Managing Customer-Centric Information

Abstract

Despite a long history of business-orientated information and communication technology (ICT) deployment, contemporary organizations continue to struggle with customer-centric implementation of new technologies that are profitable and contribute to sustainable service business success. This chapter reviews the difficulties inherent in using ICTs to manage customer-related information, and identifies the particular challenges for customer-centric deployment of ICTs. It provides a model of different levels of customer centric information use in organizations which helps understand how companies can become more customer centric in their information use. It reviews implications for future research in this emerging area and concludes that the challenges of ICT deployment and use must be addressed with an uncompromising focus on customer value as the central principle of both ICT design and deployment, and of information management in service organizations.