A Study on CRM Implementation in Chinese Commercial Banks

The paper first presents the theory of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) under E-commerce circumstances. It then focuses on the motives and obstructions in implementing CRM in Chinese commercial banks. Further, the paper puts forward a trial solution to these specific problems to be a solving aid to Chinese commercial banks under Customer Relationship Management

Contextual Sensitivity in Grounded Theory: The Role of Pilot Studies

Grounded Theory is an established methodological approach for context specific inductive theory building. The grounded nature of the methodology refers to these specific contexts from which emergent propositions are drawn. Thus, any grounded theory study requires not only theoretical sensitivity, but also a good insight on how to design the research in the human activity systems to be studied. The lack of this insight may result in inefficient theoretical sampling or even erroneous purposeful sampling. These problems would not necessarily be critical, as it could be argued that through the elliptical process that characterizes grounded theory, remedial loops would always bring the researcher to the core of the theory. However, these elliptical remedial processes can take very long periods of time and result in catastrophic delays in research projects. As a strategy, this paper discusses, contrasts and compares the use of pilot studies in four different grounded theory projects. Each pilot brought different insights about the context, resulting in changes of focus, guidance to improve data collection instruments and informing theoretical sampling. Additionally, as all four projects were undertaken by researchers with little experience of inductive approaches in general and grounded theory in particular, the pilot studies also served the purpose of training in interviewing, relating to interviewees, memoing, constant comparison and coding. This last outcome of the pilot study was actually not planned initially, but revealed itself to be a crucial success factor in the running of the projects. The paper concludes with a theoretical proposition for the concept of contextual sensitivity and for the inclusion of the pilot study in grounded theory research designs

Business-IT alignment from operational level: empirical evidence from the Bank of Qingdao, China

Business-IT Alignment (BITA) has long been a significant topic for scholars as well as enterprise managers especially in the Internet era. Although numerous studies have identified the factors influencing the aligning process and relationships between them and organization successes from strategic perspective, few consider the impact of these elements on employees’s performances from an operational level. To fill this gap, this thesis first discusses the state-of-art and the challenges of BITA in China’s city commercial banks (CCBs) and further develops a theoretical framework to empirically evaluate the BITA in China banking industry. Finally, some recommendations for improving the level of BITA in China’s CCBs are provided. Taking the Bank of Qingdao (BQD) as a sample, this thesis empirically examines BITA maturity model with the results that five factors including communication, IT competency/value measurement, IT governance, partnership, and IT skills are positively related to the BITA while IT scope and architecture are not significant. In addition, the moderating effect of service quality between BITA and employee’s working performance is also supported by the survey. This study also develops a new theoretical model namely, business-IT punctuated equilibrium alignment model (BIPEAM), based on life cycle theory and punctuated equilibrium theory to describe the alternately leading roles between business and IT strategies. This model may contribute towards the better understanding of the mechanism of business-IT strategic alignment process from a longitudinal perspective within an enterprise.O alinhamento entre o negócio e as Tecnologias de Informação (TI) ou alinhamento business-IT (BITA) tem sido desde há muito um tópico significativo para académicos bem como para gestores de empresas, especialmente na era da Internet. Embora numerosas investigações tenham identificado os fatores que influenciam o processo de alinhamento e as relações entre eles e os sucessos da organização do ponto de vista estratégico, poucas consideram o impacto destes elementos no desempenho dos empregados a partir de um nível operacional. Para preencher esta lacuna, esta tese começa por discutir o estado da arte e os desafios do BITA nos bancos comerciais das cidades da China (CCBs) e desenvolve um quadro teórico para avaliar empiricamente o BITA na indústria bancária Chinesa. Por último, são fornecidas algumas recomendações para melhorar o nível de BITA nos CCBs da China. Tomando o Banco de Qingdao (BQD) como amostra, esta tese examina empiricamente o modelo de maturidade do BITA com os resultados de que cinco fatores, incluindo comunicação, competência/avaliação de TI, governação de TI, parceria, e competências de TI estão positivamente relacionados com o BITA enquanto que o âmbito e a arquitetura de TI não são significativos. Além disso, o efeito moderador da qualidade do serviço entre a BITA e o desempenho de trabalho do empregado é também apoiado pelo inquérito realizado. Este estudo também desenvolve um novo modelo teórico, nomeadamente o modelo de alinhamento de equilíbrio pontuado de business-IT (BIPEAM) baseado na teoria do ciclo de vida e na teoria do equilíbrio pontuado para descrever os papéis alternadamente de liderança entre as estratégias empresariais e de TI. Este modelo pode contribuir para uma melhor compreensão do mecanismo do processo de alinhamento estratégico entre empresas e as TI, a partir de uma perspetiva longitudinal dentro de uma empresa

The research on customer structure characteristics and marketing measures of regional bank agency: a case from the Agricultural Bank of China

With intensified opening degree and increasingly fierce market competition of commercial banks, commercial banks innovate their products constantly and improve their service quality at the same time. The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) is a state-owned commercial bank that has built branches in all county-level districts. Instead, branches of ABC in county-level have become the weakest links that reduce ABC’s competitive power. If the flaws in customer and market maintenance in the county-level branches are ever to be repaired, in my opinion, meeting customer perceived service quality and customer demands efficiently based on understanding of customer needs should be put in the first priority currently. Firstly, this part studies the customer segmentation of ** branch of Agricultural Bank of China. This thesis puts forward approach to segment bank customers based on the improved k-means clustering. The results show that the improvement algorithm effectively overcomes the defect that traditional k-means algorithm easily falls into local optimal value, increasing the accuracy of customer classification, and contributing to more reasonable clustering results. Secondly, this thesis uses the econometric panel data model to study the relationship between customer structure and bank performance. The results indicate that a good customer structure can bring benefits for banks and improve their competitiveness. Thirdly, this part analyzes different service quality requirements of different types customer in the ** branch of Agricultural Bank of China. We combine service quality evaluation theory and the background of Chinese commercial banks, establishing the SERVQUAL model for the ** branch. The Study has shown that the correlation coefficient between overall perception of service quality and customer satisfaction is positive; the overall perception of service quality and customer willingness to recommend are also positively correlated, but the degree of correlation is lower than the correlation between the overall perception of service quality and customer satisfaction; the correlation of overall perceived quality of service for all samples and willingness to accept the services of other banks correlation was not significant. At the same time, there is still a gap between the customer perceived service quality and customer expectation in the ** branch of Agricultural Bank of China. Finally, according to the results of customer structure classification and service quality survey of the ** branch of Agricultural Bank of China, the marketing strategies for different customer groups are proposed.Com o crescente grau de comercialização da indústria bancária chinesa e a entrada continua de bancos estrangeiros, a competição entre bancos está a tornar-se cada vez mais feroz, e as estratégias dos bancos comerciais com vista a ganhar vantagens competitivas muda gradualmente. Para além do lançamento de uma variedade de produtos financeiros, os bancos comerciais utilizam serviços diferenciados para poder dar resposta á procura do mercado diversificado de consumidores. Estes bancos estão igualmente a começar a entender que para os bancos gradualmente convergirem devem não só atingir uma vantagem competitiva através da oferta de produtos financeiros bem como serviços diferenciados de alta qualidade. Este meio tornou-se na única forma forma que o banco dispõe para poder vencer a sua competição. Portanto, para os bancos comerciais, estamos num período de inovação onde o aumento da qualidade de serviço é inevitável. O Agricultural Bank of China é um banco comercial do estado que possui uma filial em todas as regiões administrativas a nível de condado. Ligações e serviços, citadinos e urbanos tem sido a maior vantagem do Agricultural Bank of China, mas a situação actual não é favorável. A filial a nível de condado tem-se tornado na ligação pior e mais fraca da fundação deste banco. Ao mesmo tempo, bancos privados têm emergido em paridade com o rápido desenvolvimento dos instrumentos financeiros online e, o Agricultural Bank of China, como o representante dos bancos tradicionais está a enfrentar competição feroz. Em especial desvantagem no que toca a recursos ao consumidor e instrumentos online que os outros bancos oferecem. Os bancos comerciais tradicionais, estão desta forma confrontados com a perda de clientes bem como o elevado custo de adquirir novos clientes. O risco operacional do banco aumenta á medida que a estabilidade do mercado consumidor piora. Se querem mudar o status quo das filiais a nível de condado, necessitam entender a actual necessidade da qualidade de serviço ao cliente, analisar as características da procura do consumidor e estabelecer um mecanismo de ciclo virtuoso de mercado-consumidor-beneficio - são as maiores prioridades agora. Baseado nisto, este estudo usará marketing, processo de decisão da gerência, teoria e métodos, mineração de dados, técnicas estatísticas e métodos econométricos para analisar as características de procura do consumidor do Agricultural Bank of China. Primeiro, utilizar a análise de cluster de mineração de dados para efectuar uma estratificação analítica do grupo de consumidores do banco para manter a estrutura da procura dos consumidores e serviços; classificação da informação de procura dos consumidores, acesso ás tendências de procura dos consumidores do banco e tendência de produtos competitivos; na base de quantificar os requerimentos do consumidor, usamos o painel de dados econométricos para efectuar uma análise empírica sobre a estrutura de procura dos consumidores e a performance do Agricultural Bank of China

Exploring the concepts and practices of relationship marketing within Taiwanese banks.

Relationship marketing (RM) is a concept developed in the Western literature which came to prominence in the 1980s. Few studies have, however, considered RM is an Eastern context and in particular the connection RM has with guanxi, the personal relationship or connections found in Chinese based cultures. This thesis adopts a broad perspective of RM from Western theories to explore the concepts and practices in Taiwanese banks. Using the existing definitions of RM, a number of RM components have been identified in this research which include the aims of RM (creation, enhancement, and maintenance), the RM mix (interaction, emotional contents, customer lifetime values, and customisation), and the outcomes of RM (long-term relationships, profitable relationship, customer share, and relationship termination). This research used in-depth interviews in order to investigate what Taiwanese banks understand about RM and how they implement RM to build customer relationships. 34 interviews were conducted with senior bank managers from 17 Taiwanese banks. All interviews were taped and transcribed. Template analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings suggest that Taiwanese banks have embraced these components when implementing RM. More importantly, guanxi, which is deeply embedded in Chinese culture, also has an influence on both concepts and practices of relationship marketing. As such, Western marketers, who have an understanding of the role of guanxi, could be more effective in implementing RM in Chinese-based economies. One of the key contributions of this thesis is on the development of the RM A.M.O. (RM's Aims, Mix, and Outcomes) framework which provides an overview of RM and the capability of the components. Also, acquiring market share, developing customer share and retaining relationships instead of relationship termination should be considered as part of relationship marketing practices

CRM Dimensions Affecting Customer Satisfaction in Bangladeshi Banking Industry: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach

For the banking sector in Bangladesh, achieving customer-focused business objectives is a critical ingredient for success in order to reign over the increasingly competitive market. This prompted us to illuminate the underlying dimensions of Customer Relationship Management that influence the customer satisfaction. Accordingly, Structural Equation Modeling was employed on a sample size of 210 aiming to identify those factors, explore interdependence amongst them and assess their combined effect on customers’ satisfaction. In this regard, three latent variables were identified, namely customer orientation, customer experience and service process. The result signifies that among the chosen three factors, customer orientation and customer experience are proven to have significant impact on each other and on customer satisfaction concertedly while the other factor- service process has been proven statistically insignificant. The research findings provide empirical support for the conjecture that CRM dimensions pave the way for the firms towards improving customer satisfaction. Besides, our research contributes to empirically valid theory by synthesizing insights from the marketing and information systems literature and by investigating the effect of organizational variables that leverage CRM investments. The implications of the findings on the part of the banking industries and directions for future research are also put forward. Keywords: Bangladesh, Customer Relationship Management, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Orientation, Customer Experience, Service Process

The rise of East and Southeast Asians tourists in Europe: the case of Vienna

Travelers from Asia have become a potential alternative for some of the traditional European tourist markets that have stagnated due to the economic crisis. The remarkable recovery of the Japanese market, the exponential growth of Chinese and Korean markets in addition to the high spending power of Thai and Chinese tourists have painted a highly positive scenario for the tourism industry in Vienna. This paper utilizes Vienna as a case study to explore the rise of Asian tourists in Europe. Tourism statistics, media reports and materials of destination marketing organization were analyzed for evaluation of the trends and growth of Asian outbound market to Vienna. The current study contributes to the tourism industry of Austria by highlighting the fragmentations in tourist consumption patterns of tourists from East and Southeast Asia

Critical success factors for the successful customer relationship management: a conceptual case study

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology have integrated the latest information technology, including: internet and E-commerce, multi-media technology, data warehousing data mining and artificial intelligence. This is all about the value of customer relationship management. It congregate the scattering data through the process of analysis, it provide a comprehensive and holistic view of certain individual customers. Customer Relationship Management originated and prevailed among western companies, it has already spread in many East Asian countries, such as: Japan, Korean, India and China etc. In order to improve the existing CRM implementation process and enhance the success rate of the CRM implementation, we present the most important Critical Success Factors for the CRM implementation through literature reviews, the chosen CSFs were based on previous studies in the CRM implementation field, focus on the identification of CRM projects, whether they have achieved success or subject to obscure deficiency. Subsequently, the literature study will provide us a group of CSFs which considered to be a comprehensive summarization of those most important factors for CRM implementation projects. It is a challenging work, still some points are summarized

The Study on the Entry Mechanisms by Chinese Companies to the U.S. Market

These days, along with the rapid growth of China’s economy and active involvement around the world, We see booming Chinese companies traded on the international markets. This is an effective way for Chinese companies to raise worldwide capital. As more and more Chinese companies find their way to the U.S. market recently, they attract not only the investors’ attention but also the regulators’ attention. This paper examines the development of China’s economy and the Chinese companies on the U.S. market. It focuses on the three major entry mechanisms used by such companies