Implementing Knowledge-Enabled CRM Strategy in a Large Company 251Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written- Codification: systematic processes for regularly capturing and distributing knowl-
edge
The personalization strategy is more focused on connecting knowledge workers
through networks, and is better suited to companies that face one-off and unique
problems that depend more on tacit knowledge and expertise than on codified knowledge.
The codification strategy is more focused on technology that enables storage, indexing,
retrieval, and reuse of knowledge after it has been extracted from a person, made
independent of person, and reused.
Objective and Structure of the Case Study
This case study aims at developing an understanding of various aspects and issues
related to the implementation of knowledge-enabled customer relationship management
(KCRM) by a telecommunications firm in a developing country. The telecommunications
company, referred to as Global Telecom (GTCOM) from now on, seeks to move from an
engineering-led organization toward a customer-centric strategy as the backdrop for
implementing the KCRM. The KCRM initiative was designed to allow GTCOM to
automate and streamline its business processes across sales and service channels. The
KCRM strategy was targeted at achieving an integrated view of customers, maintaining
long-term customer relationship, and enabling organizational transformation from prod-
uct-centric to customer-centric.
The case study starts by providing a background to the motivation for moving
toward a customer-centric organization, followed by setting the stage to the case, and
exploring the details of the case. Then, the chapter describes the current challenges
facing the organization, and ends with a discussion and conclusions.
Methodology
In order to gain an understanding of the organization as a whole and the KCRM
initiative in particular, 11 in-depth face-to-face interviews, and one in-depth telephone
interview were carried out to solicit the viewpoints of the concerned managers from
different managerial levels and business functions. In addition, appropriate organiza-
tional documents and reports were consulted.
The interviews were systemically analyzed, and the result of the interviews was
tape-recorded voice descriptions of the main aspects and issues when implementing the
KCRM initiative.
BACKGROUND
Drivers for Becoming Customer-Centric
The telecommunications sector in this developing country was in a monopolistic
position with respect to virtually all telecommunications, data transmission, and Internet
services for many years. As part of the government policy to liberalize different business
sectors, an autonomous body was established to regulate the telecommunications
sector. The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC) by the end of 2002