Evaluating the Adoption Level of Electronic Customer Relationship Management by Telecommunication Companies

摘要

Although Customer Relationship Management is no longer a buzz word in businesses today the application continues to play an important in enhancing firms' competitiveness. At a general level, competition in cyberspace is becoming more intense. With vast information available at the click of the mouse, consumers may easily switch at low cost, thus gaining higher bargaining power in the electronic marketplace. In turn, companies have no choice but to rethink their marketing strategies in order to retain customers. Apparently, one of the ways to gain higher market share companies have sought to use information technology to learn the needs and preferences of their customers - building log-term relationships. This study attempts to investigate the extent to which companies utilize the Internet technology to help build customer relationships. This study aimed to assess the usage level of Electronic Customer Relationship Management (E-CRM) tools by telecommunication companies. The results indicated that companies are indifferent in their levels of usage for informational and transactional tools but are significantly different in the adoption of relational tools. We discuss the results and suggest some directions for future research.