Customer relationship management implementation : a case study of two service companies

This master thesis, prompted mainly by the much-publicised failure of most Customer Relationship Management (CRM) initiatives, was to gain a better understanding of CRM implementation in service companies. Both academics and practitioners have approached CRM from divergent perspective and its literature appears to be inconsistent and highly fragmented. The objective then is to unravel the major reasons/benefits, components and key factors of CRM implementation in service companies. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, a case study involving two Swedish service companies that have been implementing CRM were studied. Findings from the study show that service companies enjoy some benefits by implementing CRM as well those in the process of rolling out a full CRM initiative. Also, companies do not have the right mix of CRM components but they unconsciously see CRM as a technology solution. Another finding is that service firms are radically re- engineering their business processes and are strategically using CRM technology to capture a complete view of the customer. Finally, findings have shown that for CRM implementation to be successful and thus achieve corporate objectives, the right mix of CRM components and all the key factors-strategy, leadership and integration need to be given due attention by service companies.Validerat; 20101217 (root