Improving Customer Relationship Management Through Business Intelligence

This paper examines empirically the role of business intelligence (BI) in customer relationship management (CRM). Drawing on relevant literature on BI and CRM, the research model for the current investigation proposes that BI approaches of an organisation and its competition influence organisational business strategy which in turn impacts its customer strategy. The model is tested empirically using survey data of 165 respondents from 73 different private and state owned businesses operating in a transitional economy of East Europe. Empirical evidence confirms a key role of BI in CRM through its impact on organisational business and customer strategies development. Such findings make two important contributions. For research, they provide an improved understanding of the factors and processes involved in realising benefits from BI. For practice, they show managers how BI can be leveraged to achieve performance gains through competitive actions. Further research is recommended to confirm and extend the current investigation.