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

infrastructure such as poor roads, technology infrastructure or limited market transactions enablers such as creditcard facilities.Burgess and Steemkamp (2007:339) have defined emerging markets as ―countries in which PPP-adjusted GDP percapita converted to US dollar and smoothed for three year currency fluctuations is equal to or less than the highestranked country classified as ‗middle income‘ by the World Bank, currently Equatorial Guinea ($19 780).‖In a comparative evaluation of industrialized and emerging markets, Shengdong and Xue (2011) suggest thatindustrialized markets are politically stable and have a highly educated population. They also add that these marketsare highly advanced in innovation, technology, communication and entrepreneurship. On the contrary, according toHough et al. (2003) and Berndt et al., (2005), emerging markets have ―improved educational standards, improvedliteracy and working skills, relatively efficient technology systems, relative political stability, a movement towardsmarket-based economies, and rapidly expanding financial services‖ (Shengdong and Xue, 2011).In light of the above, it is necessary to understand the antecedents of successful CRM from both the industrializedand emerging market perspectives and to garner key insights in terms of similarities and differences.2.2 Antecedents of successful CRM: The industrialized and emerging market perspectivesThe antecedents of successful CRM refer to those CRM practices that must be in place to ensure that the CRM goalsof reduced customer complaints, increased sales, reduced costs and increased customer loyalty, retention andacquisition are met (Eid, 2007). These determinants are the driving forces behind CRM success and organizationalcompetitive advantage (Raman, Wittmann and Rauseo, 2006). They are attributes and variables with considerableeffect on organizational results (Buttle, 2009).