msdm edukasi

Submitted By:

Mritunjay Kumar

ICFAI Business School/Hyderabad

[Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements of the 2-Year Full-Time MBA Program offered

by ICFAI Business School, Hyderabad for the academic year 2006-2008]

Management Research Project

Customer Relationship Management

in Services Focus: Educational Institutions

Customer Relationship Management in Services

Focus: Educational Institutions

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A REPORT

ON

Customer Relationship Management in

Services


By

Mritunjay Kumar

Class of 2008

IBS/Hyderabad

A report submitted in partial fulfilment of

the requirements of

MBA Program



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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page No.

Abstract -- 03

Introduction -- 04

Managing CRM in Educational

Institutions -- 05

Road to Framework Development -- 10

CRM in Educational Institutions -- 14

Developing a Framework -- 15

Some Examples -- 24

Conclusions -- 29

Scope of Further Study -- 30

References -- 31

*****



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Abstract

"CRM is the business strategy that aims to understand, anticipate, manage and personalize the needs of an

organization's current and potential customers" - PWC Consulting.

Investing in a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application is no different than

any other business management software investment - whether one is looking for an

enterprise level software application or a department level solution, one expects a quick

and measurable return on the investment. Before investing in a CRM application, several

aspects of the application including its features, support for existing and emerging

technologies, initial cost, ease of use, integration with other applications, and many more

need due consideration. One of the most important aspects of a business management

application, including a CRM application, is its underlying architecture. A well-designed

architecture will accommodate future growth and adapt to business changes without

affecting the performance of the application or requiring an exhaustive re-implementation.

An application’s customizability, adaptability, portability, scalability and extensibility are all

functions of its architecture. But that is the functional aspect.

CRM goes way beyond a software solution. In real terms CRM is a philosophy and the

software solution part is a mere tool to aid better implementation of the philosophy. CRM

has existed since ages. Be it the corner betel shop owner who recognizes a regular customer

and offers him his regular betel or a technologically advanced Call Center’s executive who

addresses a customer by his name when he makes a call by looking up in his database for

the customer’s detail.

This paper tries to understand this philosophy and its uses in the high customer churn

vulnerable service sector. One of the industries in this sector is the educational industry.

IT solutions presently represent a critical success factor for numerous organizations. Higher

educational institutions fall into this category and have sought the status of first movers in

relation to the development and implementation of information technology throughout the

areas of academia. However, “In comparison, little research has been published with regard to

using Internet technology to aid in administrative academic issues in higher education” (Bitler,

2000). This paper will try to find the uses of a CRM solution in aiding the educational

institutions improve the customer satisfaction levels and for this purpose development of a

better CRM or SRM (Student Relationship Management) framework.



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Introduction

More and more organizations and companies have realized that they need to put their

customers front and center and to support a robust strategic customer care process,

including profiling customers, segmenting customers, researching customers, investing in

technology, and managing customers (Brown, 2000).

This move toward more customer centric direction can be traced back to the 1960s when

the focus of marketing started to shift from managing products or marketing campaigns to

managing the profitability of each individual customer over the entire life of the

relationship. The paradigm shift brought lots of discussions on “relationship marketing”

since the 1980s (Berry, 1983; Håkansson, 1982). Relationship marketing aims to identify,

maintain and build up a network with individual customers and to continuously strengthen

the network for the mutual benefit of both sides through interactive, individualized and

value-added contacts over a long period of time (Shani and Chalasani, 1992). However,

relationship marketing focuses mainly on strategy, and lacks a holistic view of the business

processes connected to it. CRM evolving from business processes emphasizes not only a

comprehensive strategy, but also the process of acquiring, retaining and partnering with

selective customers to create superior value for the company and the customer (Parvatiyar

and Sheth, 2000).

Second, while companies and organizations are making efforts to keep pace with the

paradigm shift in marketing, customer needs, expectations and behaviors are also changing.

Customers do not only want services; they want “good” services, which possess

characteristics like “ease of doing business, trust, responsiveness, web site navigability,

problem resolution and all those other elements of good e-business that don't fit quite so

neatly into a purely binary world” (Zemke and Connellan, 2001). Javalgi et al. (2006, p. 12)

also pointed that “in today's hyper-competitive markets service firms must be market-

oriented”. As “knowledge is key to nurturing customer relationships” (Lavender, 2004),

“market research plays a critical role in generating the needed data on which a market

orientation can be developed and implemented, which, in turn, can enhance the practice of

CRM” (Javalgi et al., 2006). Therefore, CRM is considered as a means of supplementing ERP

systems to match customers' needs and increase their satisfaction.



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Managing CRM in Educational Institutions

Customer relationship management (CRM) is a set of practices that provide a consolidated,

integrated view of customers across all business areas to ensure that each customer

receives the highest level of service (Karakostas et al., 2005; TDWI Industry Study, 2000).

CRM enables an ongoing one-to-one relationship with the customer.

In higher education, students are the customers; some areas that touch the students are the

registration processes, transcript services, career counseling and academic support services.

Graduating high school seniors today have a wide variety of choices in higher education;

competition for their business is keen, especially in a tight economy.

Students can choose four-year degrees like engineering, technical schools in a face-to-face

or online learning environment. While the academic reputation of a school is a major factor

in determining its selection, other performance indicators that prospective students may

examine include pass rate of licensure examinations, improvement in critical thinking and

communication skills, alumni satisfaction with their college experience, and the percentage

of graduates who find employment (Cleary, 2001).

Satisfaction with the college’s programs and services is also a critical performance measure.

CRM can play a significant role in this area. While being able to obtain information about a

course prerequisite or a schedule listing is not germane to the student’s learning, it is

nonetheless an integral part of the college experience. Most students view administrative

activities as a necessary evil; thus, an information system with an enhanced CRM initiative

that provides an individualized fast-track to completing these activities can be a strong

incentive for selecting a particular institution.

A very important part of any educational institution is a library and at times can be a crucial

factor for enhancing or reducing customer satisfaction levels. In a paper titled: Introducing

CRM into an academic library (Mei-Yu Wang) talks about this experience and the same can

be studied as a model for educational institutions as the basic base for business is same

relating to educational bodies.

In the paper Wang points out that the automation systems utilized in libraries, similar to the

ERP in enterprises, mainly deal with the standardized service procedures. Meantime, if a

library fails to satisfy user needs/wants, their users will try to look around for something

better. If the library can occasionally meet or exceed user standards, users will have a sort of



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Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), because libraries give them little or no compelling reason

to behave otherwise. In either situation, there will be a decline in the library's status. The

situation in the digital world is for the worse. The consequences of poor services are

magnified and instantaneous. Just as pointed out by Zemke and Connellan (2001, p. 12):

“treat customers badly just once online, and not only will they never come back, but

through chat rooms and broadcast e-mail they will tell potentially thousands of other

consumers about their careless attitude”.

Libraries cannot ignore that IT and www have offered new possibilities for delivering user

service. The “go digital” trend is making library staff feel that it is “a daunting task to keep

abreast of the new resources that appear daily on the Internet” (Lipow, 1999). More and

more libraries have found that they must use more select methods and channels to learn

what their users want and tailor their services accordingly. This is clearly elaborated by the

appearance of such new terms as virtual reference, online reference, e-reference, live chat

reference, online real-time reference, virtual community, etc. (Moyo, 2002; Young and Diaz,

1999; Hoag and Cichanowicz, 2001; Flagg, 2001).

Therefore, it is time that libraries consider to adopt more CRM concept and applications as

one of the possible solutions to secure users' satisfaction while facing the challenges

brought by proliferated information service channels, information explosion, and users'

higher expectations. Some libraries, such as University of Malta Library and Lanchester

Library, University of Coventry, have used CRM as a framework for developing local services

to meet local needs (Broady-Preston et al., 2006).

“CRM is not a technology or even a group of technologies. It is a continually evolving process

that requires a shift in attitude away from the traditional business model of focusing

internally. CRM is an approach a company takes toward its customers backed up by

thoughtful investment in people, technology and business processes” (Morrel and

Philonenko, 2001, p.8).

However, it is crucial to elucidate the concept with respect to information systems and

marketing. Considering the marketing component, Kutner and Cripps (1997) suggested that

CRM was based on the following three doctrines:

• Customers should be managed as important assets

• Customers’ profitability varies – not all customers are equally desirable



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• Customers vary in their needs, preferences, buying behavior and price sensitivity.

With regards to the information systems perspective, Curley (1999) stated that the CRM

system included four main technological components:

• A data warehouse with customer, contract, transaction and channel data

• Analysis tools for examining database and identifying customer behavior patterns.

• Campaigning management tools for allowing the marketing department to define

communication and facilitate automatic generation of these communications

• Interface with the operational environment for maintaining the marketing database

and communication channels to deliver the messages.

CRM today has grown out of its initial concept size. Today it covers a more holistic picture

and encompasses the customer service to new frontiers. From an initial reactive strategy it

is now a more real-time and proactive way to respond to customer needs and demands.

The core element of a CRM system is a data-base with data about customer characteristics

(e.g., demographics; customer size, and industry for business-to-business customers), data

about company-customer contacts, data about the way the customer has responded to

earlier company offers, and data about the customer’s purchase history with the company

(Glazer 1999). In addition, CRM systems usually contain analytical tools to analyze data and

generate information that can be used for subsequent marketing actions. Furthermore,

sales force automation, data warehousing, customer service automation and call center

systems can be elements of CRM systems.

Fig.1 below explains the evolution of the business ecosystems has broadened up the scope

of customer service and response of the CRM strategies to it:

Fig.1: The Transformation of Business Ecosystems, Adapted from “CRM at the Speed of Light” by Paul

Greenberg, P-11, Tata McGraw Hills Publication, 3rd

Ed., 2007.

Corporate Ecosystem Customer-Centric Ecosystem

Reactive Real Time

Product Driven Demand Customer Driven Customer Centric



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CRM has been explained in various ways and the same applies about the understanding of

the organizations and individuals about it. As per a study by CRMGuru (www.crmguru.com) the

following chart in Fig.2 gives a breakup of what the customer understands about CRM:

Fig.2: Source: “What is CRM?” Survey Results. www.crmguru.com: CRMGuru Online Survey, 4400

Respondents, July 2003.

So we can see that a major chunk of the respondents believe that CRM is about putting the

customers at the heart of the business or employing a customer-centric approach. But what

decides and drives the decision of how to approach the question of CRM implementation

during the whole lifecycle of a customer.

36

23

16

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What is CRM?

Putting Customers at the Heart

of Business: 36%

Creating Win/Win relationships

with Customers & Stakeholders:

23%

Business strategy to increase

Customer Profitability: 16%

Rlationship Marketing

supported by Technology: 16%



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Table-1 explains the whole process of CRM implementation during the lifecycle of customer:

Customer Relationship Cycle

Stage Prospect Newly Acquired

Customer

Peak Customer

Relationship

Declining

Customer

Revenue None Rising Rise, Peak or

Plateau, then start

showing signs of

Decline

Declining

Customer

Relationship Cost

Acquisition

Cost

Building

Relationship

Cost

Cost of Retaining &

Creating satisfied

customers plus cost

of recruiting to the

club of satisfied

customers who give

testimonials or

referrals

Wind down

relation or retain

as alumnus

customer

Product &/or

Servicing Cost

No Yes Yes Yes

Net Cash Flow Negative Increasing Increase,

Peak/Plateau,

Decline, plus

indirect cash flow

impact of recruiting

customers (if

satisfied) or

discouraging

prospects (if not

satisfied)

Decreasing

Table.1: Customer Lifetime Value, Suggested by Nobel Laureate Franco Modigliani. Adapted: “CRM at the

Speed of Light” by Paul Greenberg, P-656, Tata McGraw Hills Publication, 3rd

Ed., 2007



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Road to a Framework Development

A customer relation needs to be supported at various stages of the relation lifecycle in

different ways and evolves out over time as depicted below in Fig. 3:

Fig. 3: Customer Lifetime Value Management Proposition, suggested by Nokia. Adapted: Nokia- Serving

Customers with Value, The Strategist, Special Issue, 2006.



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While it is agreed fact that CRM implementation if done with due prudence can help

minimize the costs accruing to loss of customers while increasing their satisfaction levels

and hence increasing the average spending by each customer.

Looking at the sector for study in this paper which is educational sector and understanding

its dynamics in the market the following comments seems very relevant and apt:

“In fact, the admission process is a market in which the elements of cost, competition, hype,

service, brand prestige, rebating, etc., all operate annually to distribute the supply of and

satisfy the demand for higher education. What makes the admission market peculiar among

markets, however, is that both buyer and seller are negotiating simultaneously amongst the

offerings, each seeking to optimize their respective choices. The student seeks the best

college. The colleges seek to fill themselves with not just the “qualified” students, but with

that selection of students representing the best possible set from their candidate pools”.

(BusinessWire, 2002)

“Colleges often seem most comfortable with whatever “honesty” maximizes enrollments,

short term, and that which identifies them closely with their preferred set of institutions.

Prospective students want honesty that maximizes effective choice, long term, no matter

how they develop and change over the period of their enrollment”. (Canterbury, 1999)

The rush for admission to a university or college is seen as a very important indicator of the

brand value and success of the organization and its customers i.e. the prospective students

and parents evaluate the institutions on various parameters before making a decision to use

the services.

With the changing market dynamics i.e. from an era where govt. bodies provided

educational facilities, today private institutions play a very important role in the educational

sector. With the increasing demand for education owing to demographical changes this

sector has expanded exponentially.

CRM systems offer support in two different ways. First, CRM systems facilitate the day today

interactions with customers. This way of employing the system has been called then

operational use of CRM systems. Second, customer data in CRM systems can enable firms to

leverage on data about their current customers (Kamakura, Wedel, de Rosa, and Mazzon

2003). The use of customer databases and analytical tools creates opportunities for cross-

selling new products and services to existing customers while also developing customer



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acquisition and customer retention strategies, and for the optimization of customer equity

(Blattberg, Getz, and Thomas 2001; Rust, Zeithaml, and Lemon 2000). Such use of CRM

systems is called the strategic use of CRM systems.

The principles of the CRM approach are appealing and nowadays companies increasingly

organize themselves around their customers. In a survey about management tools (Rigby,

Reichheld, and Schefter 2002) 72% of the responding executives expected to have CRM

programs in place within a year. The CRM approach was found to be the fasted-growing

management technique in eight years. There is now a sizeable industry of suppliers of CRM

systems. According to a recent IDC estimate, the worldwide sales of customer relations

management (CRM) applications (software) currently grows with 8.9% per year with a projected

revenue level for the year 2008 of $ 11.4 billion.

Though much has been talked about the ways to retention and servicing the following

matrix in a snapshot explains the way to retain customers based on the way they perceive

the institutions and there vulnerability to end relation with the organization:

Fig 4. A Retention Matrix suggested in Working Paper, Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation,

2005.



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The benefits that the initial study points out at in case of a successful CRM implementation

by colleges and universities can be summarized as follows:

• Improve the overall student experience through interactive, two-way dialogs by

using applications like integrated email and web technology provided by modules

like the “Online Marketing” in case of PeopleSoft.

• Automatically guide students to specific services in specific circumstances to

minimize hassles and curtail the cost of employing extra manpower.

• Understand how the institutions can serve individual students better.

• Discover situations in which students, who may be at risk of dropping out of the

university, may be counseled and retained.

During this study DePaul University’s name figured prominently for the implementation of

such a package in 2004. A brief introduction of the university is as follows:

• Geography: Chicago, Illinois

• Endowment: $192.3 Million

• Employees: 4,251 Faculty and Staff

• Students: 23,600

• Website: www.depaul.edu

The main quantifiable results that the university received from the implementation can be

put as follows:

Quantifiable Benefits

• Achieved a four percent lift in retention of students at risk.

• Received more than 50 percent response to online surveys.

• Continuously engaged at-risk students through winter break, a key point when

loss of contact with staff and connection to the university contributes to student

attrition.

Thus we can see that such implementations have benefits but at the same time we must not

forget that it needs mustering a lost of dedicated resources and if the implementation goes

wrong or lands in trouble owing to project overruns, it can lead to sizeable losses. In certain

cases the losses have been so significant that the implementing institution has neared verge

of bankruptcy if not actually went.



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CRM in Educational Institutions

Colleges at graduation and Post-Graduation levels are increasingly challenged to maintain

student enrollment levels. Enrollment management programs to market the institution are

growing in number and their efforts are paying off. Though enrollments in India might be

rising on an average for almost all graduate and PG colleges due to demographical shifts, the

quality of students is not standardized across all the colleges. Some colleges are more

preferred while some lie at the bottom.

The challenge is not only at the initial admission level. Once students arrive on campus,

however, the challenge is to keep them there. Retention activities had focused traditionally

on comprehensive orientation programs, in-depth student advising, and a variety of

student-focused activities.

Students expect technology to be an integral part of their entire educational process and

anticipate a higher level of access to information. From the “student-as-customer”

perspective, an educational CRM system would provide interaction with all the traditional

student touch points- admissions, registration, financial aid, etc. - through a single system

that would facilitate a complete understanding of each student’s unique situation (Grant

and Anderson, 2002).

Students as stakeholders:

All institutions of higher education have a variety of stakeholders, and while each institution

must work to satisfy them, the stakeholder with the most influence is the customer. In the

case of an educational institution the customer being the student both current and

prospective. The typical college student makes several trips to campus before classes start.

These include one visit prior to college selection, a registration visit and another visit to pay

fees and purchase textbooks. While telephone and web-based registration systems have

alleviated some problems, students are still faced with numerous administrative tasks to be

completed during their college careers. All too often, these tasks involve considerable time

spent waiting.

A CRM system can ease the complexities of accomplishing these administrative tasks by

providing a means of anytime-anywhere registration, as well as payment, advising and

requirements checking that is individualized to meet the student’s needs.



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Developing a Framework

According to the IT employed and the sophistication/integration of the information system

used, the CRM development stages can be divided into four stages (Stefanou et al., 2003):

1. The first stage: the preliminary, manual, and non-IT-assisted stage.

2. The second stage: IT is adopted to assist the predominately manual process (Wells et

al., 1999). Spreadsheets, database systems and statistical packages can be used to

analyze collected customer related data.

3. The third stage: the IT-automated CRM stage by using a number of technologies,

such as the internet and telephone/computer integration.

4. The fourth stage: the integrated CRM (i-CRM) stage by employing sophisticated CRM

information systems providing highly integrated back-office, front-office and internet

functions in order to pursue customer personalization, high level of services and

customer satisfaction. In order to dynamically monitor consumer preferences,

analysis technologies such as statistical packages, query language, extraction

software, data warehouse technology, data mining, collaborative filtering and rules

engines may be used (Bradshaw and Brash, 2001).

As of now almost the educational bodies have crossed the first stage. Today almost all the

bodies of education use some level of automated IT assisted processes to handle customer

needs and this has reduced the time needed to complete some processes significantly.

Though it is still an issue of debate and study as how much the data collected through these

processes is drilled, mined and used for quantifiable benefits.

Thus we can see that the CRM is basically talking of integration of data on three dimensions:

i. Operational

ii. Analytical

iii. Collaborative

Many organizations wonder what to do with the data that they have on there systems. Most

of the times, valuable data is flushed out of the systems as the organizations have no idea

what the data can be used for or what are the potential benefits of analyzing it. Now with

growing interest and buzz about datamining and CRM solutions most organizations have

started understanding the potential benefits and are acknowledging the same.

So once we have a fair idea about the usage of

what is the next step?

Although more and more organizations and companies have “begun to use the Internet to

obtain customer information in their database marketing processes to enhance customer

relationship management” (O'Leary

CRM information systems. At this

to store CRM data, where to store the data, how to extract

data, and how to make the “knowledge” easily accessible to the right person in

data mentioned here includes server log data, data that users submit during a registration

process and any other process, data from transactions, and data that can be collected via

cookies (Rowley, 2002). Even in

the system administrators and patters can be analyzed based on the

CRM systems can manage and synchronize customer interaction points and communication

channels, and these are the collaborative type of CRM systems

addition to collaborative CRM, the systems can

type is intended to improve the efficiency of CRM business

solutions for automation and customer interaction management. The analytical CRM

systems manage and evaluate knowledge about customers for a better understanding of

each customer and his or her behavior (

The types of CRM talked above can be resembled in foll

Fig. 5: The Three Dimensions of CRM, Schwede, 2000.



once we have a fair idea about the usage of the data and the same has been

more organizations and companies have “begun to use the Internet to

information in their database marketing processes to enhance customer

O'Leary et al., 2004), very few have employed sophisticated

systems. At this stage many complicated issues are involved, such as how

to store CRM data, where to store the data, how to extract meaningful knowledge from the

data, and how to make the “knowledge” easily accessible to the right person in

server log data, data that users submit during a registration

any other process, data from transactions, and data that can be collected via

n the case of simple intranet sites this can be monitored by

the system administrators and patters can be analyzed based on the user defined


collaborative type of CRM systems (Schwede, 2000

addition to collaborative CRM, the systems can be operational or analytical. The operational

type is intended to improve the efficiency of CRM business processes and comprise

mation and customer interaction management. The analytical CRM


or her behavior (Schwede, 2000).

The types of CRM talked above can be resembled in following Fig.5 below:

Schwede, 2000.



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and the same has been generated

more organizations and companies have “begun to use the Internet to

information in their database marketing processes to enhance customer

have employed sophisticated

complicated issues are involved, such as how

meaningful knowledge from the

data, and how to make the “knowledge” easily accessible to the right person in time. The

server log data, data that users submit during a registration

any other process, data from transactions, and data that can be collected via

case of simple intranet sites this can be monitored by

user defined queries.


Schwede, 2000, Fig.5). In

. The operational

processes and comprise

mation and customer interaction management. The analytical CRM




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The architecture of an Analytical CRM structure can be depicted as per following Fig:

Fig. 6: Structure of an Analytical CRM Date Warehouse.

So how we decide what to keep unchanged, what to improve upon and what to replace?

This basically requires a SWOT analysis of the conditions after a initial identification of the

dimensions of the organizational efficiency vis-à-vis the KEY DIMENSIONS of the CRM

framework itself. The need of the organization also defines the parameters and ways n

which the framework would be set up.

A basic CRM system should allow organizational staff to post and link useful materials, allow

users to make requests and comments to the system, and offer a bi-directional

communication channel with their users. A more advanced system should be able to route

requests and track the process on course. In addition, data warehouse and datamining

technology may be used to incorporate various data, to extract meaningful pattern, and to

profile individual users or some specific users.

One possible scenario to commence the CRM process is illustrated in Figure 6 about the

library situation itself.



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Fig. 7: A Process Description of CRM in a typical Library situation.

A user makes an inquiry to the system. After verifying the user status, Library Clerk no. 1

logs the question, which serves as a basis for follow-up on the user's problem as well as a

data point for evaluating the effectiveness of the CRM effort, and then triages the inquiry to

Library Clerk no. 2, who is more qualified and available to handle the problem. Library Clerk

no. 2 works with the user to clearly define the problem, and researches the problem with

Library Clerk no. 3 to find the solution. In this case, it is Library Clerk no. 3 who documents

the problem and the progress, posts the answer to the system, and closes the case.

Another simplified example scenario: imagine a librarian discovers that the story-telling time

on Wednesdays draws more children and parents than that on Saturdays. She attempts to

hold a new series of parental workshops on Wednesdays, but she needs more information

in order to market the campaign to the right customer segments and generate their interest

in these workshops. Through the bi-directional forum, the library can announce loudly the



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workshop activity, or send individualized activity notice. The opinions and feedbacks can

easily be collected and routed to the library staff in charge.

Almost all the educational bodies face challenges in two areas:

i. One being great shortage of human resources to man various peripheral operations

like administration, library etc.

ii. The other usually is the increasing demands for more proactive, proficient and

prompt services from the customers (here students).

Discussion of findings

Although the benefits of CRM concept and technological applications have been promoted

and emphasized, some surveys reveal the opposite. For example, Gartner Group and others

discovered that approximately 70 percent of CRM implementations fail to meet basic

company goals due to the lack of executive sponsorship, relying on technology to fix bad

business practices, poor system design, unrealistic expectations, lack of sufficient training,

etc. (Davis, 2002; Eager, 2002; Gefen and Ridings, 2002).

To sort hype from genuine opportunity, the steps suggested to success were followed

(Andersen and Jacobsen, 2000; Eberhardt, 2001):

i. Accurately assess CRM needs and set precise goal

ii. Understand customer's value, needs, requirements and behaviors

iii. Involve all staff affected

iv. Motivate the staff willing to participate

v. Communicate continually with interested parties

vi. Avoid over-specialized solutions

vii. Be critical in choice of methods, tools, equipments, etc.

In the case educational bodies it is self explained that users are less likely to defect as they

students, teachers and staff in the university. Once a user discontinues the relationship with

the university, he/she will not usually bother for her/his relation with the institution. This

might have been true and good some decades ago but today even after a student passes

out of a course he/she is still of value especially in cases of organizations conducting

professional courses. These alumni members act as a bridge between the college and the

corporate world and help the placement process for the batches preceding theirs.



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Today with students joining more and more professional courses in place of conventional

degree courses such alumni relation has become more important to colleges.

The part to motivate and make the organization ready for this change is also very critical.

This needs measured Change Management techniques to be put in place and implemented.

Change management can be divided into two basic areas:

1. Plan for change.

2. Manage change.

Planning for Change

This begins with making a good case of need to change to be understood by others which

can be understood as follows:

Fig. 8: Making a case for change, Transition Leadership,

http://www.mercdelta.com/organizational_consulting/PDFs/insights/ins_Transitional_Leadership.pdf

accessed on 17/03/2007.

The next step is to identify and weave in all the components of the Change Process which

can be understood in this Integrated Change Agenda framework:



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Fig. 9: Integrated Change Agenda, Transition Leadership,

http://www.mercdelta.com/organizational_consulting/PDFs/insights/ins_Transitional_Leadership.pdf

accessed on 17/03/2007.

Managing the Change:

John Kotter's highly regarded books 'Leading Change' (1995) and the follow-up 'The Heart Of

Change' (2002) describe a helpful model for understanding and managing change. Each

stage acknowledges a key principle identified by Kotter relating to people's response and

approach to change, in which people see, feel and then change.

Kotter's eight step change model can be summarized as:

1. Increase urgency - inspire people to move, make objectives real and relevant.

2. Build the guiding team - get the right people in place with the right emotional

commitment, and the right mix of skills and levels.

3. Get the vision right - get the team to establish a simple vision and strategy, focus on

emotional and creative aspects necessary to drive service and efficiency.

4. Communicate for buy-in - Involve as many people as possible, communicate the

essentials, simply, and to appeal and respond to people's needs. De-clutter

communications - make technology work for you rather than against.



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5. Empower action - Remove obstacles, enable constructive feedback and lots of

support from leaders - reward and recognise progress and achievements.

6. Create short-term wins - Set aims that are easy to achieve - in bite-size chunks.

Manageable numbers of initiatives. Finish current stages before starting new ones.

7. Don't let up - Foster and encourage determination and persistence - ongoing change

- encourage ongoing progress reporting - highlight achieved and future milestones.

8. Make change stick - Reinforce the value of successful change via recruitment,

promotion, and new change leaders. Weave change into culture.

Usually any such system looks for the following functionalities which are though basic but

quite useful given the limited resources they use:

• Accessible through the web: Users can log into the system through the internet.

• Site customization: To assist users to reach the needed information efficiently. The

CRM system is suggested to offer customization features allowing users to filter the

content they see, and if possible, the system should also provide customized service.

In other words, once a user is registered, he/she will be provided only the

information based on his/her profile.

• Do-It-Yourself (DIY) services: Users can choose DIY services, such as help desk/FAQ in

addition to submitting an enquiry.

• A storage repository: In addition to send to the right user at the right time, all the

answers should be stored within a repository for future use and analysis.

• Search engine: Allows the visitor to search on keywords to locate quickly specific

answers on the web site.

• Automatic question routing: A reasoning rule must be set in order to allow the

system to route the enquiries to the right department and service personnel.

• Mailing list: To receive more information, the visitor can add his/her e-mail address

to a list to receive automated e-mails.

• Site tour: The visitor can follow a tour through the web site.

• Site map: The system is presented by web pages, so a hierarchical diagram of the

side overview and index should be offered.

• Introduction for first-time users

be able to surf to an introduction page, and this requires contains information about

how to use the site most efficiently

• Chat: The chat feature allows a visitor to enter a real

users on the web site for

• Electronic bulletin board

with others and can help shape a web site to better serve users' needs. Through an

electronic bulletin board, a visitor can post a message or can

message on a special web page.

• Alternative channels: Just like it is not uncommon to find users complaining about e

mail that is never answered and FAQs that raise more questions, this system is not

cure-all, and may result into disapp

systems is to communicate effectively and efficiently, different ways to contact the

library should be offered, for instance, e

call back button and voice over IP, bul

After the specifications are set out the

selected.



time users: Visitors, who enter the site for the first time, should


how to use the site most efficiently.

The chat feature allows a visitor to enter a real-time conferencing with

users on the web site for quick information sharing.

Electronic bulletin board: Script-driven forums allow visitors to share in


electronic bulletin board, a visitor can post a message or can respond to a posted

message on a special web page.

Just like it is not uncommon to find users complaining about e


all, and may result into disappointment. As one of the main points of CRM


library should be offered, for instance, e-mail, fax, toll-free numbers, postal address,

call back button and voice over IP, bulletin board.

After the specifications are set out the next step is to see to it that the proper vendors are



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e first time, should


time conferencing with other

driven forums allow visitors to share information


respond to a posted

Just like it is not uncommon to find users complaining about e-


ointment. As one of the main points of CRM


free numbers, postal address,

the proper vendors are



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Some Examples

The North Carolina Community College System

The North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) is the 3rd largest in the USA, serving

more than 7, 50, 000 students each year at the state’s 59 institutions. NCCCS is the state’s

primary provider of job training, literacy and adult education. NCCCS provides high-quality,

accessible educational opportunities that improve the lives and well-being of individuals by

providing support for economic development through services to business and industry; and

services to communities and individuals to improve the quality of life.

The CRM Project at North Carolina College

By 1997, the computing system used by NCCCS, never able to adequately support the larger

community colleges, was unable to meet the state reporting requirements.

Designed to support only the administrative functions of the colleges, colleges were using it

as a management information system to support decision making. At each college, separate

databases stored employee and curriculum information. Student data was split in two

databases – one for traditional students and the other for continuing education students.

This disparate data resulted in inaccurate and redundant data and frustrated students.

Continuing education students, for example, were not recognized as students in the college-

they weren’t in the “college student” database! In 1997, a survey of college business

managers in the state showed that nearly 80 percent of those responding supported

investigating other options for administrative computing systems.

The college went through a series of activities which finally culminated in installation of a

CRM solution. The activities stated as early as 1997 and the things went on smoothly till

2003 when a disparity was marked in the system of accounting.

A major disparity was discovered between the accrual-based accounting system of the

Datatel Colleague software and the cash-based system required by the State of North

Carolina (Olson, 2003). This disparity delayed implementation of the systems in which the

AR/CR issue caused problems. The implementation schedule for Phase II was revised from

two to three college groupings of 14 (2A), 18 (2B) and 18 (2C) colleges, with the planned end

date extended to June 30, 2007 (State of NC Information Technology Services, 2004).

The Phase I colleges completed the Pilot test of the AR/CR System in October 2004 and the

system and documentation were approved six months later. The Phase 2A Student System



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“Go-Live” was scheduled for completion in July 2005 for all implementation activities. The

Phase 2B colleges began their initial Student System activities in March 2005, with a planned

“Go Live” scheduled for student registration in July 2006 for the fall, 2006 semester. The

Phase 2C colleges began implementing the Student System in March 2006 with a planned

“Go Live” scheduled for June 2007 (State of NC Information Technology Services, 2004).

As of now the status report shows a compliance of all the timelines for the colleges.

The Student System as a CRM System

To support the goal of student-centered learning, the student information system features a

streamlined application process that allows anytime, anywhere registration with a date-

driven set-up to support traditional and distributed learning offerings.

Student services access is provided, and students can access and update their information

without requiring assistance or service from a staff member unless problems arise. In

addition, comprehensive date tracking maintains all history and status changes with student

records available via the web. All transactions are immediately reflected in the database and

in related processes (such as a student dropping a course and immediately having financial

aid recalculated). Information about students and employees is accessible to all functions

(with appropriate security).

With the elimination of multiple databases and resulting duplicate records, the student view

is no longer fragmented across the organization. Instead, student data is stored in one place

on a single system. This data integration increases coordination among functional areas and

synchronizes processes, thereby improving customer service. Information about all colleges

can be collected and stored centrally in the data warehouse. This central repository

accommodates information retrieval and reporting for both analytical purposes such as data

mining and for operational tasks such as scheduling and registration. All systems utilize

electronic forms and workflow instead of paper forms that must be carried or sent between

offices. This enhanced efficiency improves speed, customer service and satisfaction (NCCCS,

1999).

University of Ottawa, Innovation of the Student Information System (ISIS)

This university too decided to launch a CRM solution and had floated a RFP for the same.



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Arizona State University

The university has a Student Information System in place since 1980 and was presumably

serving the purpose well but in 2006 the governing body decided to revamp the system to

meet up the challenges of the present day. It planned to replace the Student Information

System (SIS) and HR/Payroll system, at an anticipated five year cost of $23M, licensing the

software from the existing ABOR contract for Northern Arizona University (NAU).

The university was very meticulous in the planning part and decided to follow a set of

Industry Best Practices. ASU decided to follow “The Sweet Sixteen” - best practices for the

ASU ERP Replacement:

Best Practice 1 - Executive management endorses and supports the SIS and HR/Payroll

Replacement Project by providing adequate funding and prioritization.

Best Practice 2 – Executive Management will remain actively involved throughout the

implementation through an executive steering committee (monthly) and through executive

briefings (quarterly).

Best Practice 3 – The SIS and HR/Payroll Replacement Project implementation

responsibilities should be shared between the information technology department and

functional areas where the software is being implemented. This is a University Project.

Best Practice 4 – Executive management should be cognizant about ASU’s ability to adapt

the organizational changes that occur when the new software is implemented.

Best Practice 5 – A project manager will be assigned full-time to the implementation.

Best Practice 6 –The project team composition will represent all functional areas where the

software will be implemented.

Best Practice 7 – Project team members are full time on the project and normal job

responsibilities should be reassigned to other employees for the project duration. Backfill

budget will be provided for departments providing staff to the project.

Best Practice 8 – Project team members will receive training on how to work as a team on a

project before implementation begins.

Best Practice 9 – Support when modules come live will be proactive. Support staff will be on

site with key offices during go-live. The project team will “hold hands” with new SIS users

during go-live.



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Best Practice 10 – A separate dedicated work environment specifically created for the

project team is required. Both functional and technical project staff will be co-located.

Best Practice 11 – All employees who will implement and use the new SIS system will

receive thorough training.

Best Practice 12 – Executive management should help employees network with peers at

other institutions undergoing similar implementation initiatives.

Best Practice 13 – It is often necessary for an institution to change its administrative

processes to fit the software. ASU will adapt a philosophy of using the software out of the

box or re-engineering a business process before changing the SIS software.

Best Practice 14 – Outside consultants will be used to facilitate implementation efforts and

do knowledge transfer. ASU will retain ownership and control of the implementation

process.

Best Practice 15 – Implementation information should be continuously communicated to

the campus community. Multiple communication modalities will be used. Project team

members will have regular meetings with their functional offices to report back and share

what is happening in the project office.

Best Practice 16 - Conversion of data from the old software system to the new and

identifying and implementing reporting needs will begin early in the implementation

process.

Implementing the Northern Arizona University (NAU) system with the minimum set of

changes possible was decided to be the fastest, most cost effective way to acquire a new SIS

for ASU.

A proper timeline was also defined for the process:

Fig. 10: Project Management Timeline

Regents Meeting February 2-3, 2006

After much deliberation a cost break

depicted as follows:

Table.2: Cost Structure of the proposed SIS

Meeting February 2-3, 2006, Agenda Item 23



Project Management Timeline for SIS-CRM implementation at ASU. Source:

3, 2006, Agenda Item 23, Page-07.

After much deliberation a cost break-up of the project was also presented which can be

2: Cost Structure of the proposed SIS-CRM implementation at ASU. Source: Board of Regents

Agenda Item 23, Page-08.



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CRM implementation at ASU. Source: Board of

up of the project was also presented which can be

Board of Regents



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Conclusions

This work explored customer relationship management in a higher education setting. The

development and implementation of a CRM project in an US state community college was

examined as were the benefits realized by implementing CRM. These include a student-

centric focus, improved customer data and process management, increased student loyalty,

retention and satisfaction with the college’s programs and services.

As colleges increasingly embrace distance learning and e-business, CRM will become

stronger and more pervasive. Viewing students as customers provides a competitive

advantage for higher education and enhances a college’s ability to attract, retain and serve

its customers.

In the Indian context too almost all colleges today have a website but the full potentials still

remain untapped and the focus remains more using it as marketing tool rather than using it

as a comprehensive CRM solution to enhance customer satisfaction. This would not only

help them enhance the satisfaction level of current customers but also aid to generate a

positive word-of-mouth and get more prospective entrants.

Enhanced CRM programs not only help students but have quantifiable benefits for the

colleges too. In the case of DePaul University, using the CRM framework used by the college,

an email campaign was a survey was conducted that identified students who were

experiencing stress during their first year. Receiving a 50 percent response to the survey,

the university was able to use the information to identify students who were considering

transferring or dropping out of the university. A second email went to program

administrators, complete with the information about the students and their particular

stressors. This information enabled the staff to intervene immediately to get students back

on track- and resulted in a four percent lift in student retention.

Thus if used with prudence and planning a CRM solution can help colleges and universities

gain significantly on the front of student satisfaction and gain better image which further

adds to its image and helps it get more enrollments. The favorable Word-of-Mouth has a

tremendous effect these days especially with the factors of www and communication

integration.



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Scope of Further Study

The present study delved in the area of CRM implementation and tried to bring about a

framework for optimum support to service organizations here the focus being towards

educational institutions.

A combination of past studies for reference and ongoing work with primary research was

used to decide a proposed framework for CRM implementation in educational institutions.

After this study scope still exists in this area to study the impact of CRM strategies to be

implemented in case specific instances.

This study can provide a very good platform to any such study that is planned in this sphere

of CRM especially in the Educational Sector.

*****



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References:

• http://www.businessballs.com/changemanagement.htm accessed on 10/01/2008.

• www.emeraldinsight.com/1065-0741.htm accessed on 31/11/2007.

• www.depaul.edu accessed on 09/01/2008.

• www.crmguru.com accessed on 09/01/2008.

• www.oracle.com accessed on 12/01/2008.

• http://www.emeraldinsight.com_Insight_ViewContentServlet_Filename=_published_eme

raldfulltextarticle_pdf_1650230103 accessed on 30/11/2007.

• American Association of Community Colleges (2003), “Community colleges past to

present”, available at:

www.aacc.nche.edu/Content/NavigationMenu/AboutCommunityColleges/HistoricalInfor

mation/PasttoPresent/Past_to_Present.htm accessed on 01/12/2007.

• http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=101&sid=10898775-fb62-4fe4-9afb-

3152a86b0681%40sessionmgr103 accessed on 01/12/2007.

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on 30/11/2007.

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interactive.com/index.aspx?Lang=en&Highlight=&StoryID=162&ReportID=158&MainPage

=renderContent#top accessed on 29/11/2007.

Bibliography:

• “CRM at the Speed of Light” by Paul Greenberg, Tata McGraw Hills Publication, 3rd

Ed.,

2007.

• “Corporate Communications- A 21st Century Primer” By: Fernandez Joseph, Printed

by Response Books, 2006.

• “Marketing Management” 12th Edition By: Kotler Philip and Keller K L, Printed by

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