Integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Quality Service Deliver Achievements Challenges and Prospects the Case of Ethiopian Airlines
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Date
2016-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies
must understand in order to remain competitive in business and hence grow and in the
process of delivering quality service, technology plays a larger role. The purpose of
this study was t0 explore the achievements, pinpoint the challenges and scrutinize the
prospects of integrating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) & Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) and analyze their impact on quality service delivery in Ethiopian
Airlines. A structured questionnaire was designed, pre-tested, modified, and self-
distributed to senior executives, employees and customers of the company to capture
data. A total sample of 165 were taken as a respondent. Out of these, 115 were
employees of the company and 50 were customers who have made a flight with
Ethiopian airlines on any route. Quantitative & qualitative techniques were selected to
collect the data. Non-probability purposive sampling was used during the selection of
the sample. The SPSS computer package was used to analyze the collected data.
Feedbacks received from 84 employees and 45 customers were analyzed & the response
rate was 73.1 and 90 percent respectively. The analysis of employee responses revealed
that the integrated systems has improved various functions of different department in
the company by acting as a catalyst to support the tactical planning processes, ensures
the right number and kinds of people at the right place and right time, reduced the
financial cycle closing time and improve the supply chain performance by adding
value to the company. In addition, since the integration, the company is enjoying the
ultimate benefit of all-in-one system that can decrease errors, lower cycle times,
reduces turnaround time, and support management decisions. The findings also
indicated that delivering high quality service increase customer satisfaction, which in
turn leads to high level of customer commitment and loyalty. Several challenges were
also pointed out among which included lack of finance to update and maintain the
systems, lack of expertise in IT to operate the systems, lack of training and
development of staff on the systems. The study also assessed the perception of the
customers about the quality of the service delivered by the Ethiopian Airlines by using
five dimensions of the SERVQUAL model. The result revealed that, in reliability,
tangibles and assurance dimensions, the customers are satisfied, but in responsiveness
and empathy, they feel dissatisfied. This implies the existence of inefficiency in
delivering prompt service, helping customers & responding to their inquiries and
understanding individual customer needs. Finally, the findings are so important to
enable the company managers to have better understanding of customers’ perception
of service quality and employee attitudes toward integrated systems to further
improve the systems and measure customers’ satisfaction & service quality seasonally
to keep the services corresponded with customers’ opinions.
Key words: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management,
Integration of ERP and CRM, Service Quality, Ethiopian Airlines
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Keywords
Enterprise resource Planning (ERP), Customer relationship management, Integration of ERP and CRM, Service quality, Ethiopian airlines