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ANALYSIS of CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS’ COMPLIANCE with ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS an Industrial Case Study in a Spanish Organization

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ANALYSIS of CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS’ COMPLIANCE with ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS an Industrial Case Study in a Spanish Organization Master Thesis M.Sc. in Industrial Engineering and Management June 2011 ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS’ COMPLIANCE WITH ORGANIZATIONAL NEEDS An industrial case study in a Spanish organization Michael Thorzén School of Management Blekinge Institute of Technology Sweden ABSTRACT In today’s competitive environment, organizations cannot afford to fail with their customer relationship management (CRM) initiatives. There are plenty of examples of vital consequences for failed CRM implementations. The purpose of this study was to assist with the decision process for the organization Realsec in their choice of a CRM system. The aim was to evaluate different CRM systems in the market to find the most suited for Realsec. The study was performed within the organization at their head office located in Madrid, Spain. The evaluation is based on the mapping of the organization’s needs to characteristics of a CRM system. Through a pragmatic approach, using a mixed method research design, three qualitative interviews and a questionnaire covering the organization was conducted. The qualitative interviews identified important factors for Realsec from different stakeholders’ point of view. The questionnaire was used to determine the importance of those factors, by grading them using three different scales. Merged with best practices, identified from the literature, the factors were translated into characteristics of a CRM system. Using a market study of different CRM solutions, a performance score was calculated for each CRM system to reflect how well each system fit Realsec’s needs. The results from the research was analyzed with statistical methods and it shows a wide spread in performance score differentiating from 19.44% to 86.42%. The top performer was the Salesforce.com solution with a margin of 5.55% to the second placing system, SugarCRM. The result recommends the preferable solution without considering other aspects such as price. Therefore, the result from this study should be used in consideration with other factors in the decision process. It is concluded that the CRM industry is still a young sector where there is a lack of consensus on the definition of a CRM system. ii FOREWORD This master thesis is submitted to the Department of Management at Blekinge Institute of Technology (BTH) in partial fulfillment of the degree Master of Science in Industrial Engineering and Management (Civilingenjör Industriell Ekonomi). The thesis has been performed in Madrid, Spain during the spring of 2011 and equivalents to 20 weeks of full time studies. I would like to thank the host company Realsec. They provided assistance and gladly participated in interviews and questionnaires. Thanks go to my two supervisors Mohammad Hossein Tavassoli and Philippe Rouchy at BTH for their help and guidance before and during the thesis period. Finally I want to thank my family and friends for their suggestions and support. Special thanks to my girlfriend Alina for her patience. Michael Thorzén [email protected] June, 2011 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Foreword .......................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ............................................................................................................ iv 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Problem ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Scope and Purpose ........................................................................................................ 2 2 Description of Realsec .............................................................................................. 3 2.1 The People ..................................................................................................................... 4 2.2 The Clients .................................................................................................................... 5 2.3 The Solutions ................................................................................................................ 6 2.4 The Strategy .................................................................................................................. 9 3 Methodology ........................................................................................................... 11 3.1 Theoretical Perspective ............................................................................................... 11 3.2 Practical Perspective ................................................................................................... 12 3.3 Philosophical Worldview ............................................................................................ 13 3.4 Research Design .......................................................................................................... 14 3.4.1 Primary Data ....................................................................................................... 14 3.4.2 Secondary Data ................................................................................................... 17 4 Review of the Literature on CRM ........................................................................... 19 4.1 Introduction to CRM ................................................................................................... 20 4.1.1 Transaction Marketing to Relationship Marketing.............................................. 20 4.1.2 Information Management to Customer Knowledge Management ...................... 21 4.1.3 ERP and CRM Evolution .................................................................................... 21 4.2 Interpretation of CRM ................................................................................................. 22 4.2.1 The CRM Continuum .......................................................................................... 23 4.2.2 Examples of CRM Definitions ............................................................................ 24 4.2.3 Levels of CRM .................................................................................................... 25 4.3 The Technology........................................................................................................... 26 4.3.1 Operational CRM Technology ............................................................................ 28 iv 4.3.2 Analytical CRM Technology .............................................................................. 29 4.3.3 Collaborative CRM ............................................................................................. 30 4.4 CRM Processes ........................................................................................................... 31 4.5 Factors for Successful Implementation ....................................................................... 33 4.5.1 Before Launching a CRM Initiative .................................................................... 34 4.5.2 Factors of Success ............................................................................................... 35 4.6 Emerging Areas Related to CRM ................................................................................ 38 4.7 Solutions on the Market .............................................................................................. 39 4.7.1 Commercial Software .......................................................................................... 40 4.7.2 Open Source Software ......................................................................................... 40 4.8 Relevance for Realsec ................................................................................................. 41 5 Results ..................................................................................................................... 42 5.1 Factors from Literature Review .................................................................................. 42 5.2 Factors Extracted from Interviews .............................................................................. 42 5.3 Factors Redefined with Market Research ................................................................... 44 5.4 Importance of Factors Determined .............................................................................. 51 6 Analysis ................................................................................................................... 56 6.1 Formulas ...................................................................................................................... 56 6.2 Calculation of Scores .................................................................................................. 56 6.3 Top 5 Performers ......................................................................................................... 59 7 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 61 7.1 Limits .......................................................................................................................... 62 7.2 Further Research ......................................................................................................... 62 8 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................
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