Impact of User Satisfaction with Mandated RM Use on Employee Service Quality

An increasing number of organizations are now implementing customer relationship management (CRM) systems to support front-line employees’ service tasks. With the belief that CRM can enhance employees’ service quality, management often mandates employees to use the implemented CRM. However, challenges emerge if/when employees are dissatisfied with using the system. To understand the role of front-line employee users’ satisfaction with their mandated use of CRM in determining their service quality, we conducted a field study in one of the largest telecommunications service organizations in China and gathered time-lagged data from self-reported employee surveys, as well as from the firm’s archival data sources. Our results suggest that employees’ overall user satisfaction (UserSat) with their mandated use of CRM has a positive impact on employee service quality (ESQ) above and beyond the expected positive impacts that job dedication (JD) and embodied service knowledge (ESK) have on ESQ. Interestingly, the positive effect of UserSat on ESQ is comparable to the positive effects of JD and ESK, respectively, on ESQ. Importantly, UserSat and ESK have a substitutive effect on ESQ, suggesting that the impact of UserSat on ESQ is stronger/weaker for employees with lower/higher levels of ESK. Finally, ESQ predicts customer satisfaction with customer service employees (CSWCSE); ESQ also fully mediates the impacts of UserSat and ESK, and partially mediates the impact of JD, on CSWCSE. The results of this study emphasize the importance of user satisfaction in determining employees’ task outcomes when use of an information system is mandated

The Evaluation of CRM Systems: A Behavior Based Conceptual Framework

Research-in-progress on the evaluation of mandatory Customer Relationship Management Information Systems (CRM IS) is presented. The business problem is presented, followed by converging theoretical considerations, which assist in making the case for a wider conceptualisation of CRM evaluation which values a social perspective of CRM IS use at boundary-spanning professional (BSP) and customer levels. An emotions based conceptual framework for use in evaluating CRM IS from this social perspective is then presented, building on a theory of emotional expression. The framework is explained and then discussed in terms of how the framework can be applied and data outputs analysed in a field analysis context. The broader research programme aims to test and validate the model according to the details given and through doing so, further understanding of the impact of CRM IS from this behaviours based, social perspective

Up in the cloud: Understanding the chasm between expectations and reality

CEOs increasingly demand their IT function to fully exploit the opportunities of cloud computing for their company. At the same time, we observe that employees make experiences with cloud services in their private life, which they seamlessly transfer and expect in the workplace - a phenomenon called cloud consumerization. Thereby, employees use self-deployed cloud services for solving business problems which they find more useful than the IT products provided by work. In light of these revolutionary changes, we propose that user experiences and outcomes are contingent on the process through which cloud services are adopted in companies. Systemizing cloud adoption as a continuum of top-down and bottom-up processes, we assume that adoption processes are distinct with respect to users’ social and governance context. In this paper, we outline the theoretical and methodological foundation, provide details on the expected theoretical contributions and give information regarding next steps of our research project

A Generalized Darwinism Perspective on Changes in Individuals’ Use of Information Systems

Information Systems (IS) play a critical role in supporting business processes within organizations. There is concern however that IS underutilization by individuals is hindering efforts to exploit its benefits and infuse it into workplace practices. To extract the benefits from an IS requires users to change how they incorporate the IS in their work, progressing towards deeper use. This paper draws on evolutionary theory, that is, Generalized Darwinism and its principles of variation, selection and retention, motivational theory and findings from a case study and survey to better understand how individuals’ IS use change over time. Furthermore, it discusses the impact of change on deep use, in particular, extended use. Moreover, the role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and feedback as triggers of change are highlighted. The findings provide useful insights that further our understanding of post-adoption IS use and the mechanisms by which IS use changes over time

An Investigation of the Factors Affecting Performance Improvement of Public Libraries based on Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between factors affecting the performance of libraries and the components of customer relationship management (CRM). Method: The research uses a survey method. The study population was patrons of public libraries in Mazandaran province, Iran. The data collection instrument was questionnaire. Findings: The results showed that the correlation coefficient for the focal point variables for specific subjects, proper organization of processes, knowledge management, and technology were 0.682, 0.927, 0.900, and 0.810 respectively, indicating that the linear relationship between these variables is to improve the performance of libraries. In other words, the results of the research indicated that there is a direct linear relationship between CRM and library performance levels. Discussion and Conclusion: Customer relationship management elements seem to play a significant role in improving the level of library performance. Given the identification of the weaknesses and strengths of libraries with respect to these components, it is imperative that public library managers and librarians provide innovative ideas for improving and improving the level of services

Exploring the Zone of Tolerance for Internal Customers in IT-Enabled Call Centers

Today, call center employees’ service encounters with external customers are extensively supported with modern information technology (IT). However, prior research on service quality and zone of tolerance (ZOT) focuses primarily on external customers with little attention paid to how internal customers (e.g., service employees) respond to services provided by internal functions, particularly IT function that supports employees’ IT use. Drawing on theory of administrative behavior and IT success literature, we conducted a study at a call center of a telecommunications firm and found that the impact of internal IT service quality (ITSQ) on employees’ service quality (ESQ) to external customers, as well as on their satisfaction with and use of the deployed technology, exhibits a positive diminishing pattern as ITSQ increases from below to within and to above the ZOT. We also found that ITSQ’s impact on ESQ employees\u27 satisfaction with technology changes more dramatically around adequate service level than desired service level. Finally, we show that call center employees’ satisfaction with technology partially mediates ITSQ’s impact on ESQ. Besides adding to the service and IT literature, our findings suggest that managers should understand internal customers’ different levels of expectations toward internal IT service and the differential performance impacts of those levels

The Relationship Between Customer Relationship Management Usage, Customer Satisfaction, and Revenue

Given that analysts expect companies to invest $22 billion in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems by 2017, it is critical that leaders understand the impact of CRM on their bottom line. The purpose of this correlational study was to investigate potential relationships between the independent variables of customer satisfaction and CRM utilization on the dependent variable of business revenue. The service-profit chain formed the theoretical framework for this study. The study population included 203 service branches for an industrial equipment manufacturer in North America. The service director for the subject organization provided the data for the study via data extracts from the company\u27s corporate database. Some branches were eliminated, leaving a total sample size of 178. The results of a multiple linear regression analysis showed that the proposed model could significantly predict branch revenue F (2,175) = 37.321, p \u3c .001, R2 = .298. Both CRM use and customer satisfaction were statistically significant, with CRM use (beta = .488, p \u3c .001) showing a higher contribution than customer satisfaction (beta = -.152, p = .021). This study provides evidence to business executives that CRM use has a strong positive influence on revenue. Additionally, this study supports the findings of other studies that show a point of diminishing returns in improved customer satisfaction. This study contributes to positive social change by allowing firms to make better decisions with their investment dollars and by increasing CRM utilization through cause-related marketing

Extracting Business Value from IT: A Sensemaking Perspective of Post-Adoptive Use

How can firms extract value from already-implemented information technologies (IT) that support the work processes of employees? One approach is to stimulate employees to engage in post-adoptive extended use, i.e.,to learn and apply more of the available functions of the implemented technologies to support their work. Such learning behavior of extending functions in use is ingrained in a process by which users make sense of the technologies in the context of their work system.This study draws on sensemaking theory to develop a model to understand the antecedents, contingencies, and consequences of customer service employees’ extended use of customer relationship management (CRM)technologies. The model is tested using multi-source longitudinal data collected through a field study of one of the world’s largest telecommunications service providers. Our results suggest that employees engage in post-adoptive sensemaking at two levels: technology and work system. We found that sensemaking at both of these levels impacts the extended use of CRM technologies. Employees’ sensemaking at the technology level is influenced by employees’ assessment of technology quality,while employees’ sensemaking at the work system level is influenced by customers’ assessment of servicequality. Moreover, in the case of low technology quality and low service quality, specific mechanisms for employee feedback should be conceptualized and aligned at two levels: through employee participation at the technology level and through work system coordination at the work system level. Such alignment can mitigate the undesirable effect of low technology quality and low service quality,thereby facilitating extended use. Importantly, we found that extended use amplifies employees’ service capacity, leading to better objective performance. Put together, our findings highlight the critical role of employees’ sensemaking about the implemented technologies in promoting their extended use of IT and improving their work performance

Business-IT alignment for Customer Relationship Management : an interpretive qualitative study on the Business value of IT derived by CRM systems of a global institution

Does the level of business-IT alignment have a positive impact on CRM performance to deliver business value of IT? This research tests this question by using the previous literature and analyzing the model of Batenburg and Versendaal (2004). To answer this, questionnaires, interviews, and observations were conducted in one of the largest renewable energy companies which uses a well-known CRM for its commercial operations. The research model of this study goes further than the previous literature as it includes IT governance and CRM performance between the business and IT alignment and the business value of IT. In accordance with the previous literature, I found that a good level of cohesion between business and IT departments positively impacts CRM performance and enables the company to deliver business value of IT. IT Governance is an important prerequisite for having aligned IT and business departments and therefore also participates in the process of business value of IT creation. In CRM, business-IT alignment can be seen in two different ways. It can be first, a continuous Business-IT alignment that enables the business to improve its selling performance thanks to the CRM platform (information system) and second, a cohesive alignment during a CRM implementation or upgrade project within a company to improve the CRM (IT platform) and improve company's performance over the long term. It is the second type of alignment that is studied as a case study in this thesis, although I assume that the findings should be broadly similar for both types of alignment, it is important to state this. The findings in this thesis corresponded well with the statements of Perreault et al (2007) who mentioned that “CRM improves sales productivity”, and Gellweiler (2017) who described that “higher levels of alignment have positive effects on company performance”