and planners for the implementation of CRM as part of their marketing plans. The respondents from the IT department are the facilitators for the implementation and functionality of the CRM programs.

Type of Industry by Job Position:

The Table No.1 shows distribution of respondents by Type of Industry and Job Position.

Table No. 1: Distribution of respondents by Type of Industry and Job Position

Type of Industry	Job Position		Total
Type of Industry	Technical Associates	Marketing Managers	Total
Service	93(54.1%)	82(61.2%)	175(57.2%)
Manufacturing	79(45.9%)	52(38.8%)	131(42.8%)
Total	172(100%)	134(100%)	306(100%)

Among the respondents, 57.2% are from service industry and 42.8% are from manufacturing industry. Technical associates constitute 54.1% from service and 45.9% from manufacturing industry. Marketing managers’ responses are 61.2% from service and 38.8% from manufacturing industry. It can be observed that response from marketing managers is lesser from both the service and manufacturing industries. Eleven items measure the organization’s capability in using CRM technology while implementing CRM applications. These items are listed in Table No. 5.

The Table No.2 shows information technology by Type of Industry. Chi square test shows that there is no significant impact of type of industry on the organization’s actual technological resources, top management support, knowledge management capabilities and the relationship between organization structure and processes, IT infrastructure and effective use of IT in customer service. There is no significant difference between service and manufacturing industries.

Table No. 2: Information Technology by Type of Industry

Information Technology	Type of Industry		Total
Information Technology	Service	Manufacturing	Total
LOW	41(23.4%)	44(33.6%)	85(27.8%)
MEDIUM	68(38.9%)	52(39.7%)	120(39.2%)
HIGH	66(37.7%)	35(26.7%)	101(33.0%)
TOTAL	175(100%)	131(100%)	306(100%)

Chi-square Value = 5.542P-Value = 0.063 (Not Significant)

It is observed that 23.4% of service industry and 33.6% of manufacturing industry responded with low scores. In contrast 37.7% service industry and 26.7% of manufacturing industry responded with high scores.

Since Chi-square test has shown no significant association, z-test is performed to compare the actual scores. The null hypothesis is H0: Mean score of Information Technology is same in both industries.

The Table No. 3 shows Z-Statistics for Information Technology and Type of Industry

Table No. 3: Z-Statistics for Information Technology by Type of Industry

	Service	Manufacturing
Mean	68.37	66.45
Standard deviation	5.18	4.95
Mean difference p- value z-test	1.92 0.001** 3.268

** Significant at 1% level

It can be concluded with the help of chi square test that there is highly significant difference between technical associates and marketing managers with reference to the IT infrastructure maintained by the organizations. The responses of technical associates are more than the marketing managers.

Table No. 4: Information Technology by Job Position

Information Technology	Job Position		Total
Information Technology	Technical Associates	Marketing Managers	Total
LOW	15(8.7%)	70(52.2%)	85(27.8%)
MEDIUM	76(44.2%)	44(32.8%)	120(39.2%)
HIGH	81(47.1%)	20(14.9%)	101(33.0%)
TOTAL	172(100%)	134(100%)	306(100%)

Chi-square Value = 77.438P-Value = 0.001 (Significant at 1% level)

It is observed that 47.1% of technical associates and 14.9% of marketing managers are responded with high scores. It is found that 52.2% of marketing managers responded and 8.7% of technical associates responded with the low scores (Table No.4).

Table No. 5: Ranking of Information Technology factors

Factors	Mean
Integrated Information System	7.168
Fast Customer Response	6.601
Information System Structure	6.583
Empower Employees	6.508
Organization Vision	6.470
Capture Customer Data	6.053
Centralized Database	5.872
Employee Expertise	5.468
Authentic Customer Information	5.138
Data sharing Technology	5.129
Predict Customer Expectations	5.004

Figure 1: Ranking of Information Technology factors

The Table No.5 shows the ranking of Information Technology factors which influence the infra structure for CRM implementation. Integrated information systems, fast customer response and the structure of information systems are the important factors identified by the respondents. These factors influence the organization’s actual technological resources and the effective use of IT in customer service. Within these factors “Integrated Information Systems” with a mean of 7.168 has got highest rank.

FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS:

It is found that implementation of IT infrastructure is important for CRM implementation. Service industries and technical associates identified that IT related infrastructure increases the usefulness of CRM applications. Out of the eleven factors related to IT, it is found that integrated information systems, fast customer response and structure of information system are the technological resources which influence the implementation of CRM.

Integrated Information Systems:

As flexibility, adaptability, and speed become winning elements of corporate success, IT becomes more critical than ever. Organizations need to provide the basis for rapid response and the adjustment of business models in order to keep pace with changing market conditions. Organizations must be able to realize quick time to value to meet immediate business needs and short-term goals. At the same time, they must be able to uphold their long-term business strategy and adapt to changing business needs in order to become a truly customer-centric enterprise and maximize their return on investment in the long run.

Transforming core business processes to create strategic advantage increasingly involves people, processes, and information across multiple organizations and systems. IT architectures that supported process automation in a departmental context must evolve according to business needs. Innovative organizations should recognize the value of an enterprise service-oriented architecture that finally bridges the gap between business needs and IT delivery. With such a framework for developing services based, enterprise-scale business solutions, organizations can leverage existing systems to build and deploy flexible solutions that support end-to-end business scenarios across heterogeneous landscapes. Utilizing Web services, they can have the flexibility to delegate parts of an overall business process to different parts of the organization or to internal operations of their business partners. Adopters of such a framework will be able to realize dramatic efficiency improvements, find new ways to provide value to their partners and customers, create new business opportunities, and move closer to the vision of a real-time, value-networked enterprise.

Connecting Front Office and Back Office:

A CRM strategy focused on the front line can work pretty to improve customer relations. The sales team improves its productivity and can spend more time with customers; marketing campaigns are more effective generating more leads that sale reps can turn into more deals – driving revenue to new heights. Organizations need to improve call center efficiency to handle all the complaints. Every day, organizations are losing substantial revenue simply because they fail to connect their front and back offices to close the loop on business processes from end to end. Without a true 360-degree view of their customers and customer information visible across the organization, companies may miss important opportunities to up-sell, advance product quality, improve business processes, and spur product innovation.While companies have separately improved frontline efficiency and optimized their supply chain, disconnected departments, disjoint processes and systems, and bureaucratic procedures are still leading to customer frustration and lost sales opportunities.

Organizations can no longer afford to view CRM, SCM, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) as separate initiatives. Synchronizing front-office, back-office, and supply chain activities is critical to attracting and retaining customers, fulfilling demand, and delivering on service promises. Aligning the front and back office just for end-to-end order management, for example, will yield measurable returns on a number of key indicators, such as shorter order cycle times, increased order accuracy, reduced number of incomplete orders, fewer billing disputes, fewer order status calls, and lower inventory costs.

Value added interactions:

Value added interactions are preferred by the manufacturing industry as one of the major factors in measuring the capability of the organization. Many organizations, particularly in manufacturing industries, have focused on building a high-performing supply chain with highly flexible, fully-integrated, multi - tiered networks. Now it’s time for organizations in service industries to engage in similar endeavors to intensify collaboration with both sales and service partners in order to improve the demand and support chains, drive more revenue through indirect channels, and reduce channel costs. This requires consistently identifying and targeting the right partners that can provide complementary products, promote their brand, and deliver value-add services. Organizations should provide partners with the knowledge, tools, and expert advice needed to more effectively sell to and serve customers. They enable partners with easy order capabilities and online access to see timely, accurate information about product availability, pricing, shipment, and so on, eliminating manual, error-prone, and costly support processes.

Front-line Information System:

To increase the usefulness of CRM implementation requires front-line information system that shares relevant customer information across all interface units. Relational data base, data warehousing and data mining tools are thus very valuable for CRM systems and solutions. CRM solutions platform needs to be based on interactive technology and processes. It will assist the company in developing and enhancing customer interaction.

REFERENCES:

1. Powell, T., “Information Technology as Competitive Advantage: The Role of Human, Business and Technology Resources”, Strategic Management Journal, 18(5):375-405, 1997.

2. Mitchell, P.J. “Aligning customer call centre for 2001” Telemarketing and Call centre Solutions. Norwalk, Vol.16, issue 10, pp: 64-69, 1998.

3. Cooper, B. L., Watson, H.J., Wixom, B.H and Goodhue, D.L, “Data Warehousing supports Corporate strategy at First American Corporation”, MIS Quarterly, Minneapolis, vol.24, Issue 4, pp:547-567, 2000.

4. Galimi, J., “Strategic Analysis Report: CRM IT Requirement and Strategies for Payer Organizations”, Gartner Group, 2000.

5. Waltner, C., “New CRM tools help financial institutions diversify – as banks expand services, next generation products are expected to increase profits”, Information Week, 148, 2000.

6. Payne, A, Christopher, M., Clark, M. and Peck, H., “Relationship marketing for competitive advantage” Oxford: Butterworth- Heinemann, 2001.

7. Swift, R. “Accelerating Customer Relationship using CRM and Relationship Technologies”, NewYork, Prentice Hall Inc. ISBN 0-13-088084-9, 2001.

8. CRMguru.com, “The customer relationship management primer: What you need to know to get started”, 2001 CRMguru.com. Retrieved from http://www.crm-forum.com, 2002.

9. Simon Kriss “How to avoid failure in CRM implementation”, Freelance article, Saga Consulting, January, 2003.

10. Kumar, V. and GirishRamani, “Taking Customer Lifetime Value Analysis to the Next Level,” Journal of Integrated Communications, pp.27-33, 2004.

11. Boulding, William, Richard Staelin, Michael Ehret, and Wesley J. Johnston. “A Customer Relationship Management Roadmap: What Is Known, Potential Pitfalls, and Where to Go,” Journal of Marketing, 69 (4), 155-66, 2005.

12. Ngai, “Customer Relationship Management Research”, Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 23(6): 582-605, 2005

13. NASCIO “Strategies and Tactics to Grow Enterprise IT Services”, www.NASCIO.com, 2006.

14. Mario Caldeira, CristianePedron, “Why CRM doesn’t work – An enterprise architecture approach”, 4th International Conference on Enterprise Systems, Accounting and Logistics (4th ICESAL ’07), Corfu Island, Greece, 9-10 July 2007.

15. Alhassan G Abdul-Muhmin,” CRM technology use and implementation benefits in an emerging market”, Journal of Database Marketing and Customer Strategy Management volume 19, pages82–97,2012.

16. MiladFarzin and TannazRostamAbadi “The Role of Information Technology Infrastructure for Customer Relationship Management Implementation of Manufacturing Companies”, A Journal of Economics and Management Vol. 3 Issue 8, ISSN 2278-0629, 159-179, August 2014.

17. Dr. A. Shakuntala, Dr. B. Sudhir, “A Study on CRM Implementation Barriers in Select Industries”, International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Business Environment Perspectives, Pezzottaite Journals, ISSN (P):2279-0918, Volume 3, No.1, Pg.No.759-763, January-March 2014.

18. Dr. A. Shakuntala, “A Study on Benefits of CRM in Selected Industries”, Splint International Journal of Professionals, ISSN :2349-6045, Vol-III, Issue-5, Pg.No.50-54, May 2016.

19. Dilip.B, “How can planning and implementation of CRM help in successful business”. https://www.cisin.com/coffee-break/ marketing Jan 2019.

Received on 09.06.2020 Modified on 13.07.2020

Asian Journal of Management. 2020;11(4):413-418.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2020.00063.3