Customer Relationship Management and Competitiveness of Commercial Banks in Kenya
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Date
2012Author
Thuo, J K
Kibera, F N
K’Obonyo, P O
Wainaina, G
Type
ArticleLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), also referred to as Relationship Marketing, is
heralded by some marketing academics and practitioners as the new paradigm of marketing.
However, despite the intense growth in the adoption of CRM practices by organizations all
over the world and the widely accepted conceptual underpinnings of CRM strategy,
conflicting opinions and increased pessimism about the effectiveness of CRM strategy
abound the marketing literature. To this effect, scholars have called for more rigorous studies
to establish the usefulness of CRM as a strategic orientation.
The general objective of this study was to develop a comprehensive conceptual framework of
the influence of CRM practices on organizational competitiveness and conduct an empirical
assessment of the framework on the commercial banks in Kenya. The study utilized a
descriptive correlational research design. A survey methodology was employed for data
collection. The study found statistically significant positive linear relationships between CRM practices
and organizational competitiveness. The study also established that the relationships between
CRM practices and marketing productivity, marketing productivity and organizational
competitiveness, organizational factors and marketing productivity and the moderating role
of organizational factors on the relationship between CRM practices and marketing
productivity were all significant. However, the relationship between organizational factors
and organizational competitiveness was found not statistically significant. The overall
conclusion of the study was that organizational competitiveness is not significantly
influenced by the mere existence of a range of organizational factors within the firm such as
age, size, and ownership structure, type of customers served, corporate reputation, and
duration of CRM implementation or even technology level. Rather, organizational
competitiveness is achieved through appropriate CRM practices and marketing productivity.
Nonetheless, organizational factors positively enhance the relationship between CRM
practices and marketing productivity thus indirectly influences organizational
competitiveness. The results of the study have significant managerial and theoretical implications.
Publisher
School of Business, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Nairob, Kenya