Strategic analysis of the implementation of a CRM technology in a telecommunications company

Después de desarrollar una práctica de 6 meses el proyecto de implementación de una plataforma CRM en una empresa Italiana de telecomunicaciones, se identificaron los principales factores que afectan el éxito del proyecto y se desarrolló un análisis a nivel estratégico. La investigación parte del análisis del proceso de ventas (proceso directamente afectado por la plataforma implementada) y su interacción con el sistema, seguido de la aplicación de un modelo que posiciona el CRM de la empresa a un nivel estratégico y finaliza con el desarrollo de un sistema de medición para evaluar el rendimiento del sistema CRM.After a 6-month internship in an Italian Telecommunications Company, in the project management of the implementation of a CRM system, the main issues regarding it were identified and a strategic analysis was developed. The study begins with the analysis of the business process affected by the CRM, then a theoretical framework that positions the company s CRM at a strategic level is applied, and finally, a measurement system to evaluate CRM performance is developed.Ingeniero (a) IndustrialPregrad

Using the dynamic capabilities perspective to analyse CRM adoption: a multiple case study in portuguese organisations

Doutoramento em GestãoCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) adoption is both a relevant research topic in academia and a challenge for practitioners. We understand CRM as a complex concept that includes technology, strategy and philosophy. In this research, we propose an analysis of CRM organisational competences and capabilities. The main goals are: to observe organisational competences and capabilities in order to find ways in which companies obtain success with their CRM initiatives; and to apply a dynamic capabilities perspective as the main theoretical point to analyse how companies can improve their competences related to customer relationship management. In order to achieve the purpose of this study a qualitative, interpretative, case-based research strategy was implemented. We first conducted an exploratory case study in a Brazilian Telecommunications company in order to define the focus of the research and research questions. Afterwards, we conducted a main case study in a Portuguese Telecommunications company for one year, and finally, we conducted four more case studies in Portuguese organisations to develop the research findings. These multiple case studies were based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis. We used qualitative techniques to analyse the collected data and ground our interpretation in two theoretical approaches: value focus thinking and dynamic capabilities. We propose a theoretical framework related to CRM dynamic capability that is corroborated with empirical evidence. We believe that because organisations which adopt a CRM strategy are in a competitive environment, a dynamic model needs to be used to analyse and explain how they can improve their CRM strategy in order to achieve success. As a second contribution we identify a set of competences that need to be developed in order to manage customer relationships effectively.A adopção de Customer Relationship Management (CRM) é um tema considerado relevante para as investigações académicas e um desafio para os praticantes. CRM neste trabalho é entendido como um conceito complexo que envolve tecnologia, estratégia e filosofia. Esta investigação propõe uma análise sobre as competências e as capacidades organizacionais relacionadas ao CRM. As principais motivações deste estudo referem-se às problemáticas observadas nas adopções de CRM, sendo que as lentes da teoria das Capacidades Dinâmicas mostram-se relevante na análise das capacidades e competências organizacionais necessárias ao sucesso da iniciativa de CRM. A fim de alcançar o propósito deste estudo, foi realizada uma investigação qualitativa, interpretativa e baseada em estudos de caso. Primeiramente foi conduzido um estudo de caso exploratório numa empresa Brasileira de telecomunicações com o intuito de melhor definir o foco da investigação e das questões de investigação. Após foi conduzido o estudo de caso principal em uma empresa de telecomunicações Portuguesa ao longo de um ano. Finalmente foram conduzidos outros quatro estudos de caso em organizações Portuguesas com o intuito de aprofundar a discussão dos resultados da investigação. Foram realizadas entrevistas semi-estruturadas e análise de dados secundários. Para a análise dos dados foram utilizadas técnicas qualitativas e duas teorias ajudaram a suportar as interpretações realizadas: value focus thinking e dynamic capabilities. Como contribuições desta investigação tem-se a proposição de um framework teórico sobre a capacidade dinâmica CRM que foi corroborado com evidências empíricas. As organizações que adoptam CRM estão inseridas em ambientes de grande competitividade e um modelo dinâmico precisa ser utilizado para analisar e explicar como elas aprimoram suas estratégias de CRM para ter sucesso. Como segunda contribuição foi identificado um conjunto de competências organizacionais que são necessárias para a gestão do relacionamento com o cliente

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Evaluation of the implementation of CRM in developing countries

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Managing relations with customers has been a main concern for business organisations from different sizes and fields. Such a concern has grown rapidly in the last few decades for a number of reasons such as the development of new technologies especially in the field of information technology (IT). Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a newly emerged concept in the fields of IT and business that aims to strengthen the relationships between an organisation and its customers. Despite the promising expectations of implementing such a concept by many organisations, a significant number of CRM projects fail or result in disappointing outcomes that fall far short of expectations. This motivated researchers and practitioners to study the sources of failure and the factors of success in CRM implementation. Although CRM existed first in western organisations, it has spread almost all over the world as an increasing number of firms are implementing or planning to implement CRM. This research designed an integrated framework for investigating and evaluating the implementation of CRM in developing countries. The design of this framework was based on previous studies in the field of CRM implementation especially in the area of studying CRM success and failure. It is also based on the common sense and knowledge of the researcher in the field of CRM. To help identify successful implementation of CRM and to provide organisations with a guide to implement CRM projects, the research reviewed and organised the literature on CRM success and failure as well as the previous studies in CRM frameworks. Subsequently, the research designed a framework for CRM implementation that integrates CRM implementation phases/stages, CRM components, and CRM success factors. To assess the feasibility of the framework in developing countries, the research developed in-depth case study methodology that focused on two large communication companies which operate in Saudi Arabia and are implementing CRM projects fully and partially. The questions of the case study were developed to assess the feasibility of the framework based on the comparison between the conceptual framework and the practical implementation of CRM by the case companies, and the case study protocol was developed accordingly. Data was collected through multiple sources such as in-depth interviews, observations, documentations and archival records. The results of the case study support the feasibility of the framework in implementing CRM in general. The assessment stage was highly supported by the results. In addition, the success factors and their importance in implementing CRM were supported by the results with variation of importance of the success factors. However, cultural issues were significant to the CRM implementation and required modification to the framework to be more effective when implemented in developing countries

Cultural aspects of multi-channel customer management: A UK case study

Channel management is one CRM systems component much influenced by the behaviour of customers in relation to its implementation and use. The consumers’ behaviours, preferences, perceptions and expectations are crucial for the implementation and use of channel management. Customers’ contact with the organization’s multi-channels can occur at several touch points throughout the customer lifecycle. Customers’ behaviours may be differentiated according to the individual or micro level, but it might also differ at an ecological or macro level of analysis (Ramaseshan et al., 2006). In this paper the authors have conducted a case study in the UK to analyze customers’ behaviours at a macro level and customers channel choices, through out the customer lifecycle. The authors have used a Structurational Analysis model (Ali and Brooks, 2008) to identify the cultural factors (Ali, et al. 2008a) that influence multi-channel customer management in the UK

To boardrooms and sustainability: the changing nature of segmentation

Market segmentation is the process by which customers in markets with some heterogeneity are grouped into smaller homogeneous segments of more ‘similar’ customers. A market segment is a group of individuals, groups or organisations sharing similar characteristics and buying behaviour that cause them to have relatively similar needs and purchasing behaviour. Segmentation is not a new concept: for six decades marketers have, in various guises, sought to break-down a market into sub-groups of users, each sharing common needs, buying behavior and marketing requirements. However, this approach to target market strategy development has been rejuvenated in the past few years. Various reasons account for this upsurge in the usage of segmentation, examination of which forms the focus of this white paper. Ready access to data enables faster creation of a segmentation and the testing of propositions to take to market. ‘Big data’ has made the re-thinking of target market segments and value propositions inevitable, desirable, faster and more flexible. The resulting information has presented companies with more topical and consumer-generated insights than ever before. However, many marketers, analytics directors and leadership teams feel over-whelmed by the sheer quantity and immediacy of such data. Analytical prowess in consultants and inside client organisations has benefited from a stepchange, using new heuristics and faster computing power, more topical data and stronger market insights. The approach to segmentation today is much smarter and has stretched well away from the days of limited data explored only with cluster analysis. The coverage and wealth of the solutions are unimaginable when compared to the practices of a few years ago. Then, typically between only six to ten segments were forced into segmentation solutions, so that an organisation could cater for these macro segments operationally as well as understand them intellectually. Now there is the advent of what is commonly recognised as micro segmentation, where the complexity of business operations and customer management requires highly granular thinking. In support of this development, traditional agency/consultancy roles have transitioned into in-house business teams led by data, campaign and business change planners. The challenge has shifted from developing a granular segmentation solution that describes all customers and prospects, into one of enabling an organisation to react to the granularity of the solution, deploying its resources to permit controlled and consistent one-to-one interaction within segments. So whilst the cost of delivering and maintaining the solution has reduced with technology advances, a new set of systems, costs and skills in channel and execution management is required to deliver on this promise. These new capabilities range from rich feature creative and content management solutions, tailored copy design and deployment tools, through to instant messaging middleware solutions that initiate multi-streams of activity in a variety of analytical engines and operational systems. Companies have recruited analytics and insight teams, often headed by senior personnel, such as an Insight Manager or Analytics Director. Indeed, the situations-vacant adverts for such personnel out-weigh posts for brand and marketing managers. Far more companies possess the in-house expertise necessary to help with segmentation analysis. Some organisations are also seeking to monetise one of the most regularly under-used latent business assets… data. Developing the capability and culture to bring data together from all corners of a business, the open market, commercial sources and business partners, is a step-change, often requiring a Chief Data Officer. This emerging role has also driven the professionalism of data exploration, using more varied and sophisticated statistical techniques. CEOs, CFOs and COOs increasingly are the sponsor of segmentation projects as well as the users of the resulting outputs, rather than CMOs. CEOs because recession has forced re-engineering of value propositions and the need to look after core customers; CFOs because segmentation leads to better and more prudent allocation of resources – especially NPD and marketing – around the most important sub-sets of a market; COOs because they need to better look after key customers and improve their satisfaction in service delivery. More and more it is recognised that with a new segmentation comes organisational realignment and change, so most business functions now have an interest in a segmentation project, not only the marketers. Largely as a result of the digital era and the growth of analytics, directors and company leadership teams are becoming used to receiving more extensive market intelligence and quickly updated customer insight, so leading to faster responses to market changes, customer issues, competitor moves and their own performance. This refreshing of insight and a leadership team’s reaction to this intelligence often result in there being more frequent modification of a target market strategy and segmentation decisions. So many projects set up to consider multi-channel strategy and offerings; digital marketing; customer relationship management; brand strategies; new product and service development; the re-thinking of value propositions, and so forth, now routinely commence with a segmentation piece in order to frame the ongoing work. Most organisations have deployed CRM systems and harnessed associated customer data. CRM first requires clarity in segment priorities. The insights from a CRM system help inform the segmentation agenda and steer how they engage with their important customers or prospects. The growth of CRM and its ensuing data have assisted the ongoing deployment of segmentation. One of the biggest changes for segmentation is the extent to which it is now deployed by practitioners in the public and not-for-profit sectors, who are harnessing what is termed social marketing, in order to develop and to execute more shrewdly their targeting, campaigns and messaging. For Marketing per se, the interest in the marketing toolkit from non-profit organisations, has been big news in recent years. At the very heart of the concept of social marketing is the market segmentation process. The extreme rise in the threat to security from global unrest, terrorism and crime has focused the minds of governments, security chiefs and their advisors. As a result, significant resources, intellectual capability, computing and data management have been brought to bear on the problem. The core of this work is the importance of identifying and profiling threats and so mitigating risk. In practice, much of this security and surveillance work harnesses the tools developed for market segmentation and the profiling of different consumer behaviours. This white paper presents the findings from interviews with leading exponents of segmentation and also the insights from a recent study of marketing practitioners relating to their current imperatives and foci. More extensive views of some of these ‘leading lights’ have been sought and are included here in order to showcase the latest developments and to help explain both the ongoing surge of segmentation and the issues under-pinning its practice. The principal trends and developments are thereby presented and discussed in this paper

Archaeological Database: A Method for Managing Cultural Resources

Geographic Information System (GIS) technology is spreading into all types of disciplines, including archaeology and anthropology. GIS technology is a valuable tool that can be used to manage large databases. CRM TECH recognizes a need for such a system to help it maintain the large amount of data that it has collected for cultural resources in California. This document outlines the procedures for using GIS to provide a solution for CRM TECH in managing its cultural resources. The solution involved producing a database that would be used by CRM TECH for project proposals, record searches, map creation, research before and after fieldwork is completed, field recording, and analysis of data recorded in the field. By creating this database, the researchers at CRM TECH can now look at the spatial data behind the artifacts, sites locations, and project areas that have been recorded to help improve their workflow and research

Helping Vital Voices Impact More Women: Developing an Online Mentoring Platform

The goal of this project was to help Vital Voices Costa Rica impact more women. Using a human-centered design process, our project team designed client-centered web platforms that optimized the organization’s mentoring process to increase efficiency, communication, and organization. Based in-depth conversations with stakeholders, a participant observation study, a survey, and focus groups, our team designed an integrated web platform that included design definitions and detailed instructions for coding the site

Understanding Digital Transformation Initiatives: Case Studies Analysis

Background: Complexity of the digital transformation (Digital Transformation) paradigm and its relation to the fourth technological revolution face companies with serious challenges when it comes to keeping up with the competition or becoming a leader in operating industries. Objectives: The goal of our research is to systematize, analyse and evaluate technological and business concepts of Digital Transformation, in order to identify and investigate Digital Transformation initiatives in Croatia. Methods/Approach: To accomplish this goal, we used a multiple-case study approach to gather data from experts who participated in successful Digital Transformation initiatives. Results: Questionnaires were developed and used to gather both, qualitative background and technology-business related data relevant for Digital Transformation initiatives’ success, discussed in the last part of the paper. The limitation of this study is a relatively small number of case studies (6), as well as its local coverage, resulting therefore with conclusions, which will serve as a base for future studies. Conclusions: There are several background, business, and technology-related concepts or factors relevant to Digital Transformation initiatives: profile and involvement of external Digital Transformation experts; the transformation drivers and expectations. In achieving most significant business concepts for business transformation, no single one right combination of technological concepts could be explicitly determined