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

Customer Relationship Management Adoption: Using A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

Customer 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 dynamic capabilities. The main goal is to apply a dynamic capabilities perspective to analyse how companies can improve their CRM initiatives. In order to achieve this purpose, a qualitative, interpretative, case-based research strategy was implemented. We conducted a case study in a Portuguese telecommunication enterprise for one year. The case study was based on semi-structured interviews and document analysis. We used qualitative techniques to analyse the collected data and ground our interpretation in a dynamic capabilities theoretical approach. 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

Information and communication technology adoption for business benefits: a case analysis of an integrated paperless system

This case study analyses the benefits of implementing a paperless software solution (Alert®pfh–Alert Paperfree Hospital, developed by Alert Life Sciences Computing) in a Portuguese Hospital, the Espírito Santo Hospital, in the city of Évora. Alert®pfh is a complete hospital clinical information system with real time clinical information input. It was implemented in emergency medical services, inpatient and outpatient services, and operating room services. Data were collected between 2006 and 2011 prior to, during and after the system's implementation. The case analysis demonstrates that paperless software systems have a significant potential when applied in healthcare organization services. Besides financial benefits, other important organizational features were identified, namely higher levels of patient and professional satisfaction; an increase in efficiency in hospital operations; improvement in the quality of information for management decision-making; and a reduction in medical errors. Lessons learned are noted and conclusions drawn for both theoretical and practical ICT benefits analysis

The Influence of IT Project Manager Competencies on Team Commitment

This study addresses two questions: (1) which Information Technology (IT) project manager competencies influence team commitment? and (2) how much these competencies impact team commitment? The main objective is to propose and evaluate a measuring instrument to identify the IT project manager competencies that are necessary to build and sustain team commitment in IT projects. We adopted mixed methods as the research methodology. Firstly, we did an exploratory and qualitative research. Then, we did a quantitative research. An academic contribution is the new scale designed to identify competencies that are more relevant to develop team commitment. Besides that, the research offers a conceptual model that can be used in future studies. This research also presents pertinent implications to the practice of project management in IT settings. For instance, organizations can use the measuring instrument to evaluate project managers, to assess organizational climate or to structure training programs for their employees

W4RM: A prescriptive framework based on a wiki to support collaborative risk management in information technology projects

Despite the positive influence of risk management in Information Technology (IT) project results, many project managers are not managing risks or are managing them partially. To enhance risk management, collaborative project management has gained attention in recent years with the introduction of Web 2.0 tools. Project managers have used such tools to facilitate open communication and distribution of activities. This research introduces a prescriptive framework (W4RM – Wiki for Risk Management) based on a wiki to support collaborative risk management in IT projects. An exploratory focus group was set up and a series of interviews with practitioners was conducted to explore how a wiki can support risk management in IT projects. Findings show that project managers are facing difficulties managing risks and are the only ones responsible for identifying, registering and monitoring risks. By implementing a collaborative tool, managers can disseminate a collaboration culture and participate in risk management processes. This sense of collaboration may be used to keep the community identifying new risks, relating these risks to one or more projects, and facilitating continuous risk management. Practitioners can also adopt W4RM as a tool to support communication regarding risks status to be established for internal team stakeholders

DECISION-MAKING BASED ON WEB 2.0 DATA: THE SMALL AND MEDIUM HOTELS MANAGEMENT

The decision-making process based on the user generated content (UGC) can be used by several industries such as movies, books, tourism and hotels. This paper presents a fine-grained analysis of UGC for small and medium hotels (SMH). We collected and analysed 1500 online reviews from 50 SMH. This data was cross-referenced in order to find patterns that could support decision-making. The findings show that Room and Service were the concepts that guests pay more attention to in their review and ratings. For the concept Location, was identified an upward trend for hotels near trade centres and points of access to public transport. Tendencies to evaluate positively the hotels using high ratings were also identified. Although reviews receive high ratings, there is a significant number of negative considerations in these reviews. This paper also points the main features which SMH managers should prioritise according to the profile of the guest. For example, we found that British guests value tea- or coffee-making facilities in the room. This research concludes that online reviews provide useful information to help the SMH management in making decisions to increase customer satisfaction and to manage existing resources efficiently

Customer Relationship Management e as Pequenas e Médias Empresas: um estudo de múltiplos casos em empresas Portuguesas

ABSTRACTCustomer Relationship Management (CRM) emerges as a response to organizations that choose to adopt strategies of relationship marketing so as to offer customers a more personalized experience. The need for significant investments in the purchase of technological systems and to adapt the internal procedures causes the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to remain in a more traditional posture, unlike the large enterprises. However, increased competition, globalization of markets, technological development and the ephemerality of customer preferences have led many SMEs to rethink their business. This article seeks to answer the question “how CRM is adopted in the SMEs, for the purpose of analyzing the critical success factors relevant to the adoption of CRM in the SMEs?” Therefore case studies were made of three Portuguese enterprises. Interviews were conducted and secondary documents were analyzed to collect data. As the main contribution, an analysis was made of those critical success factors for the adoption of CRM which should be considered most important by the SMEs. In conclusion it was found that the enterprises studied during the project of CRM implementation had attributed greater importance to the following critical success factors, integration of information and data, efficient human resource management and support of top management. Furthermore, because of limited resources, it is important for these enterprises to plan the process of CRM in advance to ensure that the best choices in terms of technology are made

Applying EA perspective to CRM: developing a competency framework

Customer relationship management (CRM) is getting attention as a business approach for new way of dealing with customer relationships. Although information technology is an important component of CRM, technology itself is not complete as a technology. Literature reports empirical evidences that a very high percentage of CRM projects fail to meet expectations from the business perspective despite the advance of tecnology. In this study, we explore possible causes of failures in CRM projects and use the concept of enterprise architecture (EA) in explaining failures. Applying the EA concept, it is argued here that organizational competencies in unstructured decision making are very critical for CRM success. Subsequent case analysis supports the theoretical underpinnings of the argument.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

W4RM: A prescriptive framework based on a wiki to support collaborative risk management in information technology projects

Despite the positive influence of risk management in Information Technology (IT) project results, many project managers are not managing risks or are managing them partially. To enhance risk management, collaborative project management has gained attention in recent years with the introduction of Web 2.0 tools. Project managers have used such tools to facilitate open communication and distribution of activities. This research introduces a prescriptive framework (W4RM – Wiki for Risk Management) based on a wiki to support collaborative risk management in IT projects. An exploratory focus group was set up and a series of interviews with practitioners was conducted to explore how a wiki can support risk management in IT projects. Findings show that project managers are facing difficulties managing risks and are the only ones responsible for identifying, registering and monitoring risks. By implementing a collaborative tool, managers can disseminate a collaboration culture and participate in risk management processes. This sense of collaboration may be used to keep the community identifying new risks, relating these risks to one or more projects, and facilitating continuous risk management. Practitioners can also adopt W4RM as a tool to support communication regarding risks status to be established for internal team stakeholders

Users’ Commitment in Information System Implementation: The Role of Top-Management Commitment and Organizational Context

The improvement in quality of care is a primary concern and driving force in the use of Healthcare Information Technology (HIT). Notwithstanding high expectations for the value of IT (Information Technology) in healthcare, many attempts at HIT implementation have failed. Various studies of the implementation of change programs have demonstrated the importance of stakeholders’ commitment as well as organizational context when Information Systems/Information Technology (IS/IT) is implemented. Here, two case studies following the implementation of a HIT in a hospital setting are analysed, focusing on stakeholders’ commitment to the IS/IT. An understanding is sought as to how top-management commitment and organizational context influence stakeholder’s commitment to benefits achievement from HIT implementation. A qualitative, interpretative and case-based research was used employing semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Findings revealed that organizational context and top-management commitment can be particularly important to the commitment of users in achieving the expected IS/IT benefits.DOI: 10.5585/rgss.v2i1.5