Information Systems

In this Semester, I will be joining a class taught by Dr. Ir. M. Dachyar, M.Sc. In the class he's going to teach us about how Information Systems are used by Industrial Engineering students and its practice in companies and firms. 

An information system (IS) is a system composed of people and computers that processes or interprets information. The term is also sometimes used in more restricted senses to refer to only the software used to run a computerized database or to refer to only a computer system. Information systems is an academic study of the complementary networks of hardware and software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create and also distribute data.

Any specific information system aims to support operations, management and decision making. An information system is the information and communication technology (ICT) that an organization uses, and also the way in which people interact with this technology in support of business processes.

Some authors make a clear distinction between information systems, computer systems, and business processes. Information systems typically include an ICT component but are not purely concerned with ICT, focusing instead on the end use of information technology. Information systems are also different from business processes. Information systems help to control the performance of business processes.

Information Systems have a number of different areas of work:
- IS strategy
- IS management
- IS development
- IS iteration
- IS organization

There is a wide variety of career paths in the information systems discipline. "Workers with specialized technical knowledge and strong communications skills will have the best prospects. Workers with management skills and an understanding of business practices and principles will have excellent opportunities, as companies are increasingly looking to technology to drive their revenue."

Information technology is important to the operation of contemporary businesses, it offers many employment opportunities. The information systems field includes the people in organizations who design and build information systems, the people who use those systems, and the people responsible for managing those systems. The demand for traditional IT staff such as programmers, business analysts, systems analysts, and designer is significant. Many well-paid jobs exist in areas of Information technology. At the top of the list is the chief information officer (CIO).

The CIO is the executive who is in charge of the IS function. In most organizations, the CIO works with the chief executive officer (CEO), the chief financial officer (CFO), and other senior executives. Therefore, he or she actively participates in the organization's strategic planning process.

The Antecedents of Electronic Customer Relationship Management Performance (e-CRM) in Electronic Services

Authored by :

Samsudin Wahab
Universiti Teknologi MARA, 23000 Dungun, Terengganu. 

It is very important to measure the performance of ECRM in organization. Not many researches have been done to measure the performance of ECRM in the organization. Previous researcher believe that ECRM performance should be measured ultimately in terms of customer behaviors since they are the underlying sources of value of current customers in a firm and have the potential to increase the future revenue streams associated with them and those prospective customers (Wang, Lo, Chi, & Yang, 2004). This argument is supported by Grant & Schkesinger (1995) he mentioned that the fundamental of ECRM is to ensure steady streams of revenue and maximization of customer lifetime value or customer equity. In this case, customer behaviors become strategically significant (Grant & Schkesinger, 1995).

According to Wang 2004 there are two types of benefits to be captured from establishing and maintaining customer relationship; tangible benefits and intangible benefits. Tangibly, customer will figure out a positive relationship length, relationship depth and breadth behaviors as a result of a good management of customer relationship by the firm. Intangibly, customer will figure out a positive relationship quality behavior as one of the benefits of firm customer relationship activities. The operational definition of ECRM performance in this study is “the intention of customers to figure out their positive relationship length, depth, and breadth behavior and a positive relationship quality behavior along their contacts with the firms”. In other way behavior-based ECRM performance means “the tangible and intangible benefit arises from the activities of maintaining and establishing customer relationship by a firm such as relationship length, relationship depth and breadth and relationship quality”.

ECRM is an integration of technologies and business processes use to satisfy the needs of customer during any given instruction (Bose, 2002). ECRM normally involves business process change and the introduction of new information technology, consequently effective leadership is important (Galbreath and Rogers, 1999). 

Book Review - Organizational issues and customer relationship management

Customer Relationship Management Book
Authored by : Francis Buttle
Chapter 17

In this chapter you will learn about several front-office roles in which CRM plays an important role, and how companies organize their customer interface to achieve their CRM objectives. We will examine several roles that make significant use of CRM tools: sales representative, account manager, marketing manager, market analyst, campaign manager, market manager, customer relationship manager and customer service agent.

The chapter also examines organizational structures as they relate to CRM implementations. Organizational structures serve both to enable and to constrain business outcomes. For example, it is very difficult to promote creativity in a rule-bound bureaucracy. Conversely, a bureaucracy is highly conducive to obtaining compliance to standardized business processes. Similarly, it is a struggle to become customer-centric in a functional organization where specialists report upwards within silos, but do not share customer insight horizontally across silos. Consequently, there is no single correct structure that is suitable for all organizations. What is right depends upon the strategic goals of the business and we turn to this issue later in the chapter. First we review some of the roles that use CRM tools.

Analysis of CRM programs practiced by passengers' airline industry of india and its impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty

Authored by :

Ehsan Ahadmotlaghi,
Department of Management Sci. Pune University, Pune, India

Dr. Prafulla Pawar,
Department of Management Sci. Pune University, Pune, India

Companies have changed their business strategies tremendously because of environmental changes affecting all industries recently. Focusing on customers as the main parameter in all businesses and based on shifting from product oriented to market oriented industry. As a result of this, competition has increased between the companies in the market, where each company has to work out a strong up-dated competitive strategy if they want to stay in the business (Lindbom & Jonsson, 1992). Moreover, a key driver of this change is the advent of CRM which is underpinned by information and communication technologies (Ryals & Knox, 2001). By using information and communication technology, businesses are trying to get closer to the customer so that they can create long-term relationships and gain more knowledge from and about the customers. Firms are embracing CRM as a major element of business strategy, because technological applications permit a precise segmentation, profiling and targeting of customers and competitive pressures require a customer-centric culture (Gurau, Ranchhod, &Hackney, 2003). The goal of service companies including airlines is to develop services which attract and keep customers who are satisfied, loyal and speak well of the airline (Gustafsson et al, 1999). Organizations and companies should also notice that they will be more successful if they concentrate on acquiring and sustaining a share of each customer rather than a share of the entire market (Park & Kim, 2003). Recognition of competitors as main environmental issue and considering the current competition in business world has become the main struggling field for the airlines.
CRM is an essential component of the corporate strategy of airline companies to differentiate themselves from competitors in the eyes of the customer (Boland et al., 2002). CRM is an evolving management topic which most business firms are focusing on as a competitive advantage strategy and tool (Khalifa & Liu, 2003; Ngai, 2005), and airline industries are employing this strategy to individualize their service offer, create better communicational channels with customers and ensure higher quality offer to crate satisfaction of customers as the base of loyalty.
REVIEW OF LITERATURE:
CRM:
Andrade (2003) believes CRM is based on the ability to facilitate communication and decision-making to provide consistent, high-quality, and cost-effective services to all stakeholders. Form individualized service perspective; CRM is a concept that enables an organization to tailor specific products or services to each individual customer. In the most advanced scenario, CRM may be used to create a personalized, one-to-one experience that will give the individual customer a sense of being cared for, thus opening up new marketing opportunities based on the preferences and history of the customer (Wilson, et al., 2002).
CRM is a set of business processes and overall policies designed to capture, retain and provide service to customers (Scott, 2001), or a coherent and complete set of processes and technologies for managing relationships with current and potential customers and associates of the company, using the marketing, sales and service departments, regardless of the channel of communication (Injazz and Karen, 2004). According to Swift (2001), CRM is a process designed to collect data related to customers, to grasp features of customers, and to apply those qualities in specific marketing activities. Consider the following summary from Peelen (2005) supplemented by other sources as mentioned. CRM is:

1. A comprehensive development process
   
2. Customer differentiation
   
3. Data warehousing and mining
   
4. The core business strategy
   
5. Integrated collaboration
   
6. Empowering the customer (Newell, 2003)
   
7. A total company reorientation (Buttle, 2005)
   
8. Customization in products or services (Sharp, 2003)
   
9. Building mutual value (Peele, 2005; Targetbase, 2001)
   
10. Building customer equity (Gupta and Lehman, 2005; Shaw, 2001) 
    

Critical success factors in customer relationship management implementation

Authored By: 

Kamyar kavosh
Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development University Technology Malaysia
Abu Bakar,A.H
Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development University Technology Malaysia 
Melati,A,A.
Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development University Technology Malaysia
Siti Zaleha,A.R
Faculty of Management and Human Resource Development University Technology Malaysia

Schiffman and Kanuk(2004) have explained that a successful marketing relationship is the promise and commitment of the company towards the customers’ long term satisfaction by offering values. It should also be considered that the meaningful exchange of values depends on boundary functions as well as the organization or the company as a whole. Hence, critical values of cultural orientation are vital to the successful implementation of relationships. Reichheld(1996) has explained that during the past marketing period, companies that have the ability to offer the required products and services and having advantages through productivity gains and lower costs could satisfy their customers. The reason that companies could produce massively since customers were happy with those products, but today the goal of mass marketing that focused upon selling what manufacturing produced had lost its effectiveness since more firms entered and market segmentation had changed.

Firms produce according to the customers’ expectations and due to these changes it is preferred that companies concentrate on small customer segments. Hence, close relationship with customers increased (Chatham et al., 2002)since they are not same in their wants and expectations. According to the techniques of customer relationship management, relationship marketing focuses on individual customers. The firm must also be customer centric rather than product focused. Companies that focus upon customers try to serve them in the best manner to satisfy them. It can be done by integrating marketing activities and the business process of the company. They also adopt themselves with changes; hence, they will be more flexible to respond to changes in customers’ needs (Field and Shutler, 1990, Bowen and Hedges, 1993, Conlon, 1999, Prabhaker, 2001, Flint et al., 2002, Bigné et al., 2004).In the present study the researcher is trying to identify the success factors of customer relationship management in automobile industry settings. 

Implementing an Enterprise CRM

Authored By: 

Manish Limaye 
Matt Allen 
Katherine Moffitt 

Credera

Assessing an organization’s readiness for a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution is only the first step of the process. Once an organization is ready, it must take the next step to design and implement the solution. The set of processes and technologies that support a customer-centric culture must be designed and built – keeping in mind the strategic end-goal of the organization (i.e., acquiring, cultivating, retaining, and growing customers by identifying and satisfying their needs). As you begin project efforts you will be faced with a myriad of questions that cannot be avoided if you are to ensure a successful implementation.

Executive support is crucial for success. Strong leadership with a clear vision eases the implementation of the solution, enabling project teams to procure resources, resolve issues, and drive change within the organization. How will executives drive the results of the solution? What frameworks will need to exist to enable this leadership? Who will be involved in the decision-making process, and who will ultimately be accountable for the outcomes? What operating rhythm will be established to facilitate ongoing engagement with the executives?