Employees' Affective Commitment To Change

European Journal of Marketing
Employees' affective commitment to change: The key to successful CRM

implementation
Philip Shum, Liliana Bove, Seigyoung Auh,
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to successful CRM implementation", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 42 Issue: 11/12, pp.1346-1371,
https://doi.org/10.1108/03090560810903709
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EJM
42,11/12 Employees’ affective commitment
to change
The key to successful CRM implementation
1346
Philip Shum
Department of Marketing and Management Sciences,
Received June 2006
Revised February 2007 William Paterson University, Wayne, New Jersey, USA
Accepted May 2007
Liliana Bove
Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Melbourne,
Melbourne, Australia, and
Seigyoung Auh
Yonsei School of Business, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Abstract
Purpose – Although organizational change is inevitable with customer relationship management
(CRM) implementation, very little is known about how this change affect employees, and how their
actions in turn influence the success of CRM projects. The purpose of this study is to address this void
in the current CRM literature.
Design/methodology/approach – Using an exploratory approach, 13 in-depth interviews were
conducted with bank managers and staff of three banks to provide preliminary support for the
conceptual framework.
Findings – The three banks approached their CRM projects with very different results. Two banks
achieved less success from their CRM implementation as a result of too little focus being placed on
managing CRM-induced change and people. Only one bank focused a large part of its CRM budget on
change management and the organizational factors critical to the implementation. Results
demonstrate a possible correlation between employees’ commitment to the CRM initiative and the
positive outcomes of a bank’s performance.
Research limitations/implications – This paper lays down the foundation for more thorough
studies on employees’ affective commitment to change in the CRM context. Empirical research will be
needed to verify the conceptual model presented.
Practical implications – The importance of identifying and securing employees’ affective
commitment to CRM-induced change to ensure the successful roll out of a CRM implementation is
highlighted.
Originality/value – Initial evidence is gained of the importance of employee commitment to CRM
induced change for successful CRM implementation. A total of six organizational drivers are identified
which assist in gaining employee commitment to CRM induced change.
Keywords Customer satisfaction, Job satisfaction, Banking, Change management, New Zealand
Paper type Research paper
European Journal of Marketing Introduction

Vol. 42 No. 11/12, 2008
pp. 1346-1371 The increasing number of customer relationship management (CRM) implementations
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0309-0566
in the corporate environment during the early 1990s can be traced back to earlier
DOI 10.1108/03090560810903709 package-enabled reengineering (PER) efforts such as business process reengineering
(BPR) and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Even though technology has played an Employees’
important role in popularizing and driving these PER projects, organizations have commitment to
often placed too much focus on the technology side at the expense of people-related
issues. To illustrate, a study of 105 BPR implementations revealed that successful change
projects focused more on human and organizational issues rather than the mere
application of technology (Teng et al., 1998). Indeed, the high CRM project failure rates
– anywhere from 35 to 75 percent (Zablah et al., 2004) – would strongly suggest that 1347
researchers and practitioners need to pay more attention to implementation issues.
Specifically, Boulding et al. (2005, p. 161) underscored the lack of research in the role
employees played during an implementation. They suggested, “An interesting aspect
of this special section is what is not included. Little attention is given to the role of
employees in the implementation of effective CRM activities.” They further contend
that, “Because employees are an integral part of the delivery of CRM activities, we
believe that the organizational issues relevant to CRM are a critical area that deserves a
firms’ attention” (Boulding et al., p. 161).
A typical CRM project not only includes areas traditionally covered by marketing
and sales, but also other functional areas who deal with customers either directly or
indirectly within the project scope. As a result, new processes, technology, and
information sharing procedures need to be implemented at the enterprise-level. Some of
these changes include a shift towards cross-functional processes (Rangarajan et al.,
2004), while others include the introduction of a customer-oriented culture in the
organization (Harris and Ogbonna, 2000). On top of that, change also happens at the
individual level. Employees who are involved in a CRM project need to adapt to a new
way of thinking, manifested by emotional and/or behavioral changes. Although
organizational change is inevitable with CRM implementation, very little is known
about how this change affect employees, and how their actions in turn influence the
success of CRM projects (Boulding et al., 2005). Hence, the objective and contribution of
this study is to address this void in the current CRM literature.
To further explore these people-related issues, this article studies the influence of a
set of organizational factors on employees’ commitment to change related to the
success of the implementation of CRM projects. Commitment has positive effects on
large-scale organizational change programs (e.g. Lau and Herbert, 2001; May and
Kettelhut, 1996); particularly, change originating from IT implementation. This study
focuses on two interrelated research questions. First, we investigate the importance of
employee commitment to change for successful CRM implementation. Second, we
explore what organization factors contribute to employee commitment to CRM-induced
change.
This exploratory study draws attention to the issues managers need to focus on
amid the chaotic nature of such large-scale implementation. Drawing from the change
management literature, this article begins with a discussion on deliberate
organizational change introduced through large-scale implementations (Covin and
Kilmann, 1989), such as a typical CRM project. A conceptual model is then presented
which highlights the significance of employees’ commitment to organizational change
and how this can be influenced by organizational factors grouped under the topics of:
people, process, and technology. Finally, the results of an exploratory study involving
a series of field interviews in the retail-banking sector are reported which lends some
support to the proposed conceptual framework.
EJM Background to the study
42,11/12 Using CRM Implementation as a catalyst for organizational change
Organizational change can be conceptualized at three levels: strategic, procedural,
and individual (e.g. Armenakis and Bedeian, 1999; Fedor and Herold, 2004). At the
strategic level, different change methods can be positioned on a
“deliberate-emergent” strategy continuum (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985).
1348 Deliberate strategies are “realized as intended”, while emergent ones are “realized
despite, or in the absence of, intentions” (Mintzberg and Waters, 1985, p. 257). To
illustrate, during the planning phase of a CRM project, an organization may start by
investigating the costs and benefits of implementing a CRM strategy so that it can
remain competitive in the marketplace (intended strategy). At some stage the
organization needs to determine how to move beyond the planning stage and carry
out the actual implementation. One way for organizations to reengineer its
customer-oriented operations is by using CRM package implementation as a catalyst

for change (deliberate strategy). This usually involves detailed studies of the
organization’s current state, how they compare with best practice, and how
CRM-induced organizational change helps the organization to achieve the intended
goals. The final outcome may be a more customer-oriented culture enabled by the
latest CRM technology (realized strategy).
Organizational change can also be examined as a process. Steps to move from an
organization’s current state towards a desired future state can generally be described
as a three-part process: planning change, implementing change, and managing change
(Jick, 1993). Some notable organizational change models which stress this procedural
aspect include Lewin’s (1951) “Procedure of change model” (unfreezing, changing, and
refreezing) and Nadler and Tushman’s (1989) “Principles of effective frame bending”
(envisioning, energizing, and enabling). After reviewing three models on change
management process (Kotter’s, (1995) strategic model for transforming organizations,
Jick’s (1990) ten steps for implementing change, and Garvin’s (2000) GE change model),
Mento et al. (2002) proposed a 12-step integrative framework. Figure 1 shows how
Mento et al.’s (2002) model corresponds to the more general three-part change process.
Applying this to CRM projects, the imperatives for change have arisen because the
nature of these projects demand existing processes to shift towards a more
customer-centric culture, cross-functional cooperation, and integrative technology
(Homburg et al., 2000).
The third way to look at organizational change is from an individual’s
perspective. Some scholars (Fedor and Herold, 2004; Wanberg and Banas, 2000)
have argued that past studies on organizational change have focused too much at
the macro level, such as enterprise-wide issues, while neglecting micro level issues
such as individuals’ commitment to change. At the individual level, a person can
take the role of a change strategist, change implementer, or change recipient (Kanter
et al., 1992). Change strategists are individuals who create the necessary vision to
guide the change process. They realize there is a need for change, foresee how such
change should be carried out, then gauge and communicate the likely risks and
benefits to the stakeholders. To illustrate, a CEO may try to use CRM
implementation as an enabler for cultivating a more customer-oriented culture in
the organization. Change implementers are responsible for carrying out the
day-to-day change process. For instance, managers may champion the ideas of a
Employees’
commitment to
change
1349
Figure 1.
Change process models
CRM implementation by making sure that their division understands what needs to
be accomplished to ensure a successful implementation of CRM. Concurrently
external consultants can bring in state-of-the-art tools and training to improve the
transformation process. However, it is the change recipients who represent the
largest group of people in the organization. They are the ones who are required to
adopt and adapt to change (Kanter et al., 1992).
Since people are at the core of the change process (Tetenbaum, 1998), their well
being is also at stake during organizational change (Lazarus, 1991). According to
organizational justice theory (Cobb et al., 1995), an individual will either cooperate with
or resist organizational change after considering the benefits and threats involved
(Beugré, 1998; Clarke et al., 1996; Huy, 2002). This behavior in turn plays a key role in
determining the success of a CRM project. Indeed, employees not only have to cope
with strategic and procedural changes, such as with the use of new technologies and
the application of new business processes, but they also have to deal with their
emotional state as it plays a vital role in the business transformation process (Gersick,
1991). Therefore, attitudinal and behavioral change is only possible when employees
are willing to move beyond their comfort zone and accept the change concept (Jick,
1990). Mento et al.’s (2002) Framework for Change (Figure 1, see Step 6) targets the
recipients of change themselves. As emphasized by Mento et al. (2002) more effort
EJM should be placed on reducing an individual’s resistance to change during the
42,11/12 implementation process.
Focusing on people: the role of employees’ commitment in CRM implementation

Given the espoused importance of individual commitment to organizational change
(Huy, 2002; Lazarus, 1991), there are only a handful of studies (Herscovitch and Meyer,
1350 2002; Meyer et al., 1998) which have focused on this issue. In particular, none of the
prior research has examined the role of employees’ commitment in the context of
organizational change introduced by CRM implementation.
Employee commitment has been operationalized as a three-dimensional construct
reflecting three psychological states: affective, continuance, and normative
(Herscovitch and Meyer, 2002). Employees with a strong emotional attachment to
their target exhibit higher levels of affective commitment. Employees who treasure
long-term relationships with their target have stronger continuance commitment

because moving away from the target usually involves high-perceived switching costs.
Finally, employees with strong normative commitment feel a sense of obligation or
duty to stay with the target. Meyer and Allen (1991, p. 75) explain that being
psychologically oriented, affective commitment is likely to have the greatest impact on
an employee’s “organization-relevant behavior”. Indeed, of the three dimensions of
commitment, Herscovitch and Meyer (2002) found employee affective commitment to
be associated with higher levels of support behavior.
Employees who are affectively committed to an organization are more likely to
exhibit constructive behaviors such as better work performance (Hunt et al., 1985;
Mowday et al., 1974; Nystrom, 1993; O’Reilly and Chatman, 1986; Steers, 1977), and
more positive attitudes towards change initiatives (Lau and Herbert, 2001; May and
Kettelhut, 1996). Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) further argue that employees with
strong affective commitment are willing to go the extra mile to ensure the success of a
change initiative. This becomes crucial as employees often need to deal with higher
levels of stress associated with organizational change activities (Cunningham et al.,
2002; Jones et al., 2005). Therefore, the success of a large-scale change initiative, such as
one introduced by a CRM implementation, is highly dependent on having employees
with high level of affective commitment to change (Meyer et al., 1998). Swailes (2004,
p. 187) sums it up by stating that an employee’s level of affective commitment is indeed
“a determinant in the management of change”.
However, to foster employees’ commitment, it is important for organizations to
create an environment which can sustain the chaotic conditions during organizational
change (Tetenbaum, 1998). Table I summarizes previous research on CRM success
factors; in particular, the role of commitment from all organization members has been
highlighted as a possible contributing factor to CRM implementation success. For
example, Leverick et al.’s (1998, p. 950) study examined some of the critical success
factors for implementing IT effectively in marketing. A major finding was how
respondents considered “commitment from all users” as the number one factor
contributing to the success of IT implementations in marketing. Similarly,
Shoemaker’s (2001) study demonstrated the critical role of stakeholder commitment
during an implementation. In sum, there have been a number of studies that have
advocated the need to attain greater commitment from all levels throughout the
implementation.
IT/mktg IT/mktg RM/CRM CRM CRM eCRM CRM

Leverick et al. Shoemaker Ryals and Knox Bose Reinartz and Fjermestad and Wilson et al.
Factor (1998) (2001) (2001) (2002) Chugh (2002) Romano (2003) (2002)
People
Gain commitment from all levels £ £ £ £ £ £
Have a customer-centric culture £ £ £ £
Ensure adequate training £ £ £ £ £
Process
Set and monitor performance
objectives £ £ £ £ £
Ensure cross-functional
coordination or integration £ £ £ £ £ £
Provide an organizational structure
that supports CRM initiatives £ £ £
Technology
An IT infrastructure that supports
CRM initiatives £ £ £ £ £ £ £
Employees’
research on IT/marketing
Summary of previous
change
1351
and CRM
Table I.
commitment to
EJM Organization factors which contribute to employees’ commitment to CRM-induced
42,11/12 change
There appears to be a number of organizational factors which influence employee
commitment to CRM-induced change. Ryals and Knox (2001) suggested that
organizations need to have a customer-centric culture that is supported by a
corresponding organizational structure to foster employees’ commitment. Similarly,
1352 Leverick et al.’s (1998) recommended tight inter-organizational coordination during
and after implementation and the availability of training to encourage employee
commitment. The nature of leadership has also been suggested to be a crucial
antecedent to employees’ commitment (Shoemaker, 2001).
To advance our knowledge on the aforementioned organizational factors that
impact employee commitment to CRM-induced change and identify possible others, an
exploratory research design was employed. Such an approach can be especially helpful
in generating hypotheses to be empirically tested in future studies.
Methodology
In-depth interviews were conducted with bank managers and employees from three of
the top five registered banks in New Zealand (Table II). The banking industry was
chosen because it was among the first group of organizations to implement
enterprise-wide information systems (Broadbent and Weill, 1993). To build and
maintain their relationships with customers, banks rely heavily on the use of
technology. This provides an ideal environment for implementing CRM-initiated
change (La Croix et al., 2002). The top five banks dominate the retail-banking sector;
the three banks chosen in this research have a combined market share of 37.5% in
terms of account asset value (KPMG, 2006). Therefore, it is possible to understand the
sector landscape with relatively few interviews.
Subjects were sourced from a request, which was circulated through a professional
network with members affiliated with one of the country’s top five retail banks. Of
those who replied, subjects were screened to ensure they had experienced a recent CRM
implementation and were then selected upon the basis of gender, age, organization,
Identifier Job role Bank Gender Tenure (years) Age (years)
1 Personal banker B Female 7 32

2 Manager B Male 7 35
3 Personal banker A Female 6 30
4 Personal banker A ! Ca Female ,1 28
5 Personal banker C Female 8 30
6 Personal banker B ! Ca Female ,1 30
7 Manager B Female 6 27
8 Manager B Female 5 29
10 Manager B Male 10 42
11 Manager C Male 14 45
13 Personal banker A Male 2 26
Table II.
Demographics of Note: a Denotes the respondent had started a new job (12 months or less) with another bank prior to
respondents the interview
tenure (from less than one year to over ten years), and job nature (employees who used Employees’
the CRM system and managers) to ensure some variance in the sample. Subjects were commitment to
drawn at the strategic business unit (SBU) level from each bank (Table III).
The field interviews were semi-structured with themes around the concept of CRM change
and its impact on the organization during the implementation. These interviews
ranged from 45 to 90 minutes, with most lasting for about one hour. They were
conducted at the respondents’ office or conference room. Each interview started with a 1353
grand tour question (Leech, 2002) on CRM and its application in retail banks. Within
each topic area the researcher asked and used follow up questions to explore further
details. This research technique is consistent with the “laddering” approach (Durgee,
1985). To reduce bias, all interviews were conducted by the same researcher (Strauss
and Corbin, 1998). All interviews were recorded and transcribed, and respondents were
offered copies of their own transcript and invited to comment on any part of the
material to reinforce reliability.

A total of 13 in-depth interviews were conducted before saturation of themes
occurred – that is until no new information arose from new interviews (Strauss and
Corbin, 1998). McCracken (1988) suggests that at least eight participants are needed to
generate insightful themes from in-depth interviews. The primary researcher initially
approached the transcripts in three steps. First, each interview was individually
examined to uncover how CRM was used in the bank and the respondent’s experience
during the implementation process. The second step involved searching for common
patterns or themes emerging from the interviews. The final step explored how the
identified themes were linked together.
Following this initial grouping the primary researcher systematically organized and
coded over 220 pages of interview transcripts into three broad themes:
(1) the role of employee commitment during CRM implementation;
(2) ways to quantify CRM success; and
(3) organizational conditions that supported CRM-led change.
All data coded under the latter theme was further categorized into six specific drivers
as described by those interviewed. These grouping themes were first confirmed
following discussion with the two other researchers who read the transcripts.
Following the agreed coding scheme a second researcher independently coded the
13 in-depth interviews and any discrepancies were either resolved by consensus or the
third researcher was called in.
Rank by total Total assetsa Net assetsa Number of Number of

Bank assets ($ million) ($ million) employees branches
A 2 $27,224.25 $2,115.71 5,114 195

B 4 $23,717.77 $1,388.38 3,596 121
C 5 $3,949.29 $224.35 320 5
Sector totals N/A $146,482.82 $9,230.97 24,535 1,165
Table III.
Note: a Converted to US dollars Bank characteristics as of
Source: KPMG (2006) December 2005
EJM Findings
42,11/12 Results will be presented in terms of the three main themes. Table IV includes a
summary of the frequency of the themes as they were mentioned in the different
interviews and a sample illustrative quote. However, first the profiles of the sample
banks will be presented which includes a description of the approach each bank used
for their CRM implementations, the project outcomes, and the reaction from different
1354 stakeholder groups.
Bank profiles
Bank A. Bank A is the largest operating division outside its parent company’s home
country, and it is the third largest in the country ranked by total assets. This bank had
undergone a customer service initiative at the start of 2004 and is in its third year of
implementing a program that promotes more personal relationships with its
customers.
Similar to most banks in this country, daily transactions (such as withdrawals and
deposits) are conducted through older-style mainframe systems; where tellers and
Major themes Minor themes Frequency Sample quotes (respondent ID)
The role of Commitment to 13 When the project first started it was very hard to
commitment the change get through because of all the glitches. But finally
we’ve done it because the personal bankers were
very committed (2)
There was a lot of staff that were not really
committed. They were moaning about [Bank C]’s
system (6)
Measuring CRM Sales oriented 13 The system is designed to increase sales from
success current customers (3)
User acceptance 9 The system was very difficult to use and I for one
was not looking forward to the next phase (6)
Organizational Organizational 10 The culture here emphasizes too much
factors that culture competition. I think that was partly to blame for
supported the resistance to the CRM system (6)
CRM-led change Facilitative 10 Our manager was so supportive during the
leadership project that I felt I was part of the family (1)
Cross-functional 6 I don’t think we have departments anymore.
integration Nowadays everything is revolved around the
customer, and that’s how we organize our work
tasks now (7)
Training 13 I didn’t go to training; so much of the stuff I
wasn’t familiar with (4)
Training is so important for us that it is one of
the main performance targets for the staff (10)
Communication 12 The company’s intranet was great because I
know exactly what to expect from the project (1)
Technology 9 This new version is very clever; it even suggests
Table IV. new products for us to sell. This is so much better
Summary of major and than the old days where I had to flick though a
minor themes huge binder (7)
other bank staff only have access to limited customer information. To retrieve more Employees’
detailed customer profiles employees need to launch multiple computer applications. commitment to
During late 2004 this bank implemented its first CRM application across various SBUs,
such as retail and migrant banking. The next step is to rollout a similar CRM project change
for its commercial banking division.
So far staff reaction towards this CRM program has been mixed. The biggest
complaint appears to be how little things have changed since the launch of the CRM 1355
project. For example, the new computer program is not linked to any existing systems.
Instead of a platform with true CRM capabilities, some staff described it more as a
repository with only basic customer contact details. In addition, most operations are
still paper-based and the new system has actually increased staff workload because of
double data entries into both the new CRM and existing systems. Staff remuneration
was also the lowest amongst the three banks.
Bank B. Voted the top major bank in customer satisfaction for six consecutive years,
the majority of this bank’s operations are concentrated in the two largest financial
centers in this country. This bank had achieved tremendous growth compared with the
sector average during the 2004-2005 financial year, see Table V. It is now ranked as the
fourth largest in terms of total assets. It is considered among the major banks as
having the best practice in terms of technology implementations and organizational
change management. One of its bank managers explained why:
I know that other banks have tried to imitate us, like [Bank A], and I don’t think they are
doing as well . . . we’ve already started, and building relationships takes time. So whoever
starts first is going to be a bit more advanced than the others (Bank B, Manager 7).
This bank’s CRM implementation started in 2002. At present, new functionality is
being developed and delivered every three to six months. For example, their latest
addition is the credit card application program, where the entire process can be done
online with minimal paperwork. The same has been designed for home loan
applications and has been implemented successfully across its retail banking divisions.
Many employees praise how easy it is to use the new CRM system compared with
the previous version; in particular its ability to view customer details and all
relationship information at a glance. For example, with a single bank account number,
tellers not only know what products the customer has purchased, but they can also
view the relationships that the individual has with other customers (such as family ties
and business partnerships). Suggestions for appropriate products are also provided
according to the customer’s past purchase history using data mining technology. In
Net profit after

Operating incomea Net profit after taxa tax/average net
($ million) ($ million) assets (%)
Bank 2004 2005 2004 2005 2004 2005
A $1,031.87 $1,031.26 $377.17 $373.50 1.52 1.41

B $572.67 $641.13 $193.66 $234.01 1.05 1.07
C $65.76 $64.62 $14.28 $14.91 0.37 0.39 Table V.
Bank operating income
a
Note: Converted to US dollars and profitability
Source: KPMG (2006) measures 2004-2005
EJM addition, all personal relationship managers are required to contact on a daily basis at
42,11/12 least two of their customers to conduct detailed financial analyses and planning.
Training on personal selling, relationship building, customer service, and new IT
functions are conducted on a regular basis and all employees are required to attend.
Teamwork within and across divisions is also a prerequisite for almost all of its
operations.
1356 Bank C. Although its local presence in this country is relatively small, this bank is a
subsidiary of one of the largest banking corporations in the world. Its focus in this
country is mainly on high net worth individuals, and it ranks as the fifth largest in
terms of total assets.
Operating as a subsidiary means that the majority of this bank’s decisions, such as
corporate strategies and IT implementations, are dictated by the parent organization.
Being one of the more conservative banks, its focus on IT is confined only to the
maintenance of its mainframe computer and periodic equipment upgrades. For

example, one respondent complained how she had not been allocated a personal
computer despite being in her job for more than six months; this is because most of the
bank’s operations are still paper-based. Bank C started a CRM project in early 2004 but
results to date have been mixed. The CRM platform was slow and most of the
functionality promised was not delivered in the required timeframe. Management is
hoping to rectify this in future rollouts.
During the interviews, some respondents revealed that competition among staff
was fierce, training was virtually non-existent, and morale in general was low. Many
have considered leaving the bank; some have resigned as a result. Employees in
general do not like IT rollouts because of the general negative impact on their daily
operations. A staff member sums up the aftermath of Bank C’s first stage CRM
implementation:
I will say 70 or 80 percent were not happy about it. The only people that are quite happy
about it were the management. They said this is great, this is going to increase our business,
this is going to generate some good sales . . .(Bank C, Employee 6).
Theme 1: The role of employee commitment during CRM implementation

The notion of having committed employees during CRM implementation was
mentioned by respondents as one of the most critical factors contributing to CRM
success. As an illustration, one bank manager from Bank B noted that management
could achieve buy-in from staff members more easily when they were committed to the
CRM initiative. This is because a committed employee was more likely to accept
changes despite being out of the individual’s comfort zone.
When CRM was first introduced in Bank B, many employees were skeptical and
thought it was just another system upgrade. It turned out to be a major overhaul not
only to the bank’s IT system, but also to the way it would conduct its business and
interact with customers. As a result, many employees experienced difficulties
adjusting to the new system and the changes in their work procedures. For example,
many employees from Bank B were still using and relying on the legacy system until
the bank adopted a forced phase-out approach, whereby employees were no longer
allowed access to the legacy system. To ensure compliance, performance targets were
tied to their usage of the new CRM system. As an attempt to increase the level of
commitment from employees, management also introduced a new sales culture to Employees’
complement the CRM project. For instance, regular training on selling techniques had
become mandatory for all client-facing staff. All Personal Bankers in Bank B was
commitment to
changed to Personal Relationship Manager to better reflect the nature of the job. One of change
the managers observed that staff members in his branch are now more prepared to
accept major changes put forth by the CRM implementation because they are not only
committed to the project, but they are also happier. 1357
As for the other two banks, the lack of commitment from employees during the
implementation was one of the reasons management cited as hindering the overall
success. Instead of focusing on attaining employees’ commitment to the project
through soft-selling techniques such as training and communication, these two banks
focused instead on computer hardware and CRM software. The negative feedback from
staff and senior management’s lack of confidence on the project’s benefits had led one
of the banks to initiate another CRM implementation to replace the current project.
Theme 2: Measuring CRM success

Our subjects were asked how they would define a successful CRM implementation.
Identifying indicators of success is important due to the high investment cost of a
typical CRM implementation. Hence, one would expect meeting performance
expectations to be a top priority for practitioners. Yet, many CRM implementations
lack clear and measurable performance metrics (Bull, 2003; Reinartz et al., 2004). A US
study on 160 large companies revealed that 70 percent of the executives had not
established clear performance targets for their CRM programs (BearingPoint, 2003).
This same study suggested that buy-in from stakeholders was more likely when
performance targets were communicated clearly and early in the project.
The objective most frequently mentioned by respondents was increasing sales from
existing and new customers. By providing accurate and complete information,
successful CRM enables employees to service their customers more effectively and
efficiently. A good example is how Bank B’s CRM system allows its employees to
create a new credit card application for existing customers without entering duplicate
information. In fact, by examining a customer’s past history through data mining, the
system can even suggest up-selling and cross-selling opportunities.
This new system gives us a very good platform to sell more products to our existing
customers. For example, we now have a complete history of what they bought and the system
can recommend complementary products. This is so much better because our offerings are
now much more tailored to their needs (Bank B, Employee 1).
A CRM implementation is also considered to be successful when it is accepted and
widely used among employees. For example, this bank manager explained why Bank
B’s CRM initiative was such a great success:
I think it is so successful basically because all the staff are willing to use the system and they
all know the importance of the system (Bank B, Manager 2).
However, getting employees to accept and use CRM is easier said than done. Often
employees are not informed about what to expect prior to, during, and after a CRM
implementation. Therefore, project milestones and objectives need to be communicated
early and clearly throughout the project. Without this, employees are less likely to
commit to the initiative, as observed by this bank employee:
EJM Because there was a lot of staff that was not really committed: they were moaning about
[Bank C]’s system, and I think that’s because they didn’t have . . . a vision on where they want
42,11/12 to go. In [Bank C], they don’t have measurable objectives; staff don’t know where they should
go. Different branch managers have different goals for the CRM implementation (Bank C,
Employee 6).
The above findings are consistent with what Fjermestad and Romano (2003) have
1358 identified as three benefits derived from a CRM implementation which are internal to
the organization:
(1) more effective marketing;
(2) improved customer service and support; and
(3) greater efficiency and cost reduction.
For example, data mining allows organizations to target their customers in more
specific ways to cut down wastage and reduce costs. Furthermore, interactive
technologies enable organizations to direct some of their often-expensive support
efforts to more profitable customer segments.
According to Kellen (2002), strategic outcomes of CRM implementation should also
be measured from the customer’s perspective. Despite this, only 12 percent of
companies have metrics linked to external goals (Botwinik et al., 2001). Therefore,
apart from the more internally focused measures mentioned earlier, the majority of
respondents put forward customer satisfaction and loyalty as the top two indicators of
successful CRM implementation. For example, this bank manager noted how a happy
and loyal customer ultimately means more business to the bank:
We are looking after our customers and we have to keep them happy . . . so that the business
will be retained with us (Bank B, Manager 8).
This viewed is shared by another manager from the same bank:
We got a lot of compliments from our customers, they really like banking with us. And from
what I heard about their horror stories with some other banks I think we are definitely doing
something right here (Bank B, Manager 10).
Theme 3: Organizational factors contributing to employees’ commitment to

change
The six drivers that impacted employee commitment to CRM-induced change, which
emerged from the depth interviews, are discussed next, followed by a review of the
literature to provide support for these drivers where available. These drivers are
discussed under the relevant classification of people, process or technology.
People
Organizational culture. One way to foster employees’ commitment to change within an
organization is by examining its organizational culture (Neubert and Cady, 2001).
Previous research has highlighted the significant role of organizational culture in
relation to the marketing function (Deshpandé et al., 1993). One of the more extensively
used models in marketing-related research is the “Model of Cultural Congruence”
(Cameron and Freeman, 1991). The two dimensions of this model (organic vs.
mechanistic processes, and internal maintenance vs. external positioning) form a Employees’
typology of four organizational cultures: clan, adhocracy, hierarchy and market. commitment to
According to the Model of Cultural Congruence, an organization with a dominant
culture which scores high in both organic processes and internal maintenance (i.e. change
clan-type culture), has a strategic emphasis on developing human resources and
sustaining high levels of commitment and morale. Employees who work in a clan-type
organizational culture tend to have stronger levels of affective commitment as they are 1359
allowed greater job autonomy and are more loyal to the organization (Hunt et al., 1985;
Mathieu and Zajac, 1990). This claim was supported by a study conducted in the public
sector where the level of commitment was found to be stronger when civil servants
were empowered with more autonomy and flexibility for carrying out their work
(McAdam and Donaghy, 1999). Moreover, an organizational culture that embraces
change emphasizes flexibility and provides a supportive environment (Odom et al.,
1990), which are the dominant attributes found in the clan-type culture. In other words,
teamwork is a virtue and employees value their collective inputs.
This is evident in our study: amongst the three banks, Bank B closely mirrors a
clan-type culture. Indeed, employees from Bank B felt more committed towards the
project and their future in the bank. For example, this bank manager explained how a
supportive environment helped some of his staff to overcome work-related issues:
Some of the things that help is to put them at ease . . . And these things help to reinforce them
and helping them through it. Like, hey, what have you done today? Did you get your two
referrals to a personal banker when they only got one? What we are saying to them is: what’s
not working? How would you see something different? A group of them will discuss and talk
about the problems. Like this is the issue and what do you guys think as a team? So it’s just
putting in the effort to get them to notice their role is not difficult ( Bank B, Manager 10).
McGovern and Panaro (2004) argue that this type of culture is needed to align
employees’ commitment with the desired attitudinal change initiated by CRM
implementation. With a culture that embraces change, it is a lot easier to implement
large-scale projects such as CRM implementation, as explained by this manager from
Bank B on how bank staff reacted to change at his branch:
Most people are quite adaptable to change. While there is reluctance sometimes, as they can
see that’s where the bank’s headed, it’s probably isn’t as bad when you talk through the
issues. And with the planning or whatever needs to be in place, most people usually get
behind it (Bank B, Manager 10).
Banks A and C on the other hand are closer to the market-type culture (Cameron and
Freeman, 1991), where competition among employees tended to be the norm. Although
teams do exist, the purpose is usually for competing with other divisions and they are
formed at an ad-hoc basis. This type of culture is not compatible with CRM
implementation and it can hinder CRM success. This is what happened in Bank C as a
past employee explains:
[. . .] with [Bank C] if you are doing very well you feel that it’s your secret of success, you don’t
want to share. This just doesn’t go well during the implementation. I didn’t like the culture in
[Bank C] because everyone was competing against each other. There’s no team spirit really
. . . and it has an adverse effect on the CRM program (Bank C, Employee 6).
EJM Therefore, it appears that an organizational culture that promotes too much internal
42,11/12 competition has a negative impact on its employees overall commitment. Using Bank C
as an example again, when phase one of the CRM project was rolled out, most
employees did not understand much of the functionality and were relying on
contacting the helpdesk on a regular basis. The reason: instead of training employees
for the new procedures and system, the bank introduced a new round of sales targets
1360 where employees had to compete with each other using the new system.
An organizational culture-type that values teamwork rather than internal
competition greatly increases the level of employees’ commitment towards the CRM
initiative. This echoes results from Harris and Ogbonna’s (2000) study where front-line
employees reacted more positively and became more committed to
customer-orientation change programs when they were more participative in the
decision-making process and were working in a team environment. These
characteristics mirror the dominant attributes in a clan-type culture.

Facilitative leadership. The literature suggests that due to the holistic nature of CRM
project, effective leadership is vital during the implementation process. Galbreath and
Rogers (1999) propose three key characteristics of an effective leader for CRM-induced
change. These are the ability to recognize the strategic nature of technology in CRM
project, to champion a shared vision within the organization, and to be innovative. This
view is shared by the following manager:
Leadership is absolutely critical during the implementation. If not because of [Name of Project
Leader] from the headquarters I don’t think many of the projects could be finished on time
and within budget; not to mention getting the commitment from our staff (Bank B,
Manager 10).
Employees’ commitment to change can be fostered at a more sustainable level when the
project leader acts in a facilitative role (Chonko et al., 2002; Rangarajan et al., 2004).
Barnsley et al. (1998, p. 23) explained that this is because a facilitative leader has the
potential to encourage their employees “to consider and accept change”. This view is
different from the conventional thinking where leaders are considered more in a
dictatorial rather than facilitative role (Kolzow, 1995). In other words, instead of telling
what employees should do during CRM implementation, a facilitative leader listens to
employees’ concerns and encourages group learning. Furthermore, as CRM
implementation often requires radical changes, facilitative leadership can help
employees to embrace and commit to organizational change more smoothly, such as
by clarifying the CRM vision so that full potential of the implementation can be achieved.
Since facilitative leadership encourages participation, employees become more involved
during the implementation process, therefore they are more likely to be committed to
further planned changes down the track. As summarized by this bank manager:
In our bank, [Name] is more than just the Regional Head; he encourages staff to interact with
other departments and to speak out about their concerns around project issues plus ways to
improve them. The key difference is he actually acted upon those suggestions (Bank B,
Manager 8).
Process
Cross-functional integration. Cross-functional integration is the practice where
individuals, business processes, and information from two or more, usually
separated organizational functional areas, are brought together to complete a task Employees’
(Ford and Randolph, 1992). It appears that the extent to which this is practiced in an commitment to
organization further contributes to employees’ commitment to CRM-induced change.
Past research has shown how cross-functional integrations benefit employees at the change
individual level. Studies have found that employees who perform cross-functional
activities exhibit very positive perception of their jobs and organizations (Denison et al.,
1996). In other words, employees will embrace and commit to organizational change 1361
more easily when their job involves multitasking and is cross-functional (Meyer et al.,
1998; Ostroff, 1992). Cross-functional integration also breaks down information
barriers between departments, which further boosts employees’ commitment during a
change initiative (May and Kettelhut, 1996).
Our interviews revealed that Bank B is perceived as having the best practice among
the industry in terms of customer service and CRM implementation because it had
restructured many of its functional areas around customers. Bank B had taken the
initiative to promote cross-functional integration across its various departments and
had more success with its CRM implementation:
[Bank B] implemented a really good program where we called [Initiative X], and I think they are
doing really good. [Initiative X] is when the HQ departments refer businesses back to the
branches, and branches refer businesses to the HQ departments. Where everyone gets
something out of it. And then branches and HQ staff communicate with each other and work as
a team to achieve their target. And also for the HQ departments, even though they don’t have
favored customers, they still refer to us to see how happy we are with their service because they
see us as their customers now, so they are actually working better now (Bank C, Employee 6).
Furthermore, senior managers from Bank B’s different divisions are required to have
regular meetings to discuss how the bank can be more competitive by integrating more
of its various operations. The new module incorporated in the CRM system has
simplified the home loan application workflows, and it was the result of various
cross-functional workshops with corporate/regional managers and users. This new
process proves to be a great success because employees from different divisions are
fully committed to the new changes and it reduces workload significantly. This echoes
Compton’s (2005) view where employees are more likely to commit to the project when
they understand the benefits that bring across by cross-functional activities during
CRM implementation.
In comparison, a silo mentality further hinders an already complex CRM
implementation. For example, one of the biggest complaints from users in Bank A was
how the CRM system was designed based on the bank’s reporting structure and
functional departments, rather than business workflow:
I thought the new system could simplify my work, but instead, I have to run multiple
programs just to complete a simple task (Bank A, Employee 3).
Training. Changing existing business practice with new procedures and technologies
will inevitably cause disruptions in an organization. One way to manage this change
and minimize such disruptions is to apply effective training to strengthen employees’
commitment to change (Beer et al., 1990). Extensive training not only clarifies the role
an employee would play throughout the implementation, it also sets the scene on how
to achieve organizational goals with other colleagues (Montes et al., 2003). According to
Robey et al. (2002), training helps employees overcome knowledge assimilation
EJM barriers and as a result, become more committed to change programs. A similar study
42,11/12 has shown training to be the number one factor for positive staff reactions and
commitment during large scale implementations (Lau and Herbert, 2001). In the
context of CRM implementation, having a suitable and extensive training program
helps employees to acquire operational skills. More importantly, training facilitates an
appreciation of the philosophy and goals behind the CRM initiative.
1362 In this study, bank managers and employees unanimously mentioned training as one
of the most important factors in contributing to employees’ commitment to
organizational change. In fact, one of the best practices is to schedule training on a
regular basis. For example, Bank B realized that training should not be held only
during major project milestones. Instead, managers were asked to renew their training
efforts from time to time so that employees could refresh their existing skills and learn
new ideas. This employee from Bank B summarized the importance of having good
training, especially during system trials:

[Bank B] has got a very good training system, they always give a certain period, like a trial
period. So a few branches will be doing this first and to see whether that works, whether
something has to be changed. I was in the branch and that was the trial branch. We have the
new system first, and a few of us were using it and we had the opportunity to tell them how
this works and how other doesn’t work; so that was pretty good for us (Bank B, Employee 1).
Despite its recognized importance towards employees’ commitment to change, both
Banks A and C did not provide sufficient training during their CRM rollouts. This not
only caused higher levels of stress among staff, but it also affected customer service:
In [Bank A] I didn’t go to training; so much of the stuff I wasn’t familiar with . . . So every time
even with the old system you still have to say to the customers, ‘Sorry I am new here and I’m
not too familiar with the system’, and you have to quickly phone up HQ and ask people to
help you. Like how do you create a term deposit; I mean a term deposit should be so easy but I
didn’t know how to do it . . . And I felt very stressful back then (Bank C, Manager 4).
So for [Bank C], there is no training at all. You basically got thrown on the job; you do as
you’re told. Whereas [Bank B] always have training courses to go on, and you always have
this what we called one-on-one with the manager to see how you’re progressing (Bank C,
Employee 6).
Inadequate training can have such an adverse effect on employees that led some to take
more drastic actions. For instance, the same bank manager decided to resign because of
this reason:
You don’t have any way to find help. That’s why I left [Bank C] because it’s quite frustrating
(Bank C, Employee 6).
Communication. Communicating project information ensures all stakeholders
understand the vision, the progress, and likely consequences of the intended change.
Roy et al. (1998) have found that communicating project information to employees is
paramount in most large-scale implementations because it strengthens employees’
commitment to change. Although all of the banks communicated with their staff
members throughout their CRM projects, only Bank B set out a vision on why they
wanted to implement CRM, as observed by this bank manager:
When [CRM Initiative] came in it must have been the worst vision I have heard, to be the best Employees’
bank in New Zealand. Of course after 4 or 5 years we achieved it, and we keep doing it. So it’s
like, now we set ourselves a new vision which is to be the world’s best. Again it’s a tall order commitment to
but you have to work at something (Bank B, Manager 10). change
Although somewhat simplistic as evident in Bank C, in the absence of a clear vision or
project objectives, employees were reluctant to commit to the CRM-led change
initiative, as explained by this staff member: 1363
Because there was a lot of staff that were not really committed. They were moaning about
[Bank C]’s system, and I think that’s because they didn’t have . . . like a vision where they
want to go. In [Bank C], they don’t have measurable objectives; staff don’t know where they
should go. Different branch managers have different goals for their CRM implementation
(Bank C, Employee 6).
Communications should also set the expectation for employees on what to anticipate
from the CRM project. For example, this bank manager explained how some employees
could have committed to the change earlier if their expectations were managed properly:
They were very reluctant to change. I think the general consensus was that when it first came
out people were not very happy about the system. But I guess because we couldn’t see the end
results. I mean for you to change you need to be able to see something positive. Then you will
be able to change your actions to meet the results. Hopefully it’s a happy one. But when it was
first rolled out, it was promised that the system would give you this and that. But when we
were actually doing it, it took forever to get to that fact; and so everybody hated it. The
system did get better and now we can see the benefits of using it. So if I can see it before then I
would change it sooner. It’s just that when you cannot see it you are reluctant; you are not
committed to change (Bank B, Manager 7).
Technology
Technology has been viewed as the impetus to the realization of CRM in recent years
(Bose, 2002; Ryals and Knox, 2001). In particular, an organization’s capability in
implementing and integrating IT can greatly influence the success of CRM projects.
Interconnected technology plays an important role in enhancing the implementation
process by increasing the level of connectivity (Evans and Wurster, 1997; Leverick
et al., 1998). Take the case of Bank B, where its latest home loan application module is
linked to four separate departments: branches (front-line), documentation (processing),
approvals (processing) and headquarters (reporting and auditing). The customer
benefits substantially as the entire procedure cuts down a typical loan application
processing time to less than one working day.
Internally, technology enables relevant information to be readily available throughout
the organization, in such a way that employees are well equipped with in-depth
information about the customer when they need it. Externally, technology allows
organizations to integrate the multiple touch points they have with their customers so
that the message or experience is delivered in the most consistent way (Payne and Frow,
2004; Yu, 2001). It is not uncommon for CRM packages to offer functionality that
interacts with customers through the Internet, telephones, WAP/mobile phones, and
kiosks. Therefore, the infrastructure not only provides the transactional requirements
needed for the CRM implementation, it also enables interconnections between functional
departments to facilitate cross-functional information sharing.
EJM Given the right investment in technology, employees would appreciate the value of
42,11/12 CRM through more effective use of the new system and a reduction in workload. For
example, the current CRM system in Bank B allows its staff to view customers’ profiles
at a glance: from the products they have purchased to the types of relationships they
have with other customers within the same bank (for example, marriage status, family
ties with other customers, etc.). Instantly, front-line employees have all the information
1364 on how to approach the customer to further improve their service, plus additional
cross-sell/up-sell opportunities.
Both Banks A and C missed the opportunity to implement an integrated system
during their CRM rollouts. Instead, they favored a more piecemeal approach with less
user-friendly platforms. As a result, employees at Banks A and C did not fully embrace
and commit to the CRM-led change:
I think the way that the program was set up in [Bank A] is not interlinked together . . . They
should really have to integrate together, so we must use one another when we do daily
transactions. That’s like what happened in [Bank B]. You have one platform and you can do
all the functionality, transactions etc. And then one program instead of many programs that
have all the customer profiles, information, and then you can make diary, memos (Bank B,
Manager 2).
In fact, the computer system at [Bank A] is not that advanced. So this in turn creates lots of
workload for the staff . . . If there is more advanced tools or computer systems then we can
save a lot more time. The more advanced the technology you have you can complete your
tasks quicker. The better the system you can save a lot of time, then staff will be happy and
they have a good spirit to work (Bank C, Manager 4).
Technology not only facilitates employees’ job performance (Black and Lynch, 2001),
but it also encourages active participation from employees, and reduces role ambiguity
by applying better-defined job scope (Karimi et al., 2001). These last two characteristics
in particular are often associated with stronger levels of affective commitment among
employees (Meyer and Allen, 1997). At the same time organizations should be aware of
the appropriateness of the selected CRM technology and how it aligns with the
implementation objective.
In summary, we have identified six organizational factors that influence employees’
affective commitment to change. The data from our interviews would suggest that
employee commitment is a possible important mediating variable between the
people-process-technology factors and successful CRM implementation as shown in
Figure 2.
Discussion
The results of this study highlight an under-researched area in the CRM field: how
organizations should manage and implement change during a CRM project. This
article has argued that as CRM implementations often challenge an organization’s
status quo, a change in the way an organization operates is normally required. This is
because business processes and workflows supporting most CRM packages are
designed based on best practice. One assumption for most CRM implementations is to
transform an organization’s current state so that it adheres to a desired future state,
which closely resembles the best practice. This introduces enterprise-wide
organizational change. Unfortunately, these change issues are often ignored as
Employees’
commitment to
change
1365
Figure 2.
Theoretical framework of
the role of employees’
affecting commitment to
change in CRM
implementation
evidenced in two of the banks investigated. Instead of treating CRM implementation as

a major transformation project, these two banks focused much of their efforts on
computer hardware and software.
This article presented an exploratory study on how three banks approached their
CRM projects with very different results. Two banks achieved less success from their
CRM implementation as a result of too little focus being placed on managing
CRM-induced change and people. Specifically, they failed to plan ahead and did not
anticipate the resistance from their employees. The promise offered by the project team
was not fulfilled and employees were left with an increased workload resulting in
frustration and low morale. Only one bank focused a large part of its CRM budget on
change management and the organizational factors critical to the implementation.
Such emphasis on change management meant that there were no surprises at the end
of each CRM implementation phase and very encouraging results were achieved from
CRM project. This bank has outpaced the sector growth rate and has been rated as
number one in customer satisfaction survey for the past six consecutive years.
Managing change throughout an implementation requires long-term investments on
“soft-selling”, such as training, team building exercises, and cultivating a culture that
embraces change. As change alters an individual’s current state, resistance to change is
likely. Previous research has noted that having committed employees can effectively
reduce the amount of resistance to change. In this study we specifically looked at how
employees’ affective commitment to change can be an important determinant to CRM
success. We argue that one of the critical success factors of CRM implementation is
having employees with high level of affective commitment. Results from this study
demonstrate a possible correlation between employees’ commitment to the CRM
initiative and the positive outcomes of a bank’s performance; as in the case of Bank B.
In addition, to ensure a successful CRM implementation, it is crucial for
organizations to cultivate a change-ready environment. Prior research has stressed the
importance of focusing on people-related issues in CRM implementation, yet none has
focused on specific aspects that managers need to monitor and manage. The current
EJM research bridges this gap by illustrating how this can be done, by paying more
42,11/12 attention to six organizational factors:
(1) organizational culture;
(2) facilitative leadership;
(3) cross-functional integration;
1366 (4) training, communication; and
(5) technology.
One suggestion for future CRM implementations is for the project team to perform an
audit on these factors during the early planning stage of the project. Such an assessment
begins by documenting current business processes so that current state of the
organization can be unveiled. This is accomplished by interviewing key stakeholders;
soliciting participations through user workshops and forums; and collecting company
guidelines and manuals. Once it has been documented the project team can then assess the
gap between current state and the desired future state, and formulate an implementation
strategy accordingly. This first step is so crucial that it serves as a “go/no go” test: a CRM
implementation should not be started if a mismatch cannot be resolved in time.
Limitations and directions for future research

An attempt was made in this study to identify the contextual variables thought to
influence employees’ affective commitment to change during CRM implementations.
The fact that only employees from three banks were sampled, limits the
generalizability of this study, although we believe that most of the issues uncovered
should be common among organizations from other sectors and in other countries. For
example, issues such as the lack of comprehensive training are still plaguing many
CRM projects (Rigby et al., 2002).
Another limitation is the model presented in this paper represents a static,
cross-sectional view that is somewhat limited in capturing the full dynamics of change.
To study change during a large-scale implementation requires observations at various
points of the project; this includes stages during pre-planning, planning, execution, and
post go-live. In this study we documented respondents’ accounts on their experience
only on CRM implementations. Future studies can look at how the history of previous
implementations affects current and future projects.
Future research should focus on providing further empirical support for the
proposed CRM change management model. If managers are made more aware of the
importance of gaining employee commitment to the CRM-induced change, then more
attention and resources may be directed to ensuring the relevant organizational factors
are in place or planned for as part of the costly investment in CRM. For example, an
implementation team can measure the level of employees’ commitment to change
during each stage of the implementation and at regular intervals. By continuously
checking the “pulse” of the project, management can detect potential issues much
earlier on and formulate strategies accordingly.
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About the authors

Philip Shum (PhD, University of Melbourne) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the
Christos M. Cotsakos College of Business, William Paterson University. His research interests
include customer relationship management, change management, and services marketing. He
has also directed many global consulting projects that covered various sectors including
high-tech manufacturing, aerospace and defense, professional services, energy, banking,
insurance, telecommunications, and higher education. Philip Shum is the corresponding author
and can be contacted at: ppshum@gmail.com
Liliana Bove (PhD, Monash University) is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing at The University of
Melbourne, Australia. Her research interests are in the areas of services marketing, customer
loyalty and citizenship behavior. In 2002 she was awarded the Mollie Holman Medal for best
doctoral dissertation in the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, and in
2006 she was the winner of the Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Emerging
Researcher Award. Prior to commencing her academic career, Liliana held various scientific,
marketing and management roles over a ten-year period in the chemical, airline and health
industries.
Seigyoung Auh (PhD, University of Michigan) is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at
Yonsei Business School, Yonsei University, South Korea. His research interests are in the
application of a resource-based view to marketing strategy, top management team diversity and
marketing strategy, innovation and high tech marketing, customer orientation (customer
satisfaction) and loyalty, and services and relationship marketing.
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Employees' affective commitment to change: The key to successful CRM

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European Journal of Marketing Introduction

customer-oriented operations is by using CRM package implementation as a catalyst

Focusing on people: the role of employees’ commitment in CRM implementation

long-term relationships with their target have stronger continuance commitment

IT/mktg IT/mktg RM/CRM CRM CRM eCRM CRM

in generating hypotheses to be empirically tested in future studies.

Identifier Job role Bank Gender Tenure (years) Age (years)

1 Personal banker B Female 7 32

material to reinforce reliability.

Rank by total Total assetsa Net assetsa Number of Number of

A 2 $27,224.25 $2,115.71 5,114 195

Major themes Minor themes Frequency Sample quotes (respondent ID)

Net profit after

A $1,031.87 $1,031.26 $377.17 $373.50 1.52 1.41

maintenance of its mainframe computer and periodic equipment upgrades. For

Theme 1: The role of employee commitment during CRM implementation

Theme 2: Measuring CRM success

Theme 3: Organizational factors contributing to employees’ commitment to

characteristics mirror the dominant attributes in a clan-type culture.

training, especially during system trials:

evidenced in two of the banks investigated. Instead of treating CRM implementation as

Limitations and directions for future research

About the authors

To purchase reprints of this article please e-mail: reprints@emeraldinsight.com

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