Knowledge management driving customer behavior

Addressing the needs and wants of the customers increases the intention of the customers to remain loyal to the company that satisfies their wants and needs. Knowledge Management (KM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) have both been shown to impact customer behavior. The purpose of this thesis was to explore and understand the impact of KM supported by a CRM on customer behaviors, specifically customer loyalty and customer perceived value. The results indicate that in order for KM and CRM to be effective in affecting positive changes in organizations, certain conditions need to be met. These include having employees perceive the importance of the implementation of KM and CRM approaches / processes through incorporating both KM and CRM in the business culture. All employees of all levels of the company need to have the same objective, scope and roles and responsibilities are clear defined and communicated. Both KM and CRM end-to-end processes need to be supported by one stable, easy to use, and easily accessible system with a high sophisticated search engine. The significance of this study is three-fold: for the academic community, for the companies that aim to attain competitive advantage over others, and for the customers of these companies