Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in hotel industry from organizational culture perspective: Case of a chain hotel in the UK

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to empirically investigate the impact of organizational culture on implementing customer relationship management (CRM) in the hotel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is conducted with a quantitative approach and a questionnaire adapted from Denison Organizational Culture Survey, and the Mendoza CRM model is the research instrument. The questionnaire was administered among 346 managers of a chain hotel in the UK. Gathered data were subjected to correlation and multiple regression analyses.

Findings

The correlation analysis demonstrates that organizational culture factors of adaptability, consistency, staff involvement and mission have a positive significant impact on CRM implementations. The multiple regression analysis further showed that though CRM implementation is highly correlated with these four factors, its successful implementation is not dependent on all of them.

Research limitations/implications

The research is conducted in the frame of a case study where a UK chain hotel is selected; therefore, the findings cannot be generalized to a larger population. This research is conducted in the context of hotel industry and the result might be different for other industries. Due to the limitation in access to all employees, only managers were selected as the sample of the study and future studies with all staff may show different results.

Practical implications

Organizational culture readiness is one of the most important requirements in CRM implementation initiatives. The results of this study will benefit hotel managers in measuring their organizational culture and improve it toward better CRM outcomes.

Originality/value

Previous studies on organizational culture and CRM with qualitative approaches have tried to highlight the role of organizational culture on CRM implementation or some have attempted to identify the organizational culture factors with potential impact on CRM implementations. However, very few of these studies have empirically investigated the impacts of organizational culture on CRM implementation, and this is the first study that empirically investigates this impact in the context of the hotel industry.

Citation

Rahimi, R. and Gunlu, E. (2016), "Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) in hotel industry from organizational culture perspective: Case of a chain hotel in the UK", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 28 No. 1, pp. 89-112. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2014-0176