108 Int. J. Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Vol. 12, No.

2, 2019

Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge

management to improve business performance of
banks: considering the role of electronic customer
relationship management

Abbas Ali Rastgar, Ebrahim Esmaili*,

Reihaneh Naderi and Amin Hemmati
Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative Sciences,
Semnan University,
Semnan, Iran
Email: a_rastgar@semnan.ac.ir
Email: e.esmaili@staff.semnan.ac.ir
Email: r.naderi@semnan.ac.ir
Email: amin.hemmati@staff.semnan.ac.ir
*Corresponding author

Abstract: All companies need to create a better and more powerful customer
knowledge management for improving customer satisfaction and business
performance. A number of studies have examined the positive effects that
customer knowledge management may have on business performance, and
the positive effects that customer relationship management may have on
business performance. But the main objective of this study is to evaluate the
role of electronic customer relationship management on relationship between
customer knowledge management and business performance. The research
population is Mellat Bank’s clients in Tehran. For data analysis, structural
equation modelling is used. The results showed that customer knowledge
management and electronic customer relationship management are affecting
direct factors on business performance. Also, there is indirect effect between
customer knowledge management and business performance through electronic
customer relationship management. On the other hand, both analytical and
operational customer relationship management have effect on business
performance.

Keywords: customer knowledge management; electronic customer relationship

management; e-CRM; business performance.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Rastgar, A.A.,

Esmaili, E., Naderi, R. and Hemmati, A. (2019) ‘Clarifying the effect of
customer knowledge management to improve business performance of banks:
considering the role of electronic customer relationship management’, Int. J.
Electronic Customer Relationship Management, Vol. 12, No. 2, pp.108–123.

Biographical notes: Abbas Ali Rastgar completed his PhD in Organisational

Behaviour Management from the Tehran University. He is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Management, Faculty of Economics,
Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University. His research
interests are in organisational spirituality, human resource management and
principle philosophy of management theories.

Copyright © 2019 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 109

Ebrahim Esmaili completed his PhD in IT Management from the UTM. He is a

Sessional Lecturer in the Department of Management, Faculty of Economics,
Management and Administrative Sciences, Semnan University. He has
authored several publications in the field of IT management.

Reihaneh Naderi received her MSc in Industrial Management from the Shahid
Beheshti University, Iran. She is currently a PhD candidate at the Department
of Industrial Management in Semnan University, Iran. She has authored several
publications in the field of Industrial management.

Amin Hemmati obtained his Master’s in Marketing Management. He is

currently a staff of Faculty of Economics, Management and Administrative
Sciences in Semnan University, Semnan, Iran.

1 Introduction

Due to attention to the existing competitive environment and the need for successful
business performance, financial institutions and banks should be able to increase their
flexibility to quickly meet the needs of customers; and previous research has proven that
successful business performance in banking institutions requires the establishment of
successful electronic communications with customers. The growing competition in global
markets leads organisations to focus more on customer relationships and organisations
are seeking to use customer relationship management to gain competitive advantage and
profitability.
Since all customers are not of the same importance; therefore, in order to identify
the most important customers strategically, we need to classify them (Tseng, 2016).
Important factors for customer service improvement are the identification and customer
abjuration reasons as well as methods to prevent this abjuration which requires
knowledge about customer preferences and their behaviour patterns; that customer’s
knowledge has led to many improvements in the presentation of new products or
services, improved customer service, customer reverence and customer satisfaction, the
discovery of customer’s serious needs and value to the customer (Hari and Mahdavi,
2015). The ability of organisations to create customer knowledge management is based
on their capabilities to transform knowledge from different sources; while customer
relationship management for knowledge about costumer emphasises the management of
customer interactions, a knowledge management system can create, organise, and apply
that knowledge thereby creating value and improving organisational performance
(Navimipour and Zareie, 2015). According to Bose and Sugumaran (2003), the success of
customer relationship management in a business environment is only possible when
created by integrated KM customers. And in fact, the services provided to customers will
suit their tastes. In this case, the institutions will be able to achieve their missions and
organisational perspectives and functionally are at the optimum level. Otherwise, banks
will lose their position if they do not pay attention to the knowledge gained from
customers and will not have a proper function. Accordingly, this article intends to
examine the role and importance of customer knowledge management with emphasis
on the role of electronic customer relationship management (e-CRM) on the business
performance of Mellat Bank.
110 A.A. Rastgar et al.

2 Research background

2.1 Customer knowledge management

Customer knowledge management is one of the topics that have received a lot of
attention in the recent years, this consideration is due to the numerous advantages and
benefits that customer knowledge management can have which has attracted attention to
this issue (Esmaeilpour et al., 2016). Knowledge management is a process in which an
organisation generates wealth from its knowledge or intellectual capital (Nonaka and
Takeuchi, 1995). Capacity absorption can be considered as the ability of an organisation
to recognise the value of new information from external sources, to simulate and apply it
for commercial purposes. From the point of view of dynamic capability, organisations
are the knowledge institutions that operate in the form of knowledge processes (Dalkir,
2013).
Customer knowledge is a dynamic combination of experience, value, information and
expert views which is needed for interaction and exchange between customers and
companies. Customer knowledge enables organisations to gain valuable advantages and
benefits to better serve their competitors (Sharkie, 2003). In Zanjani et al. (2008) model,
customer knowledge was identified, and customers became powerful knowledge partners.
Gibbert et al. (2002) argued that using integrated customer relationship management
and knowledge management systems could increase existing benefits and reduce risk.
Customer relationship management requires knowledge management for and about the
customer.
Studies have shown that knowledge management and customer relationship
management have a very high potential for synergy and should be combined to improve
performance (Yeh, 2014).
Customer knowledge management involves receiving customer data, processing
customer data and developing customer knowledge. The data is received from the
customer and then the storage, coding and processing steps are performed on these data,
and then are developed and used in appropriate situation. So, one can say that it is similar
to the same components of knowledge management, namely, attracting, sharing and
storing knowledge that is specifically related to the customer. Zahra and George (2002)
consider absorption capacity as a set of processes and organisational processes in which
an organisation acquires, simulates, transmits and extracts knowledge to create its own
dynamism which relates to the creation and utilisation of knowledge and enhances the
organisation’s ability to achieve and maintain competitive advantage (Minbaeva et al.,
2003). Public sector employees often see knowledge management as a managerial
responsibility. Knowledge organisation is essential to transfer and exchange knowledge.
Organisation to store, record and hold knowledge in a form or framework that preserves
the continuity of its components and is capable of being retrieved and used by employees.
In fact, the organisation of knowledge is the necessary background for the exchange of
knowledge; in other words, it stores and records knowledge in the ability to transfer and
exchange it. Emphasising tacit knowledge is the main distinction of previous generations
of management information systems with its new generation (knowledge management),
in fact, the management of knowledge is the latest and most evolved version of
information processing. Customer knowledge management is a vital asset. Acquiring,
managing and sharing customer knowledge can be a valuable competitive activity for
organisations.
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 111

2.2 Electronic customer relationship management

Customer relationship management as a process of customer monitoring (like collecting
their appropriate data) is the management and evaluation of data and ultimately the
creation of the competitive advantage of the information extracted in the interaction with
them and defined as an interactive process which gains an optimum balance between
enterprise investment and customer satisfaction to maximise profits. With the expansion
of e-commerce, more opportunities have been created to communicate more easily and
more appropriately with the customer, and a new way of communicating with the
customer has been formed as ‘e-communications management with the customer’.
In fact, customer relationship management can be seen as something between
customer relationship management and e-business (Navimipour and Soltani, 2015).
When all components of the customer relationship management system are
network-based, customer relationship management becomes the management of
communication with the e-customer. E-CRM, internet usage and the uses of IT
applications are used to manage customer relationships. E-CRM increases the
relationship between the company and its customers by creating and enhancing
customer-related communication through new technology. The e-CRM software creates
profiles and history of any organisation-to-customer contact. E-CRM is a combination of
hardware, software, applications and managerial responsibilities. Customer relationship
management encompasses four key steps in attracting, retaining, developing and
differentiating the customer, and everyone knows that customer retention is the most
important element in this (Ziyae et al., 2015).
E-CRM is the result of one of the fundamental changes in business beliefs and
paradigms which is the approach of organisations to the mass and general relationships
with different groups of customers to their individual and virtual relationships with them
through information and communication technology. Dyche (2001) pointed out two main
types of e-CRM exist: operational and analytical (Fjermestad and Romano, 2003). The
operational one which includes customer contact centres such as telephone, fax and
e-mail that clients are contacted through this way, and also includes marketing and sales
by special groups. An analytical e-CRM needs technology to provide a large amount of
customer information. The purpose of this section is to analyse customer data, purchase
patterns and other important factors that create new business opportunities. E-CRM does
not only include software and technology, but also includes business processes based on
customer-centric strategy supported by various software and technologies (Motameni
et al., 2016).

2.3 Business performance

The concept of performance is widely used in management areas. Despite its widespread
use, the exact meaning of it is rarely defined. In business activities, business performance
is defined as a measure of achieving organisational goals related to profitability, growth
in sales and market share, as well as meeting corporate goals and strategies of the
business as a whole (Madsen and Desai, 2010). The organisation’s performance can be
determined in relation to the achievement of strategic business goals. Kaplan and Norton
(1992) examined the main variables used in organisations in four general financial
perspectives, customers, internal processes, and growth and learning. From these
112 A.A. Rastgar et al.

four perspectives, the variables used to measure business strategy performance are
presented in Table 1.
Table 1 Main variables of performance measurement

Viewpoint Variables
Financial Return on investment, economic value added
Customers Satisfaction, customer loyalty, market share and accounts
Internal process Quality, response time, cost, introducing new product
Growth and learning Employee’s satisfaction, existence of information systems
Source: Kaplan and Norton (1992)
In debates on entrepreneurial and small businesses, there are other variables besides the
general variables of business performance.
Variables such as efficiency, growth, profitability, liquidity, market share, and
financial leverage as the determinants of business performance are mentioned. Koh et al.
(1995) measure the performance in two dimensions. Operational performance and
organisational performance, which operational performance refers to the company’s
internal performance in terms of cost, waste reduction, product quality improvement and
productivity improvement. In addition, organisational performance is measurable through
financial metrics such as profit, income, profit/income ratio and return on investment, and
non-monetary measures such as investing in R&D and development of new products.
A lot of research has been done to measure the performance of small and medium
businesses.
In most previous studies, variables such as employment rate, output innovation and
economic outcomes have been used. Lindelöf and Löfsten (2003), in their studies used
variables for job growth, sales growth and profitability to examine the impact of science
and technology park on the performance of deployed companies. Gunday et al. (2011)
has searched the relationship between the performance of innovative activities and the
firm’s performance. In this research, to evaluate the innovative activities performance of
variables such as the ability to introduce new products into the market before competitors
and the number of innovations in the form of intellectual property registration has been
used.

3 Summary of literature review

Tseng (2009), in his research pointed out that customer knowledge management creates
new knowledge sharing processes between the company and the customer. In addition,
it defines opportunities for employees to seek for customer relationships that create
organisational value.
Gebert et al. (2003) emphasised the importance of having customer relationship
management and knowledge management and combining these two concepts in customer
knowledge management and stated that customer knowledge management has a role in
reducing risk and enhancing organisational performance.
Madhoushi et al. (2011) have investigated the impact of customer knowledge
management on customer relationship management, which based on the results of
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 113

statistical analysis of data, the impact of customer knowledge management on customer

relationship management was confirmed.
Table 2 Summary of all past and present contributions to the topic

Reference Considering factors Main conclusion

Ardyan and E-CRM, marketing
Sugiyarti performance and
(2018) information sharing
Jacob et al. Customer relationship
(2017) management systems, the
performance of companies
Mahawrah Knowledge management and
et al. (2016) customer relationship
management
Madhoushi Customer knowledge
et al. (2011) management and customer
relationship management
Yang (2010) Customer knowledge
management and company
performance
Tseng Customer knowledge
(2009) management and CRM
Liyun et al. Market orientation, customer
(2008) relationship management,
customer knowledge
management, and business
performance
Mendoza Customer relationship
et al. (2007) management strategy and
key success factors
Gebert et al. Customer relationship
(2003) management, knowledge
management and
organisational performance
Gibbert et al. Customer relationship
(2002) management and knowledge
management systems
Companies’ ability to manage e-CRM
capability affects the intensity and quality of
information sharing activity. In addition, the
variable of the intensity and quality of the
information sharing activity also affects the
marketing performance.
The implementation of customer relationship
management systems from the operational
perspective will have a significant impact on the
performance of the companies.
Customer knowledge and customer trust affect
customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction
has a positive and significant effect on customer
relationship.
Confirmation of impact of customer knowledge
management on customer relationship
management.
Customer knowledge management, through the
innovation of process affects company
performance.
Customer knowledge management creates new
knowledge sharing processes between the
company and the customer.
Customer relationship management and
customer knowledge management impact on
business performance.
Information management and customer
knowledge are recognised as KSF.
Customer knowledge management has a role in
reducing risk and enhancing organisational
performance.
Integrated customer relationship management
and knowledge management systems could
increase existing benefits and reduce risk

Mendoza et al. (2007) explored a model of key success factors in implementing a

customer relationship management strategy. In this study, they obtained a model that
comprised 13 factors along with 55 minor indicators. Information management and
customer knowledge are recognised as one of these factors.
Yang (2010) concluded that customer knowledge management, through the
innovation of process affects company performance.
114 A.A. Rastgar et al.

Liyun et al. (2008) examined the relationship between market orientation, customer
relationship management, customer knowledge management and business performance.
The results show that customer relationship management and customer knowledge
management impact on business performance. Considering the mediating role of these
two factors, market orientation also has a positive and significant effect on business
performance.
Mahawrah et al. (2016) examined the effect of knowledge management on customer
relationship management in the Jordanian food industry. The researchers used the
structural equation modelling in Laser software to examine the hypotheses. The results
showed that customer knowledge and customer trust affect customer satisfaction and
customer satisfaction has a positive and significant effect on customer relationship.
Another similar research conducted by Ardyan and Sugiyarti (2018). Based on
the results of their study, companies’ ability to manage e-CRM capability affects the
intensity and quality of information sharing activity. The variable of the intensity and
quality of the information sharing activity also affects the marketing performance of
small and medium enterprises. That is, this variable plays a mediating role in the
relationship between e-CRM and the marketing performance of small and medium
enterprises.
Jacob et al. (2017) examined the impact of customer relationship management
systems on the performance of companies. The results of this research which conducted
by using panel data technique showed that in the presence of interfering variables, the
implementation of customer relationship management systems from the operational
perspective will have a significant impact on the performance of the companies. Table 2
shows the summary of all past and present contributions to the topic.

4 Research methodology

After conducting step-by-step approach to reviewing literature, and based on the purpose
of this study, the conceptual model of this research is extracted. Based on the conceptual
model of research and literature mentioned, the hypotheses of this research are:
Ha Customer knowledge management has a significant impact on business
performance.
Ha1 Receiving customer data has a significant impact on business performance.
Ha2 Customer data processing has a significant effect on business performance.
Ha3 Customer knowledge development has a significant effect on business
performance.
Hb E-CRM has a significant effect on business performance.
Hb1 Analytical customer relationship management has a significant effect on
business performance.
Hb2 Operational customer relationship management has a significant impact on
business performance.
Hc Customer knowledge management has a significant impact on e-CRM.
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 115

In Figure 1, due attention to theoretical foundations and developed hypotheses, a

conceptual model of this research is presented:

Figure 1 Conceptual model of this research (see online version for colours)
Ha

Receiving customer
data

Ha1
Knowledge
management Processing
customer data Ha2

Expanding Business performance

Ha3
customer
knowledge

Hc Hb1

Analytical customer Hb2

relationship
management

E-CRM
Operational
customer
relationship
management

Hb

In addition, due attention to the purpose of this study to investigate and determine the
causal relationships between the variables of customer knowledge management, e-CRM
and business performance of Mellat Bank, from the view of an applied research, in terms
of research strategy a descriptive-correlation study that intends to test the hypothesis has
been selected and a questionnaire tool for this purpose is used. In order to analyse the
data of the questionnaire and to test the hypotheses of the research of structural equation
modelling with partial least squares approach and path analysis method (path modelling)
and PLS 2 software and composite regression analysis have been used. The reason for
using this method is the ability to analyse complex models with small volume and
insensitivity to the normal distribution of structures. Based on path modelling, modelling
based on causality analysis is a correlation between variables. In the present research,
business performance of Mellat Bank as a dependent variable, customer knowledge
management, independent variable, and e-CRM variable are both intermediary variables.
The statistical population includes customers of Mellat Bank in Tehran. Considering the
high volume of the statistical society, using the existing rules for modelling the structural
equations, and since the model has a structure with less than three items, the sample size
was considered to be 300 people. In addition, in statistical modelling, the number of good
116 A.A. Rastgar et al.

data for a research that has a low risk is equal to 30 times the operational variables and
that the sample size is less than 200, which is the case in this research. As the number of
data is reduced to 20 and ten times the operational variables, the risk increases. One of
the advantages of using the PLS software over LISREL is that it works with regression
and partial coefficients and for this reason, the data collected is improved and more
accurate and therefore requires a smaller number of samples than the LISREL software
(Azar and Khadivar, 2016). The method of sampling in this research is cluster type.
First, the number of branches of Mellat Bank in Tehran was determined that there were
307 branches. Then, these branches were classified under seven supervisory districts. As
a result, five branches were randomly selected from each district and from each of these
branches a number of customers were selected randomly.
Initially, a questionnaire of 40 people was selected and distributed as a prototype, and
regarding the high Cronbach alpha, the remaining questionnaires were also distributed.
To collect the required data, the standard questionnaire of Dyche (2001) was used to
measure the management of e-customer and customer relationship management to
measure commercial performance. The structure of the questionnaire is presented in
Table 3. Also, in Table 3, Cronbach’s alpha and convergent validity indices have been
used which are used to assess validity and reliability. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient
indicates the ability of questions to properly explain their dimensions. Although the
Cronbach’s alpha value should be higher than 0.7, however, if the number of questions
and the sample population are small, a value of 0.6 is acceptable (Moss et al., 1998).
Table 3 The structure of the questionnaire

Number of Cronbach’s Convergent

Variables
questions alpha validity
Receiving customer data 4 Q (1–4) 0.834 0.593
Processing customer data 4 Q (5–8) 0.833 0.600
Expanding customer knowledge 4 Q (9–12) 0.793 0.588
Analytical customer relationship management 4 Q (13–16) 0.895 0.519
Operational customer relationship management 6 Q (17–22) 0.901 0.514
Business performance 12 Q (23–34) 0.914 0.616

Validity of the questionnaire was assessed by using the convergent validity

criterion using partial least squares method. Coherent validity indicates the ability of
one-dimensional indicators to explain that dimension.
The convergent validity is checked through the average extracted variance (AVE)
criterion. If this criterion is increased, then the convergent validity of the measuring
instrument is verified (Hulland and Richard, 1999).
After confirmation of the suitability of the model, reference should be made to the
reliability of the structural model. For this purpose, the R2 index has been used. The
values of R2 represent the degree of explanation of the changes in structures by each
other.
And the value of this indicator for the business performance structure is 0.389. It
states that about 38% of the variation of the business performance variable is explained
by knowledge management and communication management with the electronic
customer.
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 117

It is also referred to the general fit of the model that is used in least-squares models
based on the GOF index, which should be more than 0.36 to confirm the overall fit of the
research model. This index is calculated according to the formula of the present model
and shows the suitability of the general model: It should be noted that communalities are
a sign of the average of the shared values of each construct and represents the mean value
of the values of the intrinsic structure of the dimensional model.

GOF = Communalities × R 2 = 0.458.

5 Research findings

The demographic features are shown in Table 4.

Table 4 The demographic features of the case study of this research

Sex F M
175 (58.3%) 125 (41.7%)
Education PhD Education Bachelor Diploma and lower
19 (6.3%) 64 (21.3%) 172 (57.3 %) 45 (15%)

Figure 2 The standard coefficients of the structural equation model

118 A.A. Rastgar et al.

Figure 3 Significant values of the structural equation model

The research hypotheses are further discussed. As stated, in order to investigate the
present hypothesis, structural equation modelling with partial least squares approach and
path analysis method will be used. In Figures 2 and 3, the standard coefficients and
significant values of the structural equation model are visible.
Table 5 Summary of the test results of assumptions

Research hypothesis Test value Result

Receiving customer data and business performance β = 0.109, t = 2.109 Accepted
Processing customer data and business performance β = 0.106, t = 1.518 Rejected
Expanding customer data and business performance β = 0.109, t = 2.31 Accepted
Analytical customer relationship management and β = 0.796, t = 11.904 Accepted
business performance
Operational customer relationship management and β = 0.081, t = 2.021 Accepted
business performance
Knowledge management and business performance β = 0.308, t = 5.415 Accepted
E-CRM and business performance β = 0.698, t = 11.008 Accepted
Knowledge management and e-CRM β = 0.64, t = 2.74 Accepted

In order to conclude the research findings, the statistics of t-value and standard beta test
should be considered. In this regard, the confirmation of the assumption requires that the
t-value is higher than the absolute value of 1.96. In fact, if this statistic is above this
number, it can be inferred that the assumption is confirmed at 95% confidence level. To
illustrate the effect intensity, a standard beta is used which indicates the effect of the
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 119

independent variable on the dependent variable. The following is a summary of the test
results of assumptions in Table 5.

6 Conclusions and discussion

Today’s markets where financial institutions are operating are highly competitive; the
reason is the active presence of two public and private sectors in this market. That is why
institutions should always think that they should consolidate their position in these
markets and seek to improve this position. Today, the use of new forms of customer
relationship management, such as electronic communication, is used as a tool for
satisfaction and improvement of services, and ultimately, the business performance of
enterprises. In fact, the use of these electronic systems enhances customer knowledge
management processes such as customer data acquisition, processing, and ultimately
developing customer knowledge.
When these knowledge gains from customers, it can bring stunning results to the
organisation. With all these interpretations, the results of the present research suggest that
customer knowledge management improves the organisation’s business performance.
In previous studies, this effect has been proven in various societies, and many
researchers have been addressed the role of CRM process, for example, Bang (2005)
claims that CRM process is critical for performance in business. Bang (2005), in his
research with the title of ‘Understanding customer relationship management from
managers' and customers’ perspective: Exploring the implications of CRM fit, market
orientation, and market knowledge competence’. However, no research has been done
regarding the role of variable e-CRM and the impact of this variable on the relationship
between customer knowledge management and business performance in financial
institutions which was addressed in this study. In the following, we analyse the research
hypotheses by using t-valued statistics and path coefficients (standardised regression
coefficients) obtained from conceptual modelling. In relation to the first hypothesis,
because the test statistic in this relation is equal to 415/5 and this number is higher than
1.96, therefore, it can be concluded that there is a meaningful relationship between
customer knowledge management and business performance. The intensity of the effect,
or the path coefficient of this relationship, is 308/0, which suggests that 308% of the
business performance changes are supported and supported by the customer knowledge
management. In previous research, the relationship between knowledge management and
business performance in different companies, for example, has been confirmed by
insurance companies that knowledge management has a significant impact on business
performance. Also, in the study of Valmohamadi et al. (2013), the relationship between
customer knowledge management and business performance was confirmed, which is
consistent with the results of the present study. In addition, research such as Liyun et al.
(2008) and Jacob et al. (2017) have investigated customer relationship management and
customer knowledge management practices on performance, which in their studies, this
relationship was confirmed to be consistent with the results of this study. Furthermore, in
Yang’s (2010) research, the positive and significant impact of customer knowledge
management on company performance was confirmed through process innovation. On
the other hand, in the present research among customer knowledge management
processes, the only customer knowledge processing variable does not affect the
120 A.A. Rastgar et al.

commercial performance of the bank and there is no meaningful relationship between

them; because the test statistic in this regard is 1 518/1. The other two variables of
customer knowledge management processes, namely, the receipt of data and the
development of customer knowledge in this research, are a factor in the performance of
business. And their test stats are 2.109 and 2.31, respectively, and since this number is
higher than 1.96, it can be concluded that there is a meaningful relationship between
these two variables with the commercial performance variable. The severity of their
impact was also 0.19 and 0.106 according to the results of the research, the variables of
customer data acquisition and customer knowledge development were effective on
organisational performance improvement. But customer data processing did not have a
significant relationship with performance improvement and expressed in that there are
various communication channels, including all sorts of electronic tools for obtaining
customer data, and this leads to an increase in the number of electronic accounts, which
are considered as performance indicators. On the other hand, application and
development of knowledge can also provide a competitive advantage for the organisation.
So, it can be concluded that in the Mellat Bank, performance improves with the receipt
and application of the knowledge gained from customers.
Further, according to Table 5, it can be concluded that there is a significant
relationship between e-CRM and business performance. Because the test statistic in this
case is 11.490 and the severity of the impact in this regard is 0.766, which indicates the
high severity of this relationship.
In the meantime, two variables for analysing and operating e-CRM are also effective
on business performance. Therefore, it can be inferred that the Mellat Bank can only be
seen in terms of market performance in a market that can interact with customers in new
ways and try to satisfy their needs and identify the needs of their customers to improve
the quality of their services. On the other hand, it is also suggested that managers of
Mellat Bank improve the culture of knowledge sharing and streamlining organisational
knowledge that organisational knowledge flow easily among colleagues and is due to the
fact that managers create trust culture among employees. Regarding the hypothesis
of the study, there is a significant relationship between customer knowledge management
and e-CRM as shown in Table 5, the value of the test statistic in this regard is
2.74. The intensity of the effect in this regard is 0.44; therefore, it can be concluded
that customer knowledge management directly affects the management of electronic
customer communication. It is found that KM capabilities are important factors in
successful implementations of CRM (Croteau and Li, 2003; Rollins and Halinen, 2005;
Garrido-Moreno and Padilla-Meléndez, 2011). Similarly, CRM has the great effect on
improving customer knowledge based on Chen (2014) and some more papers in this
regard. But the effect of CKM on e-CRM has been less extended in previous studies in
this area.
Based on the results, customer knowledge management has a positive effect on
e-CRM and the direct impact factor of customer knowledge management on e-CRM is
0.44 and according to the test statistic that was greater than 1.96, this relationship is
significant. On the other hand, the positive effect of customer knowledge management on
the performance of the Mellat Bank was obtained, with a coefficient of β = 308.0 and a
test statistic of 415.5 and greater than 1.96, and therefore indicates a significant
relationship.
There is also a significant relationship between e-CRM and business performance
with a coefficient of β = 0.698. As a result, customer knowledge management has a direct
 Clarifying the effect of customer knowledge management 121

impact on the performance of the Mellat Bank. To calculate the indirect effect of
customer knowledge management on the performance of the bank with respect to the role
of the intermediary and interfaces of e-CRM in this regard, we have 0.44 + 0.69 + 0.44,
which shows that customer knowledge management through e-CRM can also affect the
performance of the bank. And because the obtained value is more than the direct effect of
customer knowledge management on the performance of the bank, it can be concluded
that e-CRM can enhance the impact of customer knowledge management on bank
performance.
In summary and as novelty of this research, by reviewing of past research, it can be
extracted that most research has focused on customer relationship management, and the
management of this parameter despite the importance of the role of electronic tools in the
present era is less studied. In addition, investigation about the role of e-CRM as the
mediator variable has not been addressed in other studies. In other words, one implication
of this study is that while we want to improve or support the positive effect of CKM on
bank’s performances, using e-CRM can play an important role and has a positive effect
on this relationship. As it mentioned before, this mediator effect was ignored in previous
studies.
Increasing customer satisfaction which can maintain customers, loyalty of customers,
and attract new customers which leads to more profit for organisation can be mentioned
as a practical implication of this study. For more research and practical implication,
future research can be conducted by considering the role of other intermediary variables
that can affect the relationships that are posed in this research.

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