Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

Assessing the Readiness of Firms for CRM: A Literature Review and Research Model
Rosalie J. Ocker, Ph.D. Susan Mudambi, Ph.D. Management Information Systems Marketing Fox School of Business & Management Temple University Philadelphia, PA ocker@temple.edu smudambi@temple.edu
Abstract The concept of customer relationship management (CRM) resonates with managers in today's competitive economy. Yet recent articles in the business press have described CRM implementation failures, and consequent company reluctance to invest in CRM. The potential for substantially improved customer relationship management, coupled with the high uncertainty surrounding failed implementation efforts, calls for a critical new look at the determinants of, and influences upon, a firms decision to adopt CRM. This paper responds by underscoring the criticality of performing a deep analysis of a firms readiness to undertake a CRM initiative. We suggest that this assessment provide detailed answers to two fundamental questions: What is a firms current CRM capability? and What changes must be in place before embarking on a CRM initiative? A model to assess readiness is developed based upon the premise that business value is enhanced through the alignment of complementary factors occurring along three dimensions, intellectual, social, and technological. Tanis, 2000:189). Occurring at project inception, the associated problems or shortcomings of this phase are multiplicative, and can exert a toxic effect on the ensuing innovation process. Although decisions made during this phase are critical to the eventual success or failure of a CRM initiative, there is a paucity of research exploring these adoption issues (Markus & Tanis 2000). Our research addresses this knowledge gap by underscoring the criticality of performing a deep analysis (Parr et al., 1999) of a firms readiness to compete based on CRM. To aid in reducing risk and uncertainty, we suggest that this assessment provide detailed answers to two fundamental questions: What is a firms current CRM capability? and What changes must be in place before embarking on a CRM initiative? In the ensuing discussion, we address these questions by delving into the relationships between the concepts of business value, complementarity, and alignment.

2. Business value, complementarity and alignment

When considering a CRM initiative, executives ultimately want to know the impact on organizational performance that is, the likely business value of the initiative. This is typically measured via the return on investment (ROI) metric. However, determining the economic value of an innovation, especially one enabled by technology, has posed major difficulties to researchers and practitioners for several decades. Recent literature on business value suggests complementarity as a key determinant of organizational performance (see Barua and Mukhopadhyay 2000 for a summary). Two activities or factors are complementary if the benefits of doing more of one increase by doing more of the other (Milgrom and Roberts, 1990). Organizational alignment is concerned with the level of agreement between complementary constituent parts (e.g. people, processes, activities). Alignment research typically falls into either of two basic dimensions: intellectual or social (Reich and Benbasat, 2000). The intellectual dimension, also known in the literature as strategic alignment, centers on the alignment of

1. Introduction
A compelling business case and success stories continue to attract business interest and investment in customer relationship management (CRM). The CRM software market is expected to increase from $7 billion in 2000 to $23 billion in 2005, even though conventional wisdom is that 30 to 50 percent of CRM initiatives fall short of meeting company objectives, while another 20 percent actually damage customer relationships (AMR Research 2002). A seemingly myriad of challenges, conditions and circumstances contribute to the ultimate success or failure of a CRM initiative. Before investing scarce resources in such a risky technology innovation, corporate leadership is calling for a means of decreasing the sphere of uncertainty surrounding CRM. The adoption phase (Rogers, 1995) of a technologybased innovation such as CRM is where decision-making and planning activities are conducted to address whether, why, and how to implement the innovation (Markus &

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

organizational strategy, structures and planning processes. Here, strategy is the focal point such that positive alignment can be achieved when organizational structures and processes support strategy. In contrast, the social dimension concerns the alignment of organizational culture, stakeholder interactions and knowledge of one anothers work domain. In this context, culture is at the nucleus where positive alignment occurs when stakeholders are knowledgeable about each others domain areas such that cooperative interaction (as opposed to conflictive) occurs within the bounds of the organizations norms and values. Other related research underscores the importance of alignment between the intellectual and social dimensions. For example, using general systems theory and chaos theory as the foundation, (Semler, 1997) presents a theory of systematic organizational alignment where strategy, structure and culture are complementary. A harmonious agreement of these aspects breeds an internal environment supportive of the organizations strategy, by eliminating internal barriers to cooperation and performance. The theory outlines six aspects of alignment (process, reward system, values, norms, performance and environment) that, if in agreement, should result in positive organizational performance. As organizational performance is guided by strategy (Pearce and Robinson 1994), and given that a firms leaders develop strategy, it is the leaders and the roles and processes they prescribe that largely drive alignment. Absent from this discussion is the linkage of IT in the alignment mix. There is a relatively large literature exploring the strategic alignment of IT (i.e., the intellectual dimension) with an organizations strategy. This research focuses on the need to align business and IT strategies such that business objectives are enabled, supported, and stimulated by IT strategies (Broadbent and Weill, 1993). Strategic alignment is conceptualized along two dimensions, strategic fit and functional integration, in the strategic alignment model (Henderson and Venkatraman, 1990). Strategic fit focuses on the integration of the firms external environment (e.g. partnerships, alliances, core competencies) with its internal environment (e.g. organizational structure, business processes, human resource processes). Functional integration deals with the internal alignment of organizational infrastructure and processes and IT infrastructure and processes. This body of research generally finds that alignment enables a firm to maximize its IT investments and achieve harmony with its business strategies and plans, leading to greater profitability (Papp, 1999). A different slant to the strategic model is provided by Barua and Mukhopadhyay (Barua and Mukhopadhyay, 2000). They developed a business value complementarity model, another model premised on the concept that business performance is directly affected by the alignment

of IT and other complementary factors. At the most fundamental level, management can choose to invest in different levels of resources in each of four areas: business strategies, IT applications, business and management processes, and incentives/control systems. Changes in any one of these areas should be accompanied by complementary changes in the remaining three. As in the domain of organizational research, the social dimension of alignment has been studied to a far lesser degree than strategic alignment, and there is no comprehensive model in use. However, notable exceptions exist including Reich and Benbasats (2000) research linking the importance of communication and shared domain knowledge between IT and business stakeholders in support of corporate strategy. These researchers also found that perceptions regarding the success of IT implementations were a key influence on IT alignment. This review points to the importance of IT in achieving organizational alignment. Hence, we propose IT as an explicit third dimension of alignment to emphasize its impact. We suggest that the IT dimension includes the strategic technology enabler, in this case the CRM application, the firms IT capability, and specifically its knowledge management capability.

3. A three dimensional alignment model of CRM readiness

Based on the previous discussion, we developed the theoretical model of CRM readiness as shown in Figure 1. Three dimensions of alignment are depicted: intellectual, social and technological. Double arrows indicate that a single dimension complements, and therefore, should be aligned with the remaining two. Additionally, each dimension is comprised of three complementary categories, represented as a triangle, where the driver of each appears at the apex of the triangle. The intellectual dimension includes the categories of strategy, structure, and planning. Similarly, the social dimension includes the categories of culture, stakeholder interactions, and domain knowledge. Finally, the technological dimension consists of the CRM application, IT capability, and knowledge management categories. Although much extant research has explored critical success factors for subject areas such as innovation/IT adoption and diffusion, IS development and implementation, ERP implementation, and management of IT, there is a pressing need to synthesize and apply these and other factors for the particular purpose of assessing CRM readiness. Table 1 shows prevalent factors that we suggest are complementary in terms of CRM readiness. Details of each are presented in the following sections.

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

Intellectual Alignment Strategy

Social Alignment Culture

Structure

Planning

Stakeholder Interaction

Domain Knowledge

Technology Alignment CRM

IT Capability

Knowledge Management

Figure 1. A Three Dimensional Alignment Model of Complementary CRM Readiness Factors

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

Table 1. Readiness Factors organized by Categories within Dimensions

Intellectual Dimension

Strategy Orientation Leadership Mgmt. support Champion

Structure Organizational Structure Business Processes Incentives and Rewards

Planning Corporate Business Units Information Technology

Social Dimension
Culture Cultural Perspective Attitudes toward change, technology, sharing Stakeholder Interactions Dynamics Involvement Technological Savvy Domain Knowledge Within Business Unit Across Business Units Sharing

Technological Dimension
CRM Application Scope Complexity Customization IT Capability Project Management Skilled Team Similar Implementations Knowledge Management Integration Data Warehouse Infrastructure

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

3.1 Intellectual dimension

3.1.1 Strategy. A highly competitive global marketplace places pressure on firms to reduce costs, while simultaneously differentiating themselves through improvements in customer service to gain revenues. The underlying premise of CRM is: If a firm improves upon how it manages relationships with its customers, the result will be evidenced as an increase in firm productivity and customer satisfaction, leading to better financial performance. However, firms must avoid viewing CRM as the solution to competitive pressures. CRM is much more involved a CRM initiative should be conceived of as a corporate strategy. The customer-related capabilities of a firm are at the heart of assumptions regarding customer satisfaction, productivity, and the firms financial performance. According to marketing theory, to be successful an organization must aim all of its efforts at satisfying its customers, at a profit that is, managing customer needs profitably. This means that organizations must create, deliver, and communicate customer value more effectively than their competitors. Organizations that succeed at such are described using terms such as marketdriven, customer-centric, customer-focused, or customer oriented. Day (1999:5) suggests that such market-driven organizations are marked by a superior ability to understand, attract and keep valuable customers, and he identifies three specific components of market orientation: (1) an externally oriented organizational culture with a focus on added value; (2) distinctive capabilities in market sensing, relationship building, and strategic thinking; and (3) a configuration that enables the entire organization to anticipate and respond to changing customer and market conditions (pp. 6-7). Kohli and Jaworski (1990) provide further specification, defining market orientation as the organization-wide generation of market intelligence, dissemination of the intelligence across departments, and responsiveness to it. Concerning IT innovations, Kwon and Zmud (1983) find that top management support is a key, recurring success factor. Management support can be defined as the widespread sponsorship of an innovation. Successful implementation of an innovation has been found to occur when top management exhibits commitment to change (in our context, the CRM initiative) as well as commitment to the (CRM) implementation effort. Support is evidenced through commitment of resources such as time and money for education and training of employees, assignment of key employees throughout the innovation process, and money to purchase the technology and support the multiyear implementation effort. Kwon and Zmud state that successful IT implementation is more likely to occur when sufficient organizational resources are initially

directed toward motivating the implementation effort and then to sustaining it. The literature also consistently points to the importance of a champion of the innovation effort. To qualify as a champion, an employee must be a upperlevel, highly respected individual who actively supports and promotes the innovation, providing information, material resources, and political support. As an aid to success, it is important that the same champion sees the innovation effort through to completion. In a recent field study, firms undertaking CRM projects with a dedicated high-level champion were twice as likely to report that their project was doing at least better than expected (Yu 2001). Leadership styles are a key factor when embracing a new initiative such as CRM. Nguyen-Huy (2001) identified four change management leadership styles, including: commanding; engineering; teaching; socializing; or hybrid. No one type is inherently superior to another. Much depends on the styles that have brought success in the organization's past. Also, successful change leaders have utilized one style during an initial stage, and changed to a different style in a later stage. For example, a commanding style may be important at the outset of a project, to communicate that top management is serious and committed to the change, whereas a more collaborative style may be successfully used during implementation. In the context of CRM, little research has been done to examine the change management leadership styles utilized, or to analyze under what conditions a particular change management leadership style is likely to be effective. 3.1.2 Structure. The innovation literature suggests that a firm with a flat, decentralized structure, as opposed to a centralized hierarchical structure, is most likely to support the development of innovative ideas. However, with regard to implementing the innovation, a centralized structure has been shown to be most effective. In terms of an IT innovation, structural factors pertain to the compatibility of the system with the organizational design (e.g., centralization, decentralization, organic), the authority hierarchy, reporting relationships and the like. ERP and CRM efforts revolve around business processes. Effective CRM must integrate and support the business processes that create customer experiences. These business processes span the organization, including the customer-facing business processes of marketing, sales, and customer service. However, back-office business processes such as accounting, purchasing, production, and logistics are also involved. The significance of this logical integration of customer related knowledge cannot be under-estimated. It poses a major challenge to organizational readiness. There has been debate regarding (1) whether to reengineer business processes prior to proceeding with an ERP initiative and (2) the degree that business processes

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

should mirror the best practices embedded in the application software. ERP literature points to the success of companies who re-engineer processes to mirror the software prior to undertaking the ERP implementation effort. It seems reasonable to assume the same applies in the realm of CRM. CRM cannot be successful unless customer information stored in the corporate knowledge bases and warehouses contains relevant data that is timely and accurate. To accomplish this requires the cooperation of a multitude of employees from sales and marketing to those involved in back-office operations. A pressing problem is that many employees who have the requisite knowledge that CRM relies upon do not directly reap the benefits, but rather only experience the cost of entering their information into the corporate knowledge bases and customer repository. 3.1.2 Planning. Planning can be defined as the state to which a high quality set of connected plans exists, involving corporate, business units, and IT. The corporate strategic plan should drive the business unit plans and IT plans. Researchers have found that IT executives who participate more in business planning believe they have a better understanding of top managements objectives than those who participate less (Lederer and Buryk 1989). Furthermore, an integrated planning process fosters communication between business and IT executives, and is important in forging a shared understanding between different functional areas within a firm. Support for the importance of connections in planning is also found in Zmud (1988) who notes that structural mechanisms (e.g., steering committees, technology transfer groups) are needed to build IT-line partnerships for the successful introduction of new technologies.

3.2 Social Dimension

3.2.1 Culture. The culture of a firm is undoubtedly central in determining its readiness to undertake a CRM initiative. Martin (1992) interprets organizational culture from one of three perspectives: integrated, differentiated, or fragmented. An integrated culture has a strongly shared consensus around values, assumptions, and behaviors. This consensus bestows upon organizational members a collective identity that guides their work attitudes and behaviors. Resistance to a new initiative can be explained by noting its inconsistency with the values and assumptions of a strong organizational culture. A differentiated culture is a collection of sub-cultures, whereby a homogenous culture exists only within each group. Conflict between stakeholders is attributed as resulting from incompatible interests. A fragmented culture is one where contradiction is all encompassing. Here, the cultural milieu is ripe with ambiguous and paradoxical symbols and behaviors. Organizational theory suggests that to the degree a firms culture is integrated and aligned with its strategic objectives, goals, and expected outcomes (Mackenzie, 1986), the culture will positively impact overall organizational performance. Various literatures advocate that an IT-enabled innovation such as CRM is most successful in an integrated culture with cooperative, collaborative and trust-based interaction, where employees are empowered, open to change and have a positive attitude toward technology, and where knowledge sharing is the norm. Successful CRM presents employees throughout an organization with a consistent, global view of the firms customers. Thus, the best-suited culture is perhaps one that promotes sharing high-quality customer information so that a rich customer knowledge repository is maintained and available to all employees. 3.2.2 Stakeholder interactions. While an organization socializes employees to assume attitudes and values consistent with its core culture, differentiation and fragmentation among various subgroups and constituencies can exist. A stakeholder is "any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the organization's objectives" (Freeman 1984: 46). Stakeholder theory views organizations as composed of sub-coalitions having disparate demands. A firm is conceptualized as a "nexus of contracts," with top managers serving as "contracting agents" who engage in relationship management with stakeholders. Adept management of stakeholders gives a firm competitive advantage: "firms that solve commitment problems efficiently will have a competitive advantage over those that do not (Jones 1995:404). This awareness is best accomplished by means of stakeholder analysis that is, identification of key stakeholders (or players) within the organization, analysis of the potential role of

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

each stakeholder relative to the CRM initiative, and development of a plan for proactive management of stakeholder relations. Because a CRM initiative crosses multiple business units and organizational segments, departmental and subgroup differentiation can breed conflict that may substantially hamper or thwart a CRM initiative. Management must acknowledge the presence of diverse social, technical, and political subsystems, as well as their diversity of goals, attitudes, and allegiances (Fuller et al., 1982). 3.2.3 Domain Knowledge. In the CRM context, shared domain knowledge refers to the knowledge that customerfacing business units have with respect to one anothers business missions, objectives and plans (Reich and Benbasat, 1996), as well as their global understanding of the firm. Similarly, it also refers to the knowledge that IT executives possess with respect to functional knowledge of business units as well as to global knowledge of the firms operations. Reich and Benbasat (1996) find shared domain knowledge to be an influential antecedent to communication and alignment (Reich and Benbasat, 2000), suggesting a need to investigate the ways in which shared domain knowledge is created.

3.3 Technological Dimension

3.3.1 CRM Application. The commercial development of CRM software, following on the heels of large-scale ERP systems, drives and enables CRM as a business strategy. Third-party CRM software packages offer a comprehensive set of technologies for managing the relationships with potential and current customers and business partners across marketing, sales, and customer service, regardless of the communication channel (Greenburg, 2001:16). Resulting from a variety of catastrophic ERP implementation failures, research on ERP systems points to the need to reduce application complexity. The likelihood of success is related to reduced project scope, complexity, and customization of the application. Defining a reasonable (i.e., smaller) system scope by phasing in software functionality over a series of sequential implementation phases is an important means of decreasing complexity. Similarly, reducing or eliminating customization of the specific functionality of CRM application software is critical to lowering risk. It is the business needs that should determine the CRM application functionality -- the scope of functions to be implemented. Firms are finding that implementing CRM functionality beginning with quick, clear-cut and profitable hits helps to insure the initial success, and thus long-term success of a CRM initiative. 3.3.2 IT Capability. Factors that have been specifically tied to the success of ERP implementations include project management (project methodology with clear

milestones, appropriate training of users and the project team) where a multi-skilled project manager possesses expertise in technical, business, and change management areas. Research indicates that a balanced team composed of experts from business units and IT, as well as thirdparty experts such as consultants and vendors is critical. An experienced, highly skilled and empowered project team is fundamental (Parr et al., 1999). Additionally, expertise in terms of comparable (e.g., size, complexity, similarity) implementations including previous attempts at CRM (e.g., departmental level applications such as sales force automation) is especially helpful. 3.3.3 Knowledge Management. A key asset and resource of an organization is the knowledge it possesses (Drucker 1993). Knowledge management is the process of managing (e.g., capturing, representing, and making available) the intelligence and expertise resident in an organization (Nonaka, 1991; Quinn et al., 1996), Tiwana 2000, Stefanou et al., in press). According to Romano (2000), companies need to explore and refine CRM knowledge management methods in order to get valueadded knowledge for themselves and their customers. To realize this value in a customer-centric context requires the integration of customer data and knowledge throughout an organization. This involves integrating business processes, front and back-office application systems, as well as on-line and off-line customer touchpoints (Tiwana 2000). Mittal (2001) states that the effort requires identifying, collecting and integrating various forms of often-disparate data into knowledge warehouses. This necessitates integration of operational, marketing, customer, and survey data, internal metrics and marketing intelligence of the industry, competitors, and customers. Data warehouse capabilities are a critical enabler of knowledge management. Data structures, standards, and models are necessary to support the requisite organization of data in the corporate knowledge repository. Fundamental to these capabilities is the technology infrastructure within a firm. The essential CRM infrastructure includes communication networks, data warehouses, computing platforms, and web servers, all of which should seamlessly work together.

4. Summary
Organizations pursue a CRM strategy for the purpose of increasing business performance and value. However, firms face a multitude of organizational challenges associated with this endeavor. To reduce their risk of failure, it was suggested that firms undertake a deep analysis of organizational readiness prior to committing to a CRM initiative. A model to assess readiness was developed based upon the premise that business value is enhanced through the alignment of complementary factors occurring along three dimensions (intellectual, social, and

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Proceedings of the 36th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences - 2003

technology). Throughout this discussion of complementary factors, states of being (i.e. properties) have been proposed as favorable, benefiting or enhancing organizational CRM readiness. These are summarized in Table 2. It is anticipated that, at a minimum, an organization can benchmark its capacity for CRM against the proposed states of the alignment model in the nine readiness categories (within each of the three dimensions). In this manner, a sort of scorecard approach can be used to assess readiness, the degree of change required to become ready, and the associated risk. However, it is anticipated that significantly more predictive power can be achieved through the refinement of this model, as, hopefully, relationships between proposed complementary factors both within and across categories and dimensions are discerned. It is anticipated that these relationships are driven by goals and held together by something akin to themes. For example, the goal of attaining a global view of the customer is of paramount importance to firms operating in the international marketplace. In this realm, one may uncover complementary relationships organized around the theme of integration. The literature points to the importance of shared knowledge in achieving this global customer view. However, to foster shared knowledge, business processes and planning functions must be integrated, disparate technologies and software platforms must be integrated, and then, of course, the organizational culture must support knowledge sharing such that stakeholders will rally behind the integration effort.

References
[1] AMR Research (2002), The CRM Application Spending Report, 2002-2004, available online at http://www.amrresearch.com/Content/view.asp?pmilli d=10494&docid=9398 [2] Barua, A. and T. Mukhopadhyay (2000). Information Technology and Business Performance: Past, Present and Future. Framing the Domains of IT Management. R. W. Zmud. Ann Arbor, Pinnaflex Educational Resources, Inc. [3] Barua, A. and A. B. Whinston (1998). "Complementarity based decision support for managing organizational design dynamics." Decision Support Systems 22: 45-58. [4] Broadbent, M. and P. Weill (1993). "Improving business and information strategy alignment: Learning from the banking industry." IBM Systems Journal 32(1): 162-179. [5] Day, G. S. (1999). The Market Driven Organization: Understanding, Attracting, and Keeping Valuable Customers, The Free Press. [6] Drucker, P.F (1993), Post Capitalist Society, HarperCollins, NY.Henderson, J. and N. Venkatraman (1990). Strategic Alignment: A model For Organizational Transformation Via Information Technology. [7] Freeman, R. E. 1984. Strategic management: A stakeholder approach, Boston: Pitman. [8] Fuller, B., Wood, K., Rapaport, T. and Dornbusch, S. 1982. The organizational context of individual efficacy, Review of Educational Research, 52, 1, 7-30. [9] Greenberg, P. CRM at the Speed of Light, Osborne: McGraw-Hill, 2001. [10] Jones, T. M. Instrumental stakeholder theory: A

5. Future Research
Currently, we are evaluating the content validity of the readiness model by conducting field interviews of multiple stakeholders in CRM initiatives from three industrial organizations. The purpose of these interviews is to (1) gather expert opinions regarding readiness factors from the practitioner community and (2) compare these with our model to insure its completeness. We will then use this model as a basis to develop (where necessary) and apply (pre-existing wherever possible) reliable and valid measures in the creation of a CRM readiness survey instrument. We intend to use this instrument to benchmark firms within a single industry in order to discern the more intricate relationships between and among readiness factors, searching for those combinations that have the greatest impact on business value and performance. Acknowledgements: This research was partially funded by a grant from SAP America, Inc.

synthesis of ethics, The Academy of Management Review, April 1995, 20, 2, 404+.
[11] Kohli, A. K. and B. J. Jaworski (1990). "Market Orientation: The construct, research propositions and managerial implications." Journal of Marketing 54(2): 1-18. [12] Kwon, T. H. and Zmud, R. W. Unifying the fragmented models of information systems implementation, from Critical Issues in Information Systems Research, Boland, Jr., R. and Hirschheim, R. (eds), John Wiley & Sons, 1987, 227-251. [13] Lederer, A. and Burky, L.B. Understanding Top Managements Objectives: A Management

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[14] Mackenzie, K.D. 1986. Organizatoinal Design: The Organizatoinal Audit and Analysis Technology, Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation. [15] Markus, L. M. and C. Tanis (2000). The Enterprise System Experience - From Adoption to Success. Framing the Domains of IT Management. R. W. Zmud. Ann Arbor, Pinnaflex Educational Resources, Inc. [16] Milgrom, P. and J. Roberts (1990). "The economics of modern manufacturing: Technology, strategy and organization." American Economic Review(June): 511-528. [17] Mittal, V. (2001), "Driving Customer Equity: How Customer Lifetime Value is Reshaping Corporate Strategy," book review, Journal of Marketing, 65, 2 (April), 107-109. [18] Nonaka, I.(1991), The knowledge-creating company, Harvard Business Review, (Nov), pp.96104. [19] Nguyen Huy, Q. (2001). "Time, Temporal Capability, and Planned Change." Academy of Management Review 26(October): 601-623. [20] Parr, A., Shanks, G., and Darke, P. Identification of necessary factors for successful implementation of ERP systems, in New Information Technologies in Organizational Process, O. L. Ngwenyama, L. D. Introna, M. D. Myers, and J. I. DeCross (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1999, 99-119. [21] Pearce. J. A.H. and Robinson, R. B. Jr. 1994. Strategic managementL Formulation, implementation and control 5th ed.), Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin. [22] Quinn, J.B., Anderson, P. and Finkelstein, S. (1996), Managing professional intellect: making the most of the best, Harvard Business Review, (March), pp.7180. [23] Reich, B. H. and I. Benbasat (1996). "Measuring the linkage between business and information technology objectives." MIS Quarterly 20(1). [24] Reich, B. H. and I. Benbasat (2000). "Factors that influence the Social Dimension of Alignment between Business and Information Technology Objectives." MIS Quarterly 24(1). [25] Rogers, E. (1983). Diffusion of Innovations. New York, Free Press.

[26] Romano, A.C. Jr (2000), Customer relations management in information systems research, Proceedings of the Americas Conference in Information Systems (AMCIS) (ed. H.M.Chung), Long Beach, CA, August 10-13, pp. 811-819. [27] Semler, S. W. (1997). "Systematic Agreement : A theory of organizational alignment." Human Resource Development Quarterly 8(1): 23-40. [28] Stefanou, C.J., Sarmaniotis, C., and Stafyla, A. CRM and customer-centric knowledge management: An empirical research, Business Process Management Journal, in press. [29] Tiwana, A. Essential Guide to Knowledge Management: The: E-Business and CRM Applications, Prentice Hall, 2000. [30] Yu, L. Successful Customer Relationship Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2001, pp. 18-19. [31] Zmud, R. W. Building Relationships Throughout the Corporate Entity, in Transforming the IT Organization: The Mission, the Framework, the Transition, J. Elam, M. Ginzberg, P. Keen and R. W. Zmud (eds.), ICIT Press, Washington, 1988, 55-82.

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Table 2. Properties of Complementary Factors expected to enhance Readiness

INTELLECTUAL DIMENSION Strategy Orientation Leadership Customer-centric; market oriented Visible commitment of top echelon Commitment of resources for employee educatoin and training; assignment of key employees throughout CRM process; money for technology and multi-year implementation effort Use the same high-level person throughout the project and dedicated him/her full-time Centralized structure to implement; CRM compatability with org'l design, authority hierarchy & reporting relationships Logical integration of customer-related knowledge; processes re-engineered to mirror CRM application 'best practices' Reward employees that bear the cost of CRM (i.e. Updating knowledge repository)

Mgmt Support Champion Structure Organizational Structure Business Processes Incentives & Rewards Planning

Corporate, Business Units, and IT Integrated, connected and established planning process SOCIAL DIMENSION Culture Perspective Integrated (shared values and behaviors), cooperative, and trust-based Attitudes Open to change, positive attitude towards technology Empowerment Employee empowerment is the norm Stakeholder Interactions Dynamics Involvement Technology experience Domain Knowledge Within business units Across business units Sharing CRM Application Scope and complexity Customization IT Capability Expertise Knowledge Management Integration Data Warehouse Infrastructure

Identification and awareness of CRM stakeholder dynamics Inclusion of stakeholders in CRM planning efforts Technologically savvy stakeholders Enhanced depth of knowledge Enhanced breadth of knowledge Willingness to share knowledge TECHNOLOGY DIMENSION Reduced functionality; phased implementation Reduced or eliminated Project management experience; balanced team of experts; experience with similar installations (e.g. ERP, SFA) Global view of customer Pre-existing data structures, standards, and models built into corporate knowledgebase Communication networks, data warehouses, computing platforms, web servers

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10