From the outset, this book examining CRM systems and processes within an Industrial Organizational setting, offers considerable promise. The purpose is stated with considerable clarity up-front, with a refreshing honesty regarding the development and implementation of CRM systems within such contexts. Specifically, the book does not try to present a unilaterally positive picture of CRM systems within organizations, but rather seeks to specify both the strengths and weaknesses of such tools. The thesis is that while CRM may be a valuable, its effectiveness will be contextually dependent on other resources present, and, “the effects of CRM will depend on a blurred and complex set of technical and social mechanisms for interaction” (p. 3). This intuitive, but not always obvious reality would seem to be key in understanding why a given CRM system might be remarkable within one setting and yet marginal in another. Moreover, such insights lead to an enhanced understanding of what needs to be done to promote the optimality of a CRM system within a given context. The book also provides a holistic consideration of the use of systems, ranging from their development and implementation through to ongoing issues of use. As the authors point out, this enables both a consideration of within-firm (i.e. intra-organizational) dynamics, as well as the management of inter-organizational relationships.
The book commences by examining CRM systems within an industrial context, detailing the complexities of relationships and associated networks, as well as dimensions of these relationships that may shift. As presented, the relationship between two organizations evolves as a function of activities, resources and actors existing over time. These elements, in turn, may then be mobilized to achieve different functions of the relationship. The complexity, dynamics and management of business relationships are also considered.
Prior to getting into the details of IT systems as they relate to CRM, the authors wisely classify different elements of IT systems, thereby enhancing the accessibility of the material to audiences outside of the IT realm per se. From there, efforts are made to examine elements that will enhance the likelihood that a system will be embedded in an organization and the consequential impacts that such a system may have within such an environment. Expanding from this IT perspective, the general concept of a CRM system is developed, “as a set of IT solutions applied to marketing actions” (p. 57). A considerable review of the CRM literature is then given, with the provision of an informative discussion regarding the range of definitions regarding CRM systems from a spectrum of different academic perspectives (e.g. IT vs Strategy).
Following the grounding of what constitutes a CRM system and the nature of relationships in general, the book develops a real heartbeat as it starts to consider the CRM as a tool that serves to interact with its users. While this might seem to play up the concept too much, this is where the material began to take on considerable meaning. CRM systems exist for a reason. They have a purpose. Ideally they enhance the understanding that different units of an organization may have of each other and provide greater context to decisions made within a company (i.e. paring back the myopia that may otherwise exist). They also develop and strengthen relationships between the customer and the organization. On the one hand, to recognize the centrality of relationships within a Customer Relationship Management System might seem rather unsurprising. To develop it though serves to breathe life into otherwise technical systems and further promote the premise of the book.
Make no mistake, this is an academic work. With research broadly sourced from marketing, strategy, operations and information systems research, the material makes pains to approach the topic from a broad and inclusive perspective. While this may impede the flow for some, the general writing style is remarkably fluid and easy to process. The authors are to be commended for this – they have managed to take what could have been dense and tedious and managed to extract points of theoretical and managerial significance in all of their discussions of the literature.
The theoretical grounding of this academic work is augmented very nicely by an action research approach, whereby primary research was conducted in situ for a period of three years. Indeed, following theoretical development in Chapters 1 through 5, Chapters 6 through 9 provide an application of the principles within an actual applied setting. This case analysis of Locconi Group, an Italian producer of testing equipment for the automotive and appliance components, provides a context for the application of the key concepts advanced in previous chapters: the adoption and use of a CRM system, intra- and inter-organizational relations. Through this application, the contextual realities implied by theory become remarkably clear.
