Research Objectives and Questions

The central research question for this study is:

Why and how do CRM initiatives succeed or fail?
The above question is pivotal because the results of research in this success/failure area
will contribute to the building of thriving customer relationships, thereby contributing
substantially to corporate survival.
In order to obtain topical and valid answers to the above question, the researcher decided
to divide it into four subsidiary questions, the sum of which would constitute the crux of
the question above. These are:
RQ1: What are the critical success factors of CRM initiatives?
RQ2: What are the common difficulties when adopting a CRM initiative?
RQ3: What does CRM mean for different organizations?
RQ4: Is CRM the right solution for every organization?


The aim is to explore multiple comparative case studies in both Saudi Arabia and the UK.
The scope of this research was affected by the differing levels of cooperation received
from the organizations which participated in the case studies, thereby resulting in
differing sizes of the said case studies. The decision to conduct the study in Saudi Arabia
and the UK proved to be beneficial for the purpose of the study. The study led to some
interesting results on the cultural differences identified and their impact on respective
CRM maturities.

The research context for this study focuses on organizations in the Financial, Automotive
and Airline industries, based in the UK and Saudi Arabia. The defining of CRM
technology is a complex task which could involve, in principle, study of different types
of information technologies (ranging from spreadsheets used for data mining to branded
CRM application software). Therefore, for the purpose of this study, CRM technology
was defined as a multiple range of information technologies which enables customer
relationship management (not only the expensive branded software used). This approach
helped minimize errors of exclusion, such as the ignoring of organizations using different
levels of information technologies along with the application of CRM concepts. It was
important in this study to minimize the error of exclusion because the key construct
concern was adoption rather than assimilation. Since the key question was to find out
how and why CRM initiatives succeed or fail in different organizations, this approach to
sample construction proved effective.
After a thorough literature review of the available CRM management models, the
researcher proposed a conceptual CRM model adopted from Buttle’s value chain model
(2004). This model provides a holistic view of the CRM landscape and represents two
main sequential phases of CRM strategy: analysis and implementation. In the model there
also are five supporting conditions that are essential for a successful CRM initiative:
• Service Quality
• Senior management support and leadership
• Technology7
• People
• Knowledge management.
The adopted CRM conceptual model was used to evaluate the level of CRM maturity in
the organizations studied. After completion of this process, the researcher saw the need to
alter the CRM model based on the findings. This model is believed to be a significant
contribution to the theory and field of CRM. This model could be used by organizations
to evaluate their CRM initiatives and assess their CRM readiness and status. The
proposed CRM model specifies the basic parameters of the CRM sequential stages and
their essential supporting conditions. It can assist researchers in concentrating their
efforts on a specific research area whilst simultaneously having a global view of the
development process. Additionally, CRM can assist organizations in detecting
problematic areas in their current customer-based strategy and motivate them to improve
it. Another important contribution of the study is that it identifies and highlights the
potential effects of the cultural disparities existing between Saudi Arabia and the UK on
CRM initiatives yet to be undertaken in both countries.