Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in hotel industry from organizational culture perspective

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the impact of organizational culture on implementing customer relationship management (CRM) in the hotel industry. Design/methodology/approach The research is conducted with a quantitative approach and a questionnaire adapted from Denison Organizational Culture Survey, and the Mendoza CRM model is the research instrument. The questionnaire was administered among 346 managers of a chain hotel in the UK. Gathered data were subjected to correlation and multiple regression analyses. Findings The correlation analysis demonstrates that organizational culture factors of adaptability, consistency, staff involvement and mission have a positive significant impact on CRM implementations. The multiple regression analysis further showed that though CRM implementation is highly correlated with these four factors, its successful implementation is not dependent on all of them. Research limitations/implications The research is conducted in the frame of a case study where a UK chain hotel is selected; therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population. This research is conducted in the context of hotel industry and the result might be different for other industries. Due to the limitation in access to all employees, only managers were selected as the sample of the study and future studies with all staff may show different results. Practical implications Organizational culture readiness is one of the most important requirements in CRM implementation initiatives. The results of this study will benefit hotel managers in measuring their organizational culture and improve it toward better CRM outcomes. Originality/value Previous studies on organizational culture and CRM with qualitative approaches have tried to highlight the role of organizational culture on CRM implementation or some have attempted to identify the organizational culture factors with potential impact on CRM implementations. However, very few of these studies have empirically investigated the impacts of organizational culture on CRM implementation, and this is the first study that empirically investigates this impact in the context of the hotel industry.

The Reality of the Use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) by the Employees of the Department of Social Services in the Deanship of Students Affairs at Sultan Qaboos University, the Sultanate of Oman

“…[25], and Europe e.g. [26]. Also this study is about use of Journal of Economics, Business and Management, Vol.…”

Customer relationship management research in tourism and hospitality: a state-of-the-art

“…By utilizing this approach, a company's focus switches from the value of the core product to creating more value for its customers. RM, with its customer-oriented approach, challenged the traditional marketing mix and its productionoriented approach (Gro Ènroos, 1994;Rahimi and Gunlu, 2016). The use of the term "relationship" in conjunction with "marketing" denotes more than a connection with a buyer or supplier (i.e., a transaction-based exchange); however, RM lacks a unique definition, and numerous definitions are in use (Samiee et al, 2015).…”

“…In return, CRM has a tactical approach and focuses on attracting, maintaining, and enhancing customer relationships, and is therefore more helpful as a business strategy (Sin et al, 2005;Yau et al, 2000). Although distinct from one another, the terms RM and CRM are often used interchangeably in the literature and in practice (Rahimi and Gunlu, 2016). However, there have been various attempts to define CRM as the reflection of the disciplinary approaches of marketing, management, and information technology.…”

“…Chen and Chen (2014) Looking at CRM Implementation, Sigala (2005) proposed a model for managing and integrating information and communication technology (ICT) capabilities into hotels' CRM strategies and business processes. Rahimi and Gunlu (2016) investigated the impact of organizational culture factors on implementing CRM strategies in hotels, and further tried to adapt the Mendoza et al (2007) CRM model to the hotel context. Padilla-Meléndez and Garrido-Moreno (2014) analyzed the main CRM implementation success factors based on a sample of 128 small and medium-sized hotels in Spain.…”

“…The CRM process component attempts to shift the direction of the firm toward a customer-centric approach by focusing on internal and external processes. A review of the literature suggests that there is limited number of studies focusing on the process component of CRM and the required organizational changes (Rahimi, 2017b;Rahimi and Gunlu, 2016). While Rahimi and Gunlu (2016) focused on the required organizational culture changes, other necessary aspects have been widely neglected in the literature.…”