Given the important role being played by knowledge management (KM) systems in the current customer-centric business environment, there is a lack of a simple and overall framework to integrate the traditional customer relationship management (CRM) functionalities with the management and application of the customer-related knowledge, particularly in the context of marketing decisions. While KM systems manage an organization’s knowledge through the process of creating, structuring, disseminating and applying knowledge to enhance organizational performance and create value, traditional CRM have focused on the transactional exchanges to manage customer interactions. True CRM is possible only by integrating them with KM systems to create knowledge-enabled CRM processes that allow companies to | Knowledge and Process Management Volume 10 Number 1 pp 3–17 (2003) Published online in Wiley InterScience (). DOI: & Research Article Application of Knowledge Management Technology in Customer Relationship Management Ranjit Bose1* and Vijayan Sugumaran2 1Anderson School of Management, University of New Mexico, USA 2School of Business Administration, Oakland University, USA Given the important role being played by knowledge management (KM) systems in the current customer-centric business environment, there is a lack of a simple and overall framework to integrate the traditional customer relationship management (CRM) functionalities with the management and application of the customer-related knowledge, particularly in the context of marketing decisions. While KM systems manage an organization’s knowledge through the process of creating, structuring, disseminating and applying knowledge to enhance orga- nizational performance and create value, traditional CRM have focused on the transactional exchanges to manage customer interactions. True CRM is possible only by integrating them with KM systems to create knowledge-enabled CRM processes that allow companies to eval- uate key business measures such as customer satisfaction, customer profitability, or customer loyalty to support their business decisions. Such systems will help marketers address customer needs based on what the marketers know about their customers, rather than on a mass general- ization of the characteristics of customers. We address this issue in this paper by proposing an integrated framework for CRM through the application of knowledge management technology. The framework can be the basis for enhancing CRM development. Copyright # 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. INTRODUCTION One CRM trailblazer was the gaming company Harrah’s Entertainment, which has successfully CRM is one of the hottest tools in business combined software and human marketing exper- today. But .
