2.1. Concept of Customer Knowledge
Study of the KM process is important for the organization to validate the objective. Therefore, CRM process can be considered as knowledge oriented process with the characteristics of knowledge intensity and process complexity (Lin et al., 2006). For a deeper understanding of the KM processes, an attempt to express the hidden meaning of data, information and knowledge is necessary. Data mean a set of discrete and objective facts concerning events. Therefore, they can be construed as a structured record of transactions within an organization. Information is data with attributes of relevance and purpose, usually having the format of a document or visual and/or audible message. Knowledge is linked to the capacity for action. It is intuitive, therefore hard to define. It is linked to the users' values and experience, being strongly connected to model recognition, analogies and implicit rules (Joia, 2000).
Customer knowledge managers seek opportunities for connecting with their customers as equal co-creators of organizational value. This is also in stark contrast to the desire to maintain and care for an existing customer base (Gibbert et al., 2002).The literature shows that managers concentrate on how to produce expansion for the company through attain new customers and through engaging in an active and value-creating dialogue with them, and are much less concerned with customer expansion information. Furthermore, Gebert et al. (2002) maintains that CRM and KM have been gaining recently wide interest in business environment. It is an approach that is used to capture, create, and apply knowledge to make the CRM process successful (Alryalat et al., 2007).