Achieving Customer Knowledge Competence: Managing Customer Relationship Management Programs Strategically

One of the major challenges faced by contemporary organizations is the development of internal processes to assist organization-wide learning about a firm’s customer base. While increasingly demanding customers have prompted many firms to implement customer relationship management programs, little is known about whether and how such programs help firms achieve customer knowledge competencies to create strategic advantages. This research proposes a conceptual framework to provide guidance to firms about how to manage their customer relationship management programs to achieve strategic benefits. This framework is then validated based on a series of seven case studies with Canadian firms which have implemented customer relationship programs.