Integration of firm's resource and capability to implement enterprise CRM: A case study of a retail bank in Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o This chronological in-depth case study describes that, although the integration of functional resources and capabilities including information resource, analytical capability, and operational capability might influence retention process, those are not sufficient to bring the desired performances of acquiring and expanding customer relationships. Find-Equity Bank (a pseudonym) in this case validates that employee satisfaction must be a prerequisite of successful relationship acquisition and expansion processes, both which require employees to have more customer orientation relatively. Thus, this study emphasizes the significance of tripartite resource and capability consisting of technology, process, and people for the successful implementation of an enterprise-wide CRM strategy. The deregulation of the financial industry, the expansion of the business area of global financial institutes, and the diversification of consumers' needs for financial services brought about intense competition in the retail bank industry [31]. Such keen competition made retail banks transform their resources and capabilities from being product-or service-centered into customer-centered. As a customer-centered IT-driven strategy, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) has been increasingly adopted by corporations [4,30,31,50], including retail banks, and the firms have started to invest heavily in CRM [31,36,37]. Like Wells Fargo and Royal Bank of Canada, which are well known for their successful CRM strategies, Fine-Equity Bank in Korea is one of the big players that have implemented their enterprise-wide CRM successfully. In early 2003, Fine-Equity bank was concerned that decreasing the interest profit rate on deposit and loan and the infringing on the banking business by other industries were threatening its position. Moreover , dichotomized customer management processes caused by the merger and acquisition with Seoul Bank in 2002 were yielding customer dissatisfaction, consequently resulting in customer defections. Enterprise-wide CRM [36], enabling the integration of its resources and capabilities along with its customer needs, was deemed to be a mission-critical business strategy to ensure that Fine-Equity Bank could distinguish itself from its competitors, win over new customers, and maintain the loyalty of its existing customers. By 2008, Fine-Equity Bank was the first in profitability per customer in Korea and awarded by Euromoney as the best private bank in Korea for four consecutive years. The change was the result of an ambitious effort to redesign its entire customer management process and link people with the new practice, such that customer satisfaction was significantly increased. Fine-Equity Bank's efforts have been made up of two different phases: …