VENDOR TRUST INFLUENCING CRM STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS

Abstract

There is a significant body of evidence that many information systems (IS) implementation projects end in success. Despite numerous IS implementation project successes, there has also been a plethora of failures. This paper examines the impact of vendor trust on customer relationship management (CRM) implementation process. Grounded in available literature on vendor trust and IS implementation theory, a conceptual model was composed to examine the impact of vendor trust on peer influence, top management support, and user participation, which, in return, may impact the CRM implementation performance. Data were collected from interviews of Women Business Centers (WBCs) and Small Business Development Center (SBDC) consultants in North Dakota to test the hypotheses. The results show that vendor trust has a positive impact on peer influence and top management, which positively impact the CRM implementation success. However, the impact of vendor trust on user participation is different, as it has a negative impact on the CRM implementation success. This is due to the nature of CRM system which involves not only internal user participation, but also external user participation. The implications of the results for the study are discussed.