Title: CRM systems
: A Learning Perspective on How Organisations Manage to Understand the Customer
Abstract: For any
business, knowledge about customers and knowledge about how to manage relations
to the customers are essential. The relatively recent introduction of so-called
Customer Relationship Management (CRM) information systems reflects this
need. This paper tells the story of how Vattenfall, a Swedish, state-run
utility company, decided to invest in CRM systems, how their picture of their
strategic situation demanded investments, how they have selected and configured
their system, and what sort of effects they anticipate and organise to achieve.
With theories from the field of organizational learning and strategy theory,
this paper explores consequences of implementing a CRM system. We found that
factors related to the organizational context, the institutional environment,
strategic intentions and the knowledge base are of vital importance in explaining
CRM success and failure.