INFLUENCE OF CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS ON SERVICE QUALITY OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN KAKAMEGA CENTRAL SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Achieving competitive advantage and improving organizational quality service have become the key goal that business firms are struggling to attain. This study therefore sought to investigate the effects of customer relationship management systems on quality service of Commercial Banks in Kakamega Central Sub-County, Kenya. The study was anchored on the Dynamic Capabilities Theory. The study adopted descriptive survey design. The study population comprised of all the licensed commercial banks in Kakamega Central Sub-County, from which a representative sample of 10 commercial banks was drawn. Three (3) senior officers (branch manager, operations manager and customer relations manager) were further drawn from each of the sampled 10 commercial banks to make a total of 30 officers. The main study instrument was a questionnaire which comprised of Likert-type scale questions on the main variables of the study. The data was analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Hypothesis testing was done by use of regression and correlation analysis. Validity was checked during piloting to ensure all the items in the main study were functioning. Moreover, to ensure validity of instruments, content validity was established pilot testing process was used to test reliability comparing with Cronbach’s Coefficient of which yielded an alpha of 0.799. The findings revealed that technological innovation, customer relationship management system and organizational structure had statistically significant influence on quality service of commercial banks in Kakamega Central Sub-County Kenya and tests for significance also showed that the influence was statistically significant. Findings revealed that 35.7 percent (R 2 =0.357) of the variance in quality service may be explained by customer relationship management system accounted for 81.3 percent (R 2 =0.813) and organizations structure at 37.1 percent (R 2 =0.371). The regression results indicated that technological innovations, customer relationship management system and organizational structure had positive and significant relationships with the quality service of commercial banks in Kakamega Central Sub-County, Kenya. The study recommended that: the management of commercial banks should invest more in technological innovations to ensure all the banking operations are informational technologically compliant; commercial banks should invest in training employees especially the front officers on customer relationship management since it positively affects quality service and there was need of flexible organizational structures that facilitate decision making and improvement of communication through the reduction of boundaries. The managers of commercial banks will use the study findings as a basis of formulation of policies on strategy changes that can enhance their quality service. The academicians and researchers will find the study useful in that it contributes to academic literature and theory by providing empirical evidence for use by educators, scholars and researchers in the survey of strategic management. JEL: G2, M12, L84 Article visualizations: