Customer Knowledge Management

Customer knowledge is one of the most important knowledge bases for an organisation. Organisations need a simple framework for integrating customer knowledge management processes. The article starts by examining the two key disciplinary and process contributions from knowledge management (KM) and customer relationship management (CRM). In the context of KM the need to integrate data, information and knowledge management, the diversity of models of knowledge management processes, and types of customer knowledge are explored. In relation to CRM, the distinction between notions of relationship marketing and the embodiment of customer relationship management in systems is surfaced, together with the recognition that CRM systems can operate at operational, analytical or collaborative levels. Recent research on customer knowledge management includes work that includes perspectives on systems, marketing and learning. A customer-centric organisation needs to articulate a model of its CKM processes that embraces knowledge for, about and from customers. This needs to inform the architecture of integrated business and organisation processes, including those processes associated with CRM and KM systems. An important aspect of this architecture is the relationship between data management, information management and knowledge management. Introduction The changing organisational environment has driven interest in organisational learning and knowledge management (KM) (Prusak, 1997). The basic economic resource is no longer capital, natural resources or labour, but is and will be knowledge (Drucker, 1993). Many studies have