CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT STRATEGY THE FACTORS ...

[Pages:57]CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT STRATEGY: THE FACTORS TOWARDS A SUCCESS IMPLEMENTATION CASE STUDY Ana Luisa Alves Lopes

Dissertation Master in Management

Supervised by Prof. Catarina Roseira

2018

Biographic Note

Ana Luisa Lopes was born in 1989 in the city of Oporto. Had her bachelor's degree in business administration at Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto (FEP) from 2008 until 2012. Since 2012 started to work at Cork Supply Portugal first in an internship on account department and then moved to the sales department as a sales controller, providing the support to sales management and to the sales teams across Europe. At the same time, in 2012, applied to the Master in Management at Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto (FEP), where this dissertation is integrated.

Resumo Existe na literatura um sentimento comum de insucesso das implementa??es de estrat?gias Customer Relationship Management (CRM) nas diferentes empresas. A literatura tamb?m apresenta tr?s fatores principais que influenciam a implementa??o de uma estrat?gia CRM: a) a necessidade de existir uma cultura focada no cliente com uma abordagem multifuncional no processo e constru??o da estrat?gia, b) um comprometimento total da gest?o de topo e dos restantes trabalhadores da empresa na implementa??o e utiliza??o da estrat?gia e, c) a tecnologia adotada de suporte ? estrat?gia deve ajustar-se aos objetivos da empresa. Este estudo de caso pretende estudar a implementa??o de uma estrat?gia Customer Relationship Management numa empresa da ind?stria da corti?a para compreender qual o impacto destes tr?s fatores no processo de implementa??o. O que se conclui ? que as empresas devem garantir que a estrat?gia ? comunicada a todas as ?reas envolvidas no processo. Uma estrat?gia bem percebida ir? refor?ar a cultura orientada para o cliente, fortalecer o comprometimento e participa??o dos trabalhadores e permitir a correta customiza??o da ferramenta tecnol?gica de suporte ? estrat?gia. As empresas que compreendem os fatores cr?ticos de sucesso da implementa??o de uma estrat?gia CRM, est?o a aumentar a probabilidade de sucesso no final. E, estar?o mais perto do objetivo da estrat?gia CRM de melhorar as rela??es com os seus clientes, conseguindo responder de forma r?pida e correta ?s suas necessidades.

Palavras-chave: Customer Relationship Managaement (CRM); comunica??o; estrat?gia; comprometimento; adapta??o; cultura

Abstract Several studies reflect the common feeling of failure in the implementation of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies in different firms. Literature also pointed out three major factors that influence a CRM strategy implementation: a) the need of a customer-based culture with a cross-functional approach in process analysis and construction, b) the full commitment of the top management and the workers in the systems' implementation and usage and, c) the technology adopted needs to fit to the firm's objective. This case study aims to study an implementation of a Customer Relationship Management strategy in a company of the cork industry to understand what the impact of the three factors during the process of implementation was/is. What can be concluded is that companies should guarantee that the strategy is communicated through all areas that are implicated into the process. A well perceived strategy will consolidate a culture customer oriented, reinforce the commitment and participation of all employees and enable a correct customization of the technological tool. Companies that understand the critical success factors of a CRM strategy implementation will increase the probability of success in the end. And will get closer to the final CRM strategy objective that is improve the relationship with the customers with a fast and correct response to their needs.

Key words: Customer Relationship Management (CRM); communication; strategy; commitment; adaptation; culture

Index

1 Introduction ...........................................................................................1 1.1 Objective and Study Relevance .................................................................................. 2 1.2 Study Structure.............................................................................................................. 2 2 Literature Review .................................................................................. 3 2.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 2.2 Customer Relationship Management (CRM) ........................................................... 3 2.3 The determinants of success ....................................................................................... 7 2.3.1 Culture and Processes ..............................................................................................9 2.3.2 People.......................................................................................................................11 2.3.3 Technology ..............................................................................................................14 2.4 Conclusion...................................................................................................................16 3 Research and Methodology .................................................................18 3.1 Research questions ..................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Model of analysis ........................................................................................................ 18 3.3 Research methodology...............................................................................................19 3.4 Sample Selection ......................................................................................................... 21 3.5 Data collection ............................................................................................................ 22 3.6 Data Analysis...............................................................................................................23 3.7 Summary ...................................................................................................................... 24 4 Results Presentation and Discussion ................................................. 25 4.1 Study Object ? Cork Supply Portugal ..................................................................... 25 4.2 Culture and Processes ................................................................................................ 27 4.2.1 Customer-oriented..................................................................................................27 4.2.2 Cultural and Processual Adaptation.....................................................................29 4.3 People...........................................................................................................................30 4.3.1 Bottom-up approach..............................................................................................31 4.3.2 Employees commitment and participation.........................................................33

4.3.3 Top management support .....................................................................................35 4.4 Technology .................................................................................................................. 36 4.4.1 Suitability..................................................................................................................37 4.4.2 Dynamic Technology Approach ..........................................................................39 4.4.3 ICT's .........................................................................................................................40 4.5 Conclusion...................................................................................................................41 5 Conclusions......................................................................................... 42 5.1 Theorical and management contributions .............................................................. 44 5.2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research..............................45 References ..................................................................................................... 47

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1 Introduction

The business world is becoming more competitive over the years. Nowadays, regardless of the industry in which they operate, all businesses face an increasingly fierce competition, with full access to its customers (Foss et al., 2008). Customers have access to an infinite number of offers from a lot of players, that offer the same product at different prices, or similar products with different characteristics, or customized products, etc., the list of options is endless. This context explains why business behaviour is changing. For the past years the business world changed its focus on product to be focused on customers. Companies are focused on realizing what their customers' needs and desires are and adapting their processes to responding with the right products at the right time to those requirements. Even more than respond to current necessities, companies are also working, more and more, to anticipate future needs and thus ensure that they are ahead of the competition. With Customer Relationship Management (CRM) strategies companies seek to align their culture with the goal of satisfying and retaining their customers (Payne and Frow, 2006), boosting their capacity to respond to their needs. However, CRM strategies usually require major changes in several areas of the business. These strategies will be successful if companies ensure that culture and processes are customer focused, that people are committed to the goal of the strategy and that communication is clearly and easily used by those who need it. Companies that decide to start a process of implementing a CRM strategy must be aware that often involves a structural change of business, requiring, therefore, a strong interconnection of the main factors that contribute to its success.

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1.1 Objective and Study Relevance Given the low success rate of CRM strategies implementations in the real world and the difficulties that companies face during implementations (Finnegan and Currie, 2010), becomes fundamental to study the relevant factors that contribute to the success of CRM strategy implementation. The present study aims to explore influence of three most important factors, pointed by literature as fundamental to the success of a CRM strategy implementation: the company's culture and processes, the people commitment and involvement and the technology adopted to enable the share and storage of customer information. Until now, numerous studies were presented that tried to find a path or a plan to a CRM strategy implementation that won't lead to its failure, although there is not one single formula that can be applied to each case. This case study hopes to discover the influence of the factors: culture and processes, people and technology, have in a real project of implementing the CRM strategy that is under development, to understand if the project is moving towards to its success or failure. 1.2 Study Structure The study has 4 chapters beyond introduction. Chapter 2 presents the literature review, where the objective is to contextualize the study and identify the main factors that influence the success of a CRM strategy implementation. Chapter 3 presents the study objectives and the methodology adopted for the data collection and its subsequent analysis. Chapter 4 analyses and discusses the data obtained. And, finally, at chapter 5 the conclusions are drawn along with the limitations of the study and are presented suggestions for future areas of research.

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