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A paradigm shift is observed in the last decade where transactional marketing is taken over by relationship marketing. Customer relationship management (CRM) has been an integral part of a business strategy in the current era. CRM integrates product sales, product marketing and, most importantly, customer service in a seamless manner to generate value for the organization as well as for its customers in short a win-win situation. Profoundly, CRM needs to be a part of the top management agenda and driven top-down instead of an IT initiative. Industrial revolution 4.0 is characterized by cyber-physical systems. Internet of Things (IoT) is the digital technology for the present and future. IoT primarily aids in gathering real-time data and transmitting the same over the internet to a central repository for consuming the same in business models. Real-time customer data analytics can be performed by customer-centric organizations to enhance CRM.

This study focuses on the factors that determine the readiness of hotels to implement customer relationship management (CRM) in hotels within the context of Ghana. The sample consisted of 292 employees (restaurant managers, customer service officers, customer relations' officers, and marketing managers) from 3- to 5-star hotels. The study adopted a quantitative deductive approach to collected data using cross-sectional survey, which was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings revealed that management change initiatives and culture have significant impact on organizational readiness to implement CRM in hotels, specifically Ghana. Also, the organizational culture partly mediates management change initiatives and organizational readiness to implement CRM activities. On the other hand, use of technology proved not to mediate management change initiatives and organizational readiness as the relationship proved not to be significant. Also, culture and use of technology have not mediated management change initiatives and organizational readiness as the indirect path proved not to be significant. The outcomes have useful implications for CRM adoption by hotel managers.

This chapter investigates the effect of customer orientation and CRM organization on hotel financial performance. A model of enhancing hotel financial performance through customer satisfaction practices was tested. Customer satisfaction was hypothesized to be a mediator in the relationships between customer orientation and CRM organization and the result being financial performance. The sample consisted of 54 hotels that was made up of three 5-star, fifteen 4-star, and thirty-six 3-star hotels in Ghana. A quantitative deductive approach was employed to gather data using cross-sectional survey, which was analyzed using PLS-SEM to check the validity, reliability and factor loading of the data. The findings revealed that, CRM organization enhances customer satisfaction and financial performance of hotels. Also, customer orientation showed significant positively related to customer satisfaction in the hotels. Surprisingly, the effects of CRM organization and customer orientation on financial performance through customer satisfaction were insignificant. Thus, customer satisfaction failed to mediate the effect of CRM organization and customer orientation on the financial performance of hotels. This suggests that though an effective CRM organization enhances customer satisfaction, it directly affects the financial performance of hotels. The outcomes have useful implications for CRM implementation on hotel financial performance in Ghana.

A paradigm shift was observed a couple of decades back when the relationship marketing took over the transactional marketing. Concepts such as customer lifetime value came into existence. Customer lifetime value is nothing but the aggregate income which an organisation can expect from a customer as long as the customer remains a client. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) took the centre stage as the organisations are transformed into customer-centric organisations. The implementation of CRM earmarked the collection of customer data that enabled the personalisation of products. Business use cases emerged with differential pricing models and loyalty programs contributing to the profitability of the organisations. The different types of CRM, i.e. Strategic CRM, Operational CRM, Analytical CRM and Collaborative CRM, contributed further to the organisation to generate value for the customers as well as for the organisation. Innovations in the digital technologies supported the business use cases with the help of real-time data. The usage of real-time analytics delivered unmatched customer experience resulting in a higher degree of customer satisfaction and customer retention. Customer retention as we know is directly related to the longevity of an organisation, while customer acquisition is expensive. Researchers in this chapter have attempted to unleash the importance of CRM simultaneously presenting the impact of digital technologies on CRM. Readers could be greatly benefitted from this research as practical use cases are discussed, while academicians can cascade this information further.

This research sought to determine the impact of the management of electronic customer relationships through applying 5IS model on the mental image of Umniah Mobile Network Operator Company’s customers in Amman City. To fulfill the goals of the study, the researcher adopted the descriptive, analytic method. He developed an instrument to collect the data through a questionnaire, which was distributed through the simple, random sampling method over 700 customers of Umniah Company, in the City of Amman, out of which 400 analyzable questionnaires were retrieved. The researcher further employed the convenient statistical methods applying SPSS 22 Program for data analysis. The study concluded many results such as there is statistically significant impact at the significance level (α < 0.05) for the administration of consumer relationships through the use of 5IS model on the mental image of the provided services of Umniah Mobile Network Operator Company in Amman city. In this concern, the integration component is the most influential in the mental image with the customers of Umniah Company. Therefore, the study recommended the need Umniah Telecom Company has to search for the best means to positively influence shaping the mental image of its products, especially the means through which it can provide more information about its services.

The versatility of customer relationship management (CRM) systems has kept these technologies popular over the years. These solutions have been integrated into organizations of all sizes, from large corporations to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Similarly, CRM systems have also found applications in all types of industries and business sectors. All this has been the driving force behind the proliferation of CRM solutions around the world. In this chapter, the author not only reflects on the impact and democratization of CRM systems on business management and marketing strategies but also explores how these technologies can determine the company's income. In particular, the author presents an experiment that analyzes the extent to which the volume of annual investment in CRM solutions can be used to predict annual net income in a sample of companies. Using time series analysis and applying the autoregressive integrated moving average modeling technique, the researcher examines a sample of 10 companies from different industries, and countries, over a 20-year period. The results show the efficiency of the predictive models developed in nine of the 10 companies analyzed. The findings of this study allow us to conclude that there seems to be an association between the investments made in CRM solutions and the income of the companies that invest in these technologies.

Applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) have become a crucial factor for success in modern sales organizations. This chapter investigates how Salesforce achieves scalable AI for businesses of all sizes and explores sales applications of AI and machine learning that are most common across industries. It is divided into three sections. The first section gives an introduction to AI and machine learning. The second section shows how data and automated machine learning models provide the foundation for AI applications and explains how Salesforce achieves scalable AI and machine learning for business applications. The third section demonstrates how AI applications impact the modern sales organization and the work of sales representatives. AI does not replace humans; it allows sales organizations to better engage with prospects and customers. Sales representatives using AI outperform their counterparts that rely purely on traditional methods.

The strategic management literature emphasizes the concept of business intelligence (BI) as an essential competitive tool. Yet the sustainability of the firms’ competitive advantage provided by BI capability is not well researched. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for successful BI deployment and empirically examines the association between BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage. Taking the telecommunications industry in Malaysia as a case example, the research particularly focuses on the influencing perceptions held by telecommunications decision makers and executives on factors that impact successful BI deployment. The research further investigates the relationship between successful BI deployment and sustainable competitive advantage of the telecommunications organizations. Another important aim of this study is to determine the effect of moderating factors such as organization culture, business strategy, and use of BI tools on BI deployment and the sustainability of firm’s competitive advantage.

This research uses combination of resource-based theory and diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory to examine BI success and its relationship with firm’s sustainability. The research adopts the positivist paradigm and a two-phase sequential mixed method consisting of qualitative and quantitative approaches are employed. A tentative research model is developed first based on extensive literature review. The chapter presents a qualitative field study to fine tune the initial research model. Findings from the qualitative method are also used to develop measures and instruments for the next phase of quantitative method. The study includes a survey study with sample of business analysts and decision makers in telecommunications firms and is analyzed by partial least square-based structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that some internal resources of the organizations such as BI governance and the perceptions of BI’s characteristics influence the successful deployment of BI. Organizations that practice good BI governance with strong moral and financial support from upper management have an opportunity to realize the dream of having successful BI initiatives in place. The scope of BI governance includes providing sufficient support and commitment in BI funding and implementation, laying out proper BI infrastructure and staffing and establishing a corporate-wide policy and procedures regarding BI. The perceptions about the characteristics of BI such as its relative advantage, complexity, compatibility, and observability are also significant in ensuring BI success. The most important results of this study indicated that with BI successfully deployed, executives would use the knowledge provided for their necessary actions in sustaining the organizations’ competitive advantage in terms of economics, social, and environmental issues.

This study contributes significantly to the existing literature that will assist future BI researchers especially in achieving sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, the model will help practitioners to consider the resources that they are likely to consider when deploying BI. Finally, the applications of this study can be extended through further adaptation in other industries and various geographic contexts.