دانلود رایگان مقاله انگلیسی مدیریت ارتباط با مشتری، نوآوری و عملکرد - امرالد 2017

Abstract

Purpose-This study aims to empirically test a framework which identifies the relationships between customer relationship management (CRM) practices, organizational performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing firms. Design/methodology/approach- Data for the study were collected from a sample of 211 Iranian manufacturing firms. The research model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings-The results reveal CRM practices have a positive and significant, though weak, effect on organizational performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing organizations. Innovation improvement caused by CRM also results in better organizational performance. Research limitations/implications- As this study is conducted in Iranian manufacturing organizations, this implies that the generalizability of this study’s findings is limited to manufacturing firms in Iran and cannot be applied to other markets without a further validation. Practical implications- this empirical research has extended our understanding of CRM components and their impact on business performance and innovation capability of Iranian manufacturing firms which have not been addressed together in previous empirical studies in Iran. Also, the obtained findings offers the Iranian manufacturing executives and managers strategic insights in relation to CRM implementation, CRM items and, more importantly, the most influential components of CRM on the manufacturing organizations’ performance and innovation. Originality/value- This paper shows the importance of CRM practices and how they directly influence organizational and innovation capabilities of the Iranian manufacturing firms. This study is among few studies which attempt to empirically investigate the relationships between these variables particularly in the context of Iran.

Discussion and conclusion

This study has provided empirical justification for the proposed research framework which describes the relationships between CRM practices, organizational performance, and innovation among Iranian manufacturing firms. Our study is contrary to findings such as Reinartz et al. (2004) and Jayachandran et al. (2005) that CRM technology does not have a significant impact on organizational performance.

Also, the findings support existing studies from Sin et al. (2005), Lin et al. (2010) and Akroush et al. (2011) by empirically validating the CRM practices framework. Furthermore, this research shows that the validated CRM practices are applicable to developing countries such as Iran. This is important as previous CRM practices have been focused on Western countries or developed countries. CRM is touted as an imperative strategy to improve a firm’s innovation capability and to enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. Missing from the literature, however, is the knowledge of how these two strategic components can be integrated (Lin et al., 2010).Therefore, in this study in addition to the relationship between CRM practices and innovation capability of firms, in line with the study of Battor & Battor (2010) the missing link of innovation capability not previously conceptualised in the context of how CRM contributes to firm performance, has been considered.

One of the most important findings of this study is the lowest rank of technology -based CRM (β =0.301) .As IT and IS play an important role in the development and implementation of CRM (Ngai, 2005) this indicates the sampled Iranian organization do not pay enough attention to employ the IT and IS related topics addressed in CRM literature such as software, tools, systems, data mining and KM. Such a supportive role of IT includes database capabilities to collect and analyze customer information using statistical techniques such as data mining. This helps transform customer data into useful information and knowledge, which is considered to be a key organizational asset that is necessary in today’s customer-centered business environment (Rygielski et al., 2002).