Index of Paper Presentations for the Parallel Sessions - Academy of ...

&Prof Geoff Bick(E: geoff.bick@gsb.uct.ac.za;Ph: +27214061511 C: +27828942452)Professor of Marketing,UCT Graduate School of Business, Cape Town, South AfricaAbstractIn recent years, emerging markets have become the main ―engine of global (economic) growth‖ (Spence 2011, p.8).Whilst the rapid diffusion of its mobile telephony industry has been unprecedented (ITU 2009; Kalba, 2008) andwell documented in the literature (Kalba, 2008), the dearth of empirically based evidence on CRM implementationin emerging markets in general remains undisputed (Kumar et al., 2011).This paper sets out to provide insights into the lessons learnt from implementing a CRM programme in a leadingmobile telephony company in South Africa (SA). The case study draws on data gathered during twenty, one-on-one,semi-structured interviews with CRM strategy developers and implementers within the chosen mobile operator inSouth Africa.The findings illustrate that whilst some of the critical success factors for CRM effectiveness in South Africa may beconsistent with those in industrialized markets, the specificities of the SA market requires CRM adaptation. Thecontingency factors that can affect successful CRM implementation in South Africa include: (1) channel mix(particularly informal channel and social media), (2) operating structure, (3) training and staff recruitment practicesfocusing on service quality, (4) a governance framework and (5) government laws and industry regulations.Future research could include other geographical locations or case studies ijn other industries.Key words: CRM, Relationship marketing, emerging markets, mobile telecommunications