Customer Relationship Management And Organizational Innovation Capabilities Of Kuching SMEs : The Moderating Role Of Absorptive Capacity

This research was conducted to investigate the relationship between four underlying dimensions of customer relationship management and organizational innovation capabilities with the absorptive capacity as moderator. Questionnaires were distributed to 104 managers ranging from small to medium sized services firms throughout Kuching. Data coHection is done via the convenient sampling method. Based on this research, the results revealed that customer involvement is not positively related to product innovation, process innovation, administrative innovation and marketing innovation. The results showed that information sharing is positively related to product and administrative innovation. It isalso revealed that long-term partnership is not positively related to organizational innovation . capabilities. Furthermore, technology-based CRM is shown to be positively related to administrative and marketing innovation. Last but not least, the results also revealed that absorptive capacity do not moderate the relationship between customer relationship management and organizational innovation capabilities but these factors howeverhave direct positive impacts on process innovation, administrative innovation and marketing innovation