Unleashing the Power of mCRM: Investigating Antecedents of Mobile CRM Values from Managers’ Viewpoint

ABSTRACT

Mobile technology together with Internet-based electronic commerce has transformed the way businesses operate. Mobile Customer Relationship Management (mCRM) combines mobility and CRM (customer relationship management) to enable organizations to increase their business performance by delivering better products/services to their customers. Incorporating location-based information into CRM systems has created new values and business opportunities. Using location information, for example, businesses can offer more personalized and real-time location-based services (LBS) to their customers. In this study, we investigate how the IT infrastructure and LBS support of mCRM, as technical resource capabilities, and mCRM knowledge and education, as human resource capabilities, can enhance business performance of the organization by improving mCRM’s quality dimensions. We propose a research model that integrates the resource-based view (RBV) of a firm and DeLone and McLean IS success model to investigate the effects of mCRM quality dimensions on business performance. To validate the proposed research model, we collected a set of empirical data from managers in a wide range of organizations that use mCRM in South Korea. The results indicate that the IT infrastructure of an organization as a technical resource, along with mCRM users’ knowledge, as a human resource capability can significantly influence managers’ perceptions of quality along various dimensions of mCRM: customer data quality, system quality, and service quality. Consequently, improving these quality dimensions will significantly influence the performance of an organization in terms of financial performance, productivity, and customer satisfaction. The present study would help both academic and professionals to understand and improve business performance by employing the appropriate resources that can harness the full potential of mCRM.

Notes

¹ Although data and information are conceptually different, this study uses them interchangeably as both are organizations resources.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Arash Negahban

Arash Negahban is an assistant professor of information systems at California State University, Chico. He received his PhD in information systems from University of North Texas. His research interests include information security and privacy, Big Data analytics, mobile technology, e-commerce, social networking, and societal aspects of technology.

Dan J. Kim

Dan J. Kim is a professor of Information Technology and Decision Sciences at University of North Texas. His research interests are in multidisciplinary areas such as information security (InfoSec) and privacy, information assurance, and trust in electronic commerce. His research has been published or in forthcoming more than 120 papers in refereed journals including ISR, JMIS, JAIS, CACM, DSS and others.

Changsu Kim

Changsu Kim is a professor at the School of Business, Yeungnam University in Korea. He received his PhD in Information Systems from London School of Economics (LSE) in the UK. His research interests include digital business and IT-based entrepreneurship.