E-CRM and Managerial Discretion

Tim Coltman and Sara Dolnicar
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Tim Coltman: University of Wollongong, Australia
Sara Dolnicar: University of Wollongong, Australia

International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR), 2007, vol. 3, issue 2, 41-56

Abstract: Most sectors of industry, commerce, and government have reported variation in the performance payoff from electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM). In this paper we build on surprisingly sparse literature regarding the importance of managerial discretion to show that the heterogeneity of beliefs held by managers about e-CRM execution matter when explaining e-CRM success. Drawing on a data sample comprising 50 interviews and 293 survey responses we utilise segmentation techniques to identify significant differences in managerial beliefs and then associate these belief segments with e-CRM performance. Results indicate that (1) three distinct types of managers can be identified based on the heterogeneity of their e-CRM beliefs: mindfully optimistic, mindfully realistic, and mindfully pessimistic; (2) that there is far less homogeneity at the individual firm level than is normally assumed in the literature; (3) that het-erogeneity in managerial beliefs is systematically associated with organisational performance; and (4) these results serve to remind practitioners that e-CRM performance is dependent upon the right balance between managerial optimism and realism.

Date: 2007
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:igg:jebr00:v:3:y:2007:i:2:p:41-56

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