How to Make Iranian Banks Customer Oriented with Use of Customer Relationship Management Concepts? Methodology and Comprehensive Architecture

Abstract

This paper focuses on finding solutions to two important questions regarding making Iranian banks customer-oriented with the use of customer relationship management (CRM) concepts: What is a practical architecture for the CRM of a bank that can bring about benefits of CRM to the organization, and what is the method to achieve such architecture? This research uses an Action Research (AR) approach in one of the largest Iranian banks to achieve answers to the aforementioned questions. In brief, it concentrates on the AR cycle and its reflexes. In the plan stage, extended literature review, pioneer banks studies, and benchmarking provide a preliminary plan. Later, in the act stage this plan can be confirmed, extended, or customized based on more precise examination of the organization, managers and employees’ interviews, and customer opinion surveys. In the check stage, university and bank experts will review the plans and in the last stage of the cycle, reflected results, lessons, and experiences that help system design in the second bank will be discussed. The efficient method of achieving the CRM architecture (which in the beginning we had only general knowledge about) as well as the improvements that can be done based on experts’ opinions in order to receive more applicable results, are among the issues that will be discussed in this paper.