Social Customer Relationship Management: An Architectural Exploration of the Components

Abstract

Abstract. In the recent years, social media have rapidly gained an increasing popularity. Companies have recognised this development and anticipate advantages from using social media for commercial purposes. Social customer relationship management (CRM) professionalises the use of social media and aims at integrating customers into operational procedures. This induces changes of existing structures, e.g. culture and organisation, business processes, information systems (IS), data structures, and technology. The intended transformation from CRM to social CRM is a complex task, because different aspects are affected, which also are mutually dependent. A prerequisite for the successful implementation of social CRM is understanding these aspects and its dependencies. Separation of concerns is a useful means of addressing complexity. The conglomeration of different issues is dissolved by conceptualising components and its relationships. This paper separates the concerns of social CRM using architectural perspectives and aims at building a better understanding. The research method is a literature review in which artefacts are gathered and assigned to five layers, which are business, process, integration, software, and technology. The conclusion states that social CRM is an emergent research field and comprises a call for more artefacts that concretise abstracted components of the business-layer.

Integration of Social Media Platform in Their Customer Relationship Management Process (CRMP) and Its Impact on Performance of SMEs

“…Implementing sCRM in a company is a complex task that involves different aspects (organisational, human, and technological). 40,41 Four main categories and dimensions, naming organisational, technological, human, and environment factors were identified as the factors affecting the organisation's readiness in accepting sCRM.…”

MOOCs as Supplement of Informal Education

“…Hardware units and network notes operate on the level of IT infrastructure, which covers the technology layer. All the layers are interconnected (Rosenberger, 2015). Elia and Poce (2010) argue that IT enabled architecture layers are as follows:…”

Social customer relationship management: taking advantage of Web 2.0 and Big Data technologies

“…This facilitates the opportunity to gain business-relevant insights from the data accessible from the communication among users. These electronic word-of-mouth statements are very important for organisations, because it is a way (1) to know how customers perceive their products and/or services, (2) to intensify the relationship, and (3) to align the business with consumer needs (Rosenberger 2015 ). This scenario is a new model of interaction between people, which is being transferred virally to the relationship between customer and company.…”

“…However, the development and implementation of Social CRM in a company is a complex task that involves different organisational, human and technological aspects (Bebensee et al 2011 ; Rosenberger 2015 ). In order to assist in a process of this kind, a methodology for managing the innovation and change involved in Social CRM is needed, while also reducing both the risk of failure in the implementation, as well as the time required to obtain business benefits (Crockett and Reed 2003 ; Lech 2016 ; Nguyen et al 2007 ).…”