CRM in the public sector: towards a conceptual research framework

Customer Relationship Management has been well discussed as a holis tic concept for the private sector to start, main tain and optimize relationships to make customers more loyal /profitable – in sum to improve the relationship with the consumers. Many companies have invested into the customer driven CRM concept but research indicates varying outcomes. Recent publ ications, mainly driven by the p rivate sector rather than academia, show a rising interest about the appl ication of CRM in the public sector domain. There the term Citizen Relat ionship Management is also used. S ince CRM is a concept enabled by technology this topics is closely connected to the Digi tal Government research agenda. Long term changes to the structure and organization of the publ ic admin istration we know as of today, as well as the citizen government relat ionship are imminent and need further attention. In this paper, I rev iew the latest findings in CRM research from the private sector and connect i t to the public sector. The goal is to identify a framework for future research.