Information Technology as the Enabler of One-to-One Marketing

Until recently, one-to-one marketing, the ability to sell targeted goods to an individual based on their known or perceived needs, was not possible for most product types on a mass basis.. Indeed, marketing practice in recent years centered around segmented marketing, in which people are treated as members of groups with similar interests and marketing is done at the group level. However, recent advances in information technology, including the Internet and its World Wide Web, database management systems, computer graphics, and electronic mail, as well as increased processor speeds, now permit one-to-one marketing on a mass basis over the Web. This tutorial explains the concept of one-to-one marketing, including how companies can aspire to move in this direction. It outlines a set of one-to-one marketing practices on the Web and explain how advances in information technology made these practices possible

Understanding Customer Relationship Management: The Implications of CRM Fit and Customer Orientation

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has been one of the important managerial issues. The benefits of Relationship Marketing has been well recognized and new information technologies offer amazing possibilities for CRM practice. The processes of implementing CRM, however, are expensive, and yet the failure rate of the CRM projects is also high. Of the failures, 20% end up even damaging to long-standing customer relationships. This study focuses on explaining theoretically why huge IT investment on CRM practice does not always generate the successful outcomes to the organizations, what are the critical factors of CRM, and how the factors influence the CRM performance. Based on the review of the previous frameworks and definitions of CRM, the study proposes an integrated CRM framework. In addition, among others, CRM Fit and Customer Orientation are addressed as critical factors of successful CRM. Although technology has been identified as a main enabler of successful CRM, many CRM experts have claimed that it is not technology in isolation that brings the success to the CRM practice. Adopting Task-Technology Fit (TTF) model, CRM Fit, not Technology, is included in the research model. Therefore, this study proposes that CRM Fit has a positive relationship with CRM performance and Customer orientation moderates the effect of CRM Fit on CRM performance

Strategies to improve retention of postgraduate business students in distance education courses: an Australian case

In spite of the clear value of postgraduate business students to many providers of distance education courses, the factors affecting the retention of these students have received limited attention in the literature. In addressing this gap, this paper presents the findings of a qualitative study into the factors affecting the retention of postgraduate business students at a major Australian distance education university. The findings of this study suggest that a range of situational, dispositional and attitudinal factors impact upon student retention on this context, both as enablers of and obstacles to ongoing participation. In many cases, these factors differ to those identified in the existing literature on student retention. Based on these findings, we present a range of strategies designed to improve the retention of postgraduate business students by maximising enabling factors and minimising the impact of any identified obstacles. Limitations of the study and suggestions for further research are also presented

Action learning as an enabler for successful technology transfer with construction SMEs

There is an increasing demand for construction companies to adopt and use new technologies. At the same time universities are increasingly being called upon to assist with ‘technology transfer’ through positive engagement with industry. However, there is little literature investigating technology transfer from the perspective of small construction companies which make up the overwhelming majority of firms in the sector. This paper contributes to this developing area by providing a literature review of technology transfer and proposing a holistic system required for success. Building upon this review it assesses the potential use of action learning as a means of providing this holistic solution and, in so doing, promoting technology transfer and improving the links between higher education institutions (HEIs) and the construction industry. The assessment is made through a literature review of action learning in construction and an analysis of results from the national Construction Knowledge Exchange (CKE) initiative which uses an action learning methodology to assist HEIs in supporting local construction small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The initial results show that this innovative approach, has been successful in creating synergies between academic and business worlds, helping HEIs to communicate more effectively with businesses and vice versa. However, the results indicate that innovations which small construction companies tend to more successfully adopt are those which can contribute to the business in a quick, tangible fashion, and which can be dovetailed into existing rganisational capabilities. This is found to be in marked contrast to the relevant literature which depict large companies operating in more complex networks, drawing upon them for new tacit and explicit technologies which support more long term, formal technology strategies, and which often complement some form of specialised internal research and development capability. The implication for policy is that any technology transfer initiatives need to appreciate and actively manage the different motivations and capabilities of small and large construction companies to absorb and use new technology

Mobile Value Added Services: A Business Growth Opportunity for Women Entrepreneurs

Examines the potential for mobile value-added services adoption by women entrepreneurs in Egypt, Nigeria, and Indonesia in expanding their micro businesses; challenges, such as access to digital channels; and the need for services tailored to women

A fourfold typology of living labs: an empirical investigation amongst the ENoLL community

Living Labs can be seen as a means to structure user involvement in innovation processes. However, in this rather young research domain, there is no consensus yet regarding supporting theories and frameworks. This has resulted in a wide variety of projects and approaches being called ‘Living Labs’, which leaves a clear conceptualization and definition a task in progress. Within this research paper we propose a fourfold categorization of Living Labs based on a literature review and validated by an empirical investigation of the characteristics of 64 ICT Living Labs from the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL). The four types are Living Labs for collaboration and knowledge support activities, original ‘American’ Living Labs, Living Labs as extension to testbeds and Living Labs that support context research and co-creation with users

Strategic Knowledge Measurement and Management

Knowledge and intellectual capital are now recognized as vital resources for organizational survival and competitive advantage. A vast array of knowledge measures has evolved, spanning many disciplines. This chapter reviews knowledge measures focusing on groups of individuals (such as teams, business and organizations), as they reflect the stock or flow of knowledge, as well as enabling processes that enhance knowledge stocks and flows. The chapter emphasizes the importance of organizational value chains, pivotal talent pools and the link between knowledge and competitive success, in understanding the significance of today’s knowledge measures, and opportunities for future research and practice to enhance them

ICT as an Enabler for Innovation Adoption

In this paper we investigate how two online services (a portal and a digital library) may influence the adoption of an innovation. It is known from prior surveys that the installation services branch of the Dutch building industry has a relatively slow adoption rate for innovations. We examine if these two online services can influence the attitude towards the adoption of innovations. From the academic literature we have derived a list of factors that influence the attitude towards adoption by individuals. We limited this project to a number of factors that are commonly referred to as technological factors. Using an online digital library and a custom-built portal, we conducted a field experiment with a post-test only control group design for one particular innovative product (a gas-analysis device); the test was performed using a survey. Our main finding is that the portal has a significant and positive effect towards the adoption of the innovation by an individual. We did not find a significant impact for the use of the digital library. On the basis of this experiment, we propose that online services that offer a high degree of interaction amongst their users are more likely to induce an increase in the willingness of an individual to adopt an innovation.innovation;adoption;digital library;portal;field experiment.

eCRM in the Travel Industry

We are bombarded with Internet forecasts and statistics every day, however there is little doubt that the Internet has permanently changed the face of travel promotion and distribution. While only a minority of consumers are actually prepared to buy online at the present time, this minority is growing and there are large numbers of consumers who wish to use the Internet for information and communication. Travel and hospitality companies are selling an information-rich product and will need to leverage the full range of offline and e-channels to engage their customers in dialogue. The Internet does not have any respect for geographic or organisational boundaries and companies will have to forge new business models, involving partnerships and customer-driven product design, in order to meet the needs of the online consumer. There are major challenges and opportunities for companies wishing to add the e to their CRM strategy

Cyborgs as Frontline Service Employees: A Research Agenda

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Purpose This paper identifies and explores potential applications of cyborgian technologies within service contexts and how service providers may leverage the integration of cyborgian service actors into their service proposition. In doing so, the paper proposes a new category of ‘melded’ frontline service employees (FLEs), where advanced technologies become embodied within human actors. The paper presents potential opportunities and challenges that may arise through cyborg technological advancements and proposes a future research agenda related to these. Design/methodology This study draws on literature in the fields of services management, Artificial Intelligence [AI], robotics, Intelligence Augmentation [IA] and Human Intelligence [HIs] to conceptualise potential cyborgian applications. Findings The paper examines how cyborg bio- and psychophysical characteristics may significantly differentiate the nature of service interactions from traditional ‘unenhanced’ service interactions. In doing so, we propose ‘melding’ as a conceptual category of technological impact on FLEs. This category reflects the embodiment of emergent technologies not previously captured within existing literature on cyborgs. We examine how traditional roles of FLEs will be potentially impacted by the integration of emergent cyborg technologies, such as neural interfaces and implants, into service contexts before outlining future research directions related to these, specifically highlighting the range of ethical considerations. Originality/Value Service interactions with cyborg FLEs represent a new context for examining the potential impact of cyborgs. This paper explores how technological advancements will alter the individual capacities of humans to enable such employees to intuitively and empathetically create solutions to complex service challenges. In doing so, we augment the extant literature on cyborgs, such as the body hacking movement. The paper also outlines a research agenda to address the potential consequences of cyborgian integration