Organizational dissonance: A framework to study information technologies and customer relationship management

Organizational adaptation and the ability to respond to market change have been studied from a wide variety of perspectives. In this research a more comprehensive framework, called organizational dissonance, is proposed that attempts to integrate the organizational, environmental, and technological factors to explain how market responsiveness can be improved. Specifically, the use of Web-based customer relationship management (CRM) technology is increasingly critical to competing successfully in the marketplace today. Yet the key factors influencing success or failure are not well understood, as many firms have failed to meet expectations while others have been able to leverage technology effectively. Four case studies within the financial services industry are examined in the context of literature reviewed from the information technology, marketing, and customer relationship management domains. Based on the results, a framework is proposed as a partial validation of the theory of organizational dissonance.; The findings illustrate several propositions focused on improving the use of information technology in the customer service function including: formally coordinated cross-functional decision making and prioritization of IT initiatives; integrated customer services processes to reduce complexity; the cumulative information technology knowledge within an organization; the competitive intensity within an industry; and the increasing role of product and process digitization. The results demonstrate that enabling technologies can accelerate an organization's ability to innovate, provide a means for incremental adaptation, and signal the need for change.