From Local Information Systems to Global Customer Relationship Management

Background

Developments in information technology have radically changed the flow of information inside the company. These developments have also increased the firm’s capacity to reach and serve the global customers (Craig & Douglas, 2005). Global information systems make possible improved communication and control, better coordination and integration of operations on a global scale (Kim & Oh, 2000). It has also been argued that the growth of the “born global” firms serving niche markets worldwide has been fueled by the developments in the international information systems (Knight & Cavusgil, 2004).

CRM can be defined as a system for managing customer information, and using this information in a way to retain customers and acquire new ones so that the firm will maximize the lifetime value of the customer. The most commonly used framework for CRM was provided by Peppers and Rogers (2004) and is called the IDIC framework. This framework has a four step procedure which starts by firms Identifying potential and existing customers, Differentiating among them according to needs and value to the company, Interacting with them via two-way channels of communication and finally Customizing individualized offerings for them (Peppers & Rogers, 2004).