Title: Factors affecting the adoption of cloud-based CRM in small and medium enterprises

Authors: Sara Forootani; Neda Abdolvand; Saeedeh Rajaee Harandi

Addresses: Department of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Vanak Village Street, 1993893973, Tehran, Iran Fax: +9821-88047862 ' Department of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Vanak Village Street, 1993893973, Tehran, Iran Fax: +9821-88047862 ' Department of Management, Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, Alzahra University, Vanak Village Street, 1993893973, Tehran, Iran Fax: +9821-88047862

Abstract: Today organisations have a strong tendency to adopt customer-centric marketing strategies to achieve competitive advantages. The ideal approach in the management of a modern business is to provide and sell high-quality products and services to customers. Therefore, organisations must attempt to gain a competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. This can be achieved through the adoption of the latest information technologies such as customer relationship management (CRM). CRM systems have several advantages that have drawn the attention of many companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, the adoption of such technologies is challenging, and needs more study on new technology adoption. Hence this study aims to analyse the effective factors on the adoption of cloud-based CRM systems by SMEs in the Iranian manufacturing and services sectors through the use of 'technology-organisation-environment (TOE) ' and 'technology acceptance model (TAM) '. The results of the field study among 170 IT managers, CIOs, and CEOs of 76 SMEs indicate that organisational readiness, technological benefits, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, quality of service, and marketing efforts are effective in the adoption of cloud-based CRM systems.

Keywords: customer relationship management; CRM; cloud computing; cloud-based CRM; technology acceptance model; TAM; technology-organisation-environment; TOE.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2022.123509

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2022 Vol.28 No.1/2, pp.120 - 140

Accepted: 09 Feb 2022
Published online: 24 Jun 2022 *

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