Cross-functional issues in the implementation of relationship marketing through customer relationship management

Abstract

There is a major change in the way companies organise themselves as firms switch from product-based to customer-based structures. A key driver of this change is the advent of Customer Relationship Management which, underpinned by information systems convergence and the development of supporting software, promises to significantly improve the implementation of Relationship Marketing principles. In this paper we explore the three main issues that can enable (or hinder) the development of Customer Relationship Management in the service sector; the organisational issues of culture and communication, management metrics and cross-functional integration — especially between marketing and information technolog