Lutz M. Kolbe

KNOWLEDGE-ENABLED CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT: INTEGRATING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT AND KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS

The concepts of customer relationship management (CRM) and knowledge management (KM) both focus on allocating resources to supportive business activities in order to gain competitive advantages. CRM focuses on managing the relationship between a company and its current and prospective customer base as a key to success, while KM recognizes the knowledge available to a company as a major success factor. From a business process manager’s perspective both the CRM and KM approaches promise a positive impact on cost structures and revenue streams in return for the allocation of resources. However, investments in CRM and KM projects are not without risk, as demonstrated by many failed projects. In this paper we show that the benefit of using CRM and KM can be enhanced and the risk of failure reduced by integrating both approaches into a customer knowledge management (CKM) model. In this regard, managing relationships requires managing customer knowledge – knowledge about as well as from and for customers. In CKM, KM plays the role of a service provider, managing the four knowledge aspects: content, competence, collaboration and composition. Our findings are based on a literature analysis and six years of action research, supplemented by case studies and surveys.

Improving performance of customer‐processes with knowledge management

Purpose – Processes in customer relationship management (CRM) are classified as knowledge‐intensive processes. This paper seeks to provide a framework for knowledge management (KM) support of CRM processes and to show how this framework was applied in three action research cases.Design/methodology/approach – In a long‐term cooperation with several leading companies the authors developed a framework for customer knowledge management (CKM) and applied this framework in several action research cases. Additionally, further case studies have been conducted which support the framework. A selection of three action research cases is presented.Findings – Six core processes of CRM and four building blocks of KM to support these processes we identified. Each of these cases demonstrates the application of the framework and the implementation of the appropriate subset of CKM.Research limitations/implications – The cases support the CKM model. All cases presented here come from the financial services industry, thus the...

Customer knowledge management - improving performance of customer relationship management with knowledge management

In this paper, we illustrate the use of modern information technology to provide knowledge support to CRM processes. This knowledge support allows for performance enhancement in customer oriented business processes. We base our reasoning on an integrated customer knowledge management process model, which identifies six CRM sub-processes and four aspects of knowledge management. This integrated model aims at achieving knowledge transparency, knowledge dissemination, knowledge development and knowledge efficiency. The application of the four aspects content, competence, community and composition in specific CRM sub-processes are demonstrated in several action research cases. These cases were implemented in European companies in the financial services sector and concern the support of customer-facing processes across all channels. They validate the proposed architecture while indicating critical success factors for a successful implementation of customer knowledge management.

Mobilizing customer relationship management: A journey from strategy to system design

Purpose – The bursting of the e‐bubble affected expectations with regard to mobile initiatives and willingness to invest in them very negatively. Business managers request detailed and thorough analyses prior to engaging in mobile initiatives. The paper aims to present a method, with which mobile business can be introduced to the customer relationship management (CRM) field.Design/methodology/approach – The paper follows the design science paradigm as outlined by March and Smith, and Hevner et al.Findings – The findings provide a framework for the definition of a mobile CRM strategy derived from the corporate strategy, suggest a method for the identification and exploitation of the mobilization potential in CRM processes in line with the strategy, and provide guidance for the design of mobile information systems to support these processes.Research limitations/implications – The proposed method extends the body of available methods with a method for the introduction of mobile ISs into marketing, sales and ...

Towards a Procedural Model for Sustainable Information Systems Management

The increasing economical, ecological and social significance of information systems (IS) demands reorientation for IS management. Ever-growing energy consumption, waste streams, data amounts and performance expectations require management concepts that consider these forces. While concepts of corporate social responsibility or sustainability have been applied to other industries, IS is still lacking a theoretical and conceptional foundation. The purpose of this paper is to apply the concept of sustainability into the field of IS management. As a contribution to the ongoing discussion of “Green IT”, we provide a theoretical foundation and justification of sustainable IS management using the resource based view. Thereafter, we develop a sustainable IS management procedural model, that lines out the most important steps towards the implementation of sustainability within IS organizations. This model should provide IS managers, such as CIOs, with a framework for including sustainability in business operations.

Architecture for Customer Relationship Management Approaches in Financial Services

The majority of financial services companies in Germany and Switzerland have, with varying objectives and success, conducted customer relationship management (CRM) implementation projects. In this paper we present a framework for the analysis of CRM approaches in financial services companies. Building on previous research and using comprehensive literature research, we develop a CRM reference architecture that focuses on the process and system level for the description and classification of CRM approaches in companies. Moreover, we analyze three CRM case studies in Swiss and German financial services companies and derive different types of CRM approaches in the financial services industry: Customer Satisfaction Management, Customer Contact Management, and Customer Profitability Management. We describe each type in accordance with the CRM architecture and a case example.

IT-Governance Begriff, Status quo und Bedeutung

Da in der Unternehmenspraxis zuneh-mend Gescha¨ftsprozesse durch Informa-tionstechnologie (IT) unterstu¨tzt oderu¨berhaupt erst mo¨glich werden, haben IT-Entscheidungen typischerweise unterneh-mensweite Bedeutung. Die Prozessorien-tierung und das versta¨rkte Outsourcingvon IT-Funktionen erfordern innerhalbund zwischen Unternehmen Integrations-und Koordinationstechnologien und -mas-nahmen. Dies fu¨hrt unter anderem zu einergrosen Anzahl an Kommunikationsbezie-hungen und ist Ursache fu¨r Schnittstellen-probleme und Intransparenz. Das Konzeptder IT-Governance, das als IT-bezogeneSpezialisierung der unter dem Begriff Cor-porate Governance zusammengefasstenVorschla¨ge und Konzepte angesehen wer-den kann, greift diese Problematik auf undversucht, Lo¨sungsansa¨tze zu liefern. DerBeitrag entha¨lt Begriffsdefinitionen zur IT-Governance, zeigt die relevanten Rahmen-bedingungen und Entwicklungen auf undbeschreibt anhand des COBIT-Referenz-modells (Control Objectives for Informa-tion and Related Technology) den aktuellenForschungsstand. Ein Schwerpunkt liegtdabei in der Herausarbeitung des Neuig-keitswertes des Ansatzes gegenu¨ber be-kannten Konzepten des Informations-managements.

Impact of IT Service Management Frameworks on the IT Organization An Empirical Study on Benefits, Challenges, and Processes

Over 90 percent of companies are estimated to use IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks, yet there is little research on their benefits to the Information Technology (IT) department and the business units. An international survey of 491 firms was conducted to assess the benefits of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the de-facto ITSM framework, specifically on how these benefits evolve as companies increase their adoption of the ITIL model. Also studied are the perception of challenges of the implementation and the number of ITIL processes implemented in relation to the progress of the adoption of ITIL. Results indicate that as the maturity of implementation increases, the perception of challenges decreases. Findings also show that as the maturity of implementation increases, the number of realized benefits increases, as well as the number of implemented ITIL processes. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.

Integration of customer relationship management: status quo and implications for research and practice

This paper assesses the state‐of‐the‐art research on CRM integration. After introducing the concepts of customer relationship management (CRM) and integration, it argues that CRM integration is vital to corporate performance on the project or enterprise level. Based on results of own and third‐party market studies as well as on a systematic literature review of selected papers in top journals spanning five disciplines, it shows that research has mainly been confined to the specifics of those domains. Interestingly, applicable theories of the firm are not widely employed as a foundation from which to explain CRM integration. This paper identifies research gaps for researchers and practitioners alike and suggests areas that need further consideration in future.

Uncovering ITIL claims: IT executives' perception on benefits and Business-IT alignment

Over 45% of companies are estimated to use IT Service Management (ITSM) frameworks, yet, these frameworks can be imitated and hence the competitive advantage gained from these will quickly become obsolete. Therefore, research on the benefits of ITSM must focus on both operational and strategic benefits. An international survey of 441 firms was conducted to examine the benefits that IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), the de-facto ITSM framework, provided to the IT organizations. The research focused on how (1) operational benefits, and, (2) strategic positioning of the IT organizations, specifically how the perceived level of Business-IT alignment maturity evolved as the adoption of ITIL increased. Results indicate that as the adoption of ITIL increased, the number of realized operational benefits increased, as well as the levels of maturity of the Business-IT alignment. This indicates that the further the implementation of ITIL the greater the operational and strategic benefits to the organization. Implications for practitioners and researchers are also discussed.