The purpose of this paper is to discuss institutional influence on customer relationship management (CRM) practices and the restructuring of portfolios during the merger of two pharmaceutical companies.
An explanatory case study from the perspective of the focal actor.
Isomorphic pressures and some organizational conditions are identified as relevant factors in the redefinition of the customer, the outcome of which is the deinstitutionalization of some CRM practices and the restructuring of customer portfolios. It is also proposed that procedural legitimacy drives the change within the network organization.
This study reported in this paper is idiographic and explores one case. Further longitudinal research is needed in order to generalize the findings.
CRM practices are contingent upon how isomorphic pressures are coped with and how the institutional arrangements are utilized during the merger.
This paper contributes to the discussion on institutional influence on CRM in network organizations.
