Frederick Hong-kit Yim. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-108). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / ABSTRACT (ENGLISH) --- p.i / ABSTRACT (CHINESE) --- p.iii / ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS --- p.iv / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.v / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / LIST OF FIGURES --- p.viii / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Background --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Research Objectives --- p.4 / Chapter 1.3 --- Outline of This Study --- p.4 / Chapter CHPATER TWO --- BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1 --- Reasons for the Prominence of Relationship Marketing --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- The Growth of the Service Economy --- p.5 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- The Heightening of Competitive Intensity --- p.6 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- The Building of Customer Relationships to Gain a Competitive Advantage --- p.7 / Chapter 2.2 --- "Relationship Marketing, CRM and CRM Orientation" --- p.8 / Chapter 2.3 --- Two Major Confusions concerning CRM identified in the Literature --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3.1 --- Obsessive Emphasis on the Technology Component --- p.11 / Chapter 2.3.2 --- The Distinction between CRM Orientation and Market Orientation --- p.11 / Chapter CHAPTER THREE --- CONCEPTUALIZATION: CRM ORIENTATION --- p.13 / Chapter 3.1 --- Support for our Conceptualization --- p.14 / Chapter 3.2 --- The Components of the CRM Orientation --- p.16 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- Focusing on Key Customers --- p.17 / Chapter 3.2.1.1 --- Customer-centric Marketing --- p.18 / Chapter 3.2.1.2 --- Key Customer Lifetime Value Identification --- p.20 / Chapter 3.2.1.3 --- Personalization --- p.22 / Chapter 3.2.1.4 --- Interactive Cocreation Marketing --- p.24 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Organizing around CRM --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.2.1 --- Organizational Structure --- p.26 / Chapter 3.2.2.2 --- Organization-wide Commitment of Resources --- p.28 / Chapter 3.2.2.3 --- Human Resources Management --- p.28 / Chapter 3.2.2.3.1 --- Market Training and Education --- p.29 / Chapter 3.2.2.3.2 --- Internal Communication --- p.30 / Chapter 3.2.2.3.3 --- Reward Systems --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.2.3.4 --- Employee Involvement --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Knowledge Management --- p.32 / Chapter 3.2.3.1 --- Knowledge Learning and Generation --- p.34 / Chapter 3.2.3.2 --- Knowledge Dissemination and Sharing --- p.36 / Chapter 3.2.3.3 --- Knowledge Responsiveness --- p.37 / Chapter 3.2.4 --- Technology-based CRM --- p.38 / Chapter CHAPTER FOUR --- RESEARCH METHODOLOGY --- p.41 / Chapter 4.1 --- Overview --- p.41 / Chapter 4.2 --- Item Generation and Content Validity --- p.41 / Chapter 4.3 --- Instrument Pretest --- p.44 / Chapter 4.4 --- Sample and Data Collection --- p.47 / Chapter 4.5 --- Identification of the Underlying Factor Structure --- p.56 / Chapter 4.6 --- Item Analysis and Reliability Assessment --- p.58 / Chapter 4.7 --- Validity Assessment --- p.60 / Chapter 4.7.1 --- Convergent Validity --- p.60 / Chapter 4.7.2 --- Discriminant Validty --- p.63 / Chapter 4.7.3 --- Nomological Validity --- p.66 / Chapter 4.8 --- The Relative Impacts of CRM Orientation and Market Orientation on Business Performance --- p.72 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- DISCUSSION --- p.77 / Chapter 5.1 --- Academic and Managerial Contributions --- p.77 / Chapter 5.2 --- Implications --- p.78 / Chapter 5.3 --- Limitations --- p.81 / Chapter 5.4 --- Directions for Future Research --- p.81 / APPENDICES --- p.85 / APPENDIX I. QUESTIONNAIRE --- p.85 / APPENDIX II. CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT ORIENTATION SCALE ITEMS (AFTER PURIFICATION) --- p.88 / REFERENCES --- p.90

M.Comm. / In the past year or two, there has been a phenomenal interest among academic and marketing practitioners regarding the concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). With the emphasis that is placed on the importance of Relationship Marketing, one would expect the existence of a clear description of the concept, as well as a management framework for the evaluation, implementation and management of such a concept that impacts on the total organisation. However, there are only a few valid theories and learnings to assist Marketing managers and Marketing directors in their understanding of the concept. The purpose of this study was to identify the issues that influence CRM and to assess their importance among South African Marketing managers (MM) and Marketing directors (MD). The study also attempted to evaluate the current perception and understanding of the terms Relationship Marketing (RM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). But the most important aspect of this study was to attempt to identify the elements to be included in a possible managerial framework that addresses the issues related to the development and implementation of a CRM strategy. The issues that influence CRM and the elements for inclusion in such a framework were identified by means of: A literature study of various secondary sources which provided the identification of international CRM issues and a conceptual framework for the understanding of Relationship Marketing (RM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). An empirical study to test the identified issues within the South African environment, to assess the current perception of MM and MD's regarding the concepts of RM and CRM and to generate and purify the possible elements for inclusion in a CRM framework. The methods used to generate the variables were an analysis of secondary sources and individual input • from CRM experts (exploratory study) through the use of e-mail discussions. A survey among MM and MD in various industries, situated mainly in South African metropolitan areas, quantified the issues. In the exploratory study, 34 CRM variables were generated. The variables represented the elements related to the CRM concept. An attempt was made to summarise the initial information into the most important dimensions, which also had the most potential for stimulating further research. Therefore the elements were tested among CRM experts in a QSort technique and 11 variables were eliminated. The purpose of the questionnaire was to determine the opinion of a larger sample of respondents in the marketing environment and to gain their understanding regarding the concepts of RM and CRM as well as to test the internationally identified issues in the South African environment. It was necessary to refine the elements for inclusion in a possible CRM framework by reducing the variables and restructuring the dimensions. Two techniques, namely factor analysis and coefficient alpha, were used for this purpose. A computer software programme was used to calculate the factor analysis and coefficient alpha. The repetitive procedure of calculating coefficient alpha and the item-tototal correlation for each factor, followed by the elimination of variables, and the factor analysis to determine the dimension of a CRM framework, led to the reduction from the original 23 variables to 3 descriptive factors. The statistical results and findings indicated that these dimensions had a high interval consistency and reliability. The results of the study were satisfactory in terms of the objectives and confirmed that MM and MD were not completely sure in their understanding of the terms RM and CRM. They were also not able to agree on the elements for inclusion in a CRM or RM definition. But the researcher did gain valuable information regarding the issues that influence CRM and that should possibly be included in a CRM framework to assist MM and MD with the development and implementation of CRM strategies. The findings of the study indicated that the terms RM and CRM were encompassing concepts and it was not possible to identify only a few elements for inclusion into a definition. The study however indicated that a possible CRM framework holds a large variety of potential implications for further research and for marketing applications. The framework must be tested in practice in further studies to verify the reliability, validity and general acceptability of the issues and, if necessary, to make adjustments accordingly. The most important implication that the research results hold for marketing management is that the framework can be used to evaluate their company's orientation towards a 'customer centric' organisation and to identify the problem areas regarding the implementation and management of CRM.

The Best PhD Thesis in the Faculties of Architexture, Arts, Business & Economics, Education, Law and Social Sciences (University of Hong Kong), Li Ka Shing Prize, 2007-2008. / published_or_final_version / Business / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

M.B.A. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M. Phil. (Information Management) / Customer relationship management has been exposed as a strategic failure, unveiling only customer dissatisfaction. A new method for managing customers is consequently required. The effect of the knowledge economy has brought about a change in global orientation, in the focus on customer wants and needs to increase satisfaction. There was then a shift in focus from information to knowledge. In such an economy, the customer knowledge management strategy, as a combination of information and knowledge management techniques, is one best suited to allow organisations to manage their customer knowledge effectively. The purpose of this study was thus on determining whether South African organisations manage customer knowledge within their organisations. A literature review was conducted to determine the reason for the failure of customer relationship management practices, and define customer knowledge management in the context of the knowledge economy. Traditional and electronic sources from which customer knowledge could be collected were identified and measured according to their advantages and disadvantages. Customer knowledge management techniques were discussed, along with the strategic requirements for the system’s success. These specifics were measured within South Africa’s developing economy. Knowledge practitioners in South Africa participated in a quantitative online questionnaire, administered on LinkedIn. Aspects such as education, years of exposure to knowledge management, information and communication technologies, social networking and customer knowledge applications and practices, were examined. The results revealed electronic knowledge-sharing practices in organisations, despite the lack of supportive forces. In conclusion, the collections of customer knowledge are being applied, but not yet formally managed in organisations. A second conclusion is that knowledge practitioners have limited understanding of the customer knowledge management concept, pressed upon by hindrances in external social factors. Taking this into consideration, recommendations are made to strategise the applications of customer knowledge in a number of industries further.

Service Apartment, as a new growth real estate sub-market had rapid growth in the past decade. Under the change of market condition and impact from its own characteristic, Service Apartment industry is facing a great challenge. In the marketplace, different organization would adopt different business strategies to confront the challenges. Apart from those common business strategies, Customer Relationship Management is one of the common strategies that has widely adopted by different organization and the effect was highly recognized. Therefore, some of the operators of Service Apartment also adopt Customer Relationship Management into the operation to improve the competitiveness and performance of the apartment. In view of Service Apartment is a new growth industry, we attempt to conduct a case study in a standard class Service Apartment in Hong Kong to identify the importance of CRM to the Service Apartment industry and evaluate the performance of CRM application from operator's and user's view point and hence to identify the potential improvement on the application. 4 / published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Mathematics / Master / Master of Philosophy

M.Phil. / The issue of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) within organisations has gained importance over the last five years, and the trend is set to continue with new CRM software vendors entering the market regularly. For a business, it is cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones, therefore increased customer loyalty and interaction is important. The value that electronic CRM (eCRM) allows is that it increases customer interaction, by eliminating physical intervention and subsequent errors. The Internet has allowed this interaction to become more sophisticated, with service information instantly available to both the customer and the business. The number of channels for interaction has also increased. Specifically, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need low cost eCRM solutions that adapt to their business models and IT structures. The South African SME is limited by certain budgeting, resource and time constraints, and the owner of the SME cannot always devote time in search of a suitable eCRM solution for his business. The multitudes of vendors, offering various levels of functionality with increased focus on the SME sector, allow the SME many choices. However, companies selecting eCRM software vendors often lack an objective basis due to a lack of alternative information sources. Vendors making unsubstantiated and incorrect claims about the functionality of their software, further complicate the problem. From an SME point of view, the functionality and cost criteria of the eCRM solution is the most important. However, the minimum functionality criteria that vendors’ software packages must adhere to, in order to be considered an eCRM suite are: Customer Analysis; Marketing Automation; Sales Automation; Customer Service and Support; and Web-centricity. The research problem lies therein that South African SME owners or managers are unsure which functionalities are available, and which to deem important when considering eCRM solutions for their businesses. The objective of this study is to formulate a matrix of functionality that eCRM solutions must adhere to in order to be successfully implemented by the SME. This matrix is not prescriptive, but will guide SME management by identifying criteria and functionality that the solution needs to contain. The aim is to help SMEs select the right software, not to select the software for them.

Please read the abstract (Synopsis) in the section, 00front of this document / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Marketing Management / MCom / Unrestricted

In today’s competitive arena, organisations need strategically to shift their focus from primarily concentrating on new customer acquisitions and rather to realise the importance of improving customer defections, thus looking at strategically retaining the existing customer base. Customer retention to all intents and purposes reflects the core of any service offering organisation and drives the competitiveness and viability of the business. Customer retention is a concern for all sector organisations including the medical aid schemes industry. It has been proven that retaining customers is less costly than attracting new ones and through a satisfied customer a business can elevate its competitiveness in the market. The significance of the study hinges on the importance of each business having comprehensive knowledge of why customers remain loyal patrons or why they choose to defect. It is important to note that the financial resources and time the business expends on improving service to the customer become futile if not matched by the high performance of the internal business units’ strategies. Having an understanding of customer movement will assist the organisation in properly addressing such issues and employing strategic processes that will enable the business to improve its retention strategies and curb defections. The primary objective of the current study was to investigate the impact internal service quality and customer relationship management have on customer retention. The study employed the SERVQUAL model as a measuring tool in establishing the relationship. The study investigated how customer retention (the dependent variable) is influenced by the different elements of internal service quality, namely assurance, empathy, service reliability, responsiveness, tangibles and elationship management, which represented the independent variables. The sample comprised eighty-one (81) out of a possible 130 AA Medical Scheme participants through the organisation’s four national offices. The empirical results showed that of all the variables relationship management, responsiveness and the tangibles have a positive impact on customer retention in medical aid schemes.