Knowledge Management And Relationship Marketing Are Crucial For Effective Essay Writing.

Concept of Knowledge Management and Its Role in Relationship Marketing

Knowledge management can be defined as the systematic management that mainly depends upon the organization’s assets mainly for the purpose of the creation of values as well as the meeting of the tactical and also strategic requirements (Hislop 2013). This type of management is mainly believed to contain different initiatives; processes, strategies and system that help in maintain the sustenance and so enhancement of the storage, assessment, refinement, sharing and also creation of different knowledge (Holsapple 2013). Therefore, one can refer knowledge management which mainly helps in maintaining a strong tie to the organization mission and goals and helps in formulation of strategy. It mainly involves the management of knowledge that is very much useful for achieving a purpose which roll creates value for the organization (Fred et al. 2017).

Knowledge management plays a great roll on customer relationship management (Beccera-Fernandez and Sabherwal 2014). Relationship marketing mainly depends upon betterment of the business strategy that helps in gearing a strong bond formation on acquiring, retaining and growing more profitable customers (Khodakarami and Chang 2014). Better a knowledge management controlled and monitored by an organization better will be the relation marketing resulting collaborative business activities between a supplier and customer on a one to one basis for the better purpose of growing the total market a better end user value at a cost which is much reduced (Yim 2015). It helps in providing companies with excellent real time customer service through developing relationship with each and every customer through an effective use of individual account information. Depending upon what knowledge they have about their consumer base they can customize their market offerings, services, messages, programs and Medias (Garrido et al. 2015).

Tesco Company had understood the main foundations of marketing. Therefore they had appointed DunnHumby in order to provide knowledge to them about the customer needs, their main wishes, things of interests and many others. By giving a correct idea after reading the data base from the Tesco Loyalty Card that they have initiated for the consumers, they are able to follow the consumers, demands, their choices, their interest and thereby from this knowledge they are able to introduce their schemes, discounts, memberships, sales and others according to the knowledge of demands. This filtering helps them to earn more loyal consumer base who solely loves the brand as their personal choice. 

Information and communication technology mainly involves any technology that included communication devices and technologies that help to communicate with consumer bases through television, cellular phones, network hardware and software, computer, internet and many others. They are often used in different fields including education, healthcare and also in libraries. This had been excessive used in marketing and business management to communicate with consumer regarding their wishes, interests and demands. Tesco had used the medium to attract its consumers over 10 years. They have published a scheme called the Tesco loyalty Card which had helped them to maintain a strong relationship with its online consumers. Through such scheme they can easily assess the needs and requirements of about 13 million British families. They have used ICT to help in analyzing each and every shopping pattern and thereby fix them an actionable marketing and retailing programs. This scheme helps mainly in targeted communication which is very good aspect of ICT. They have over four million variations of its quarterly customer mailing which helps in ensuring that offers and discounts that are prepared which will be appealing and specifically targeted to for their customers. A proper management by Tesco with the proper utilization of ICT had helped in maintenance of the customer trends, targeted communication, accurately measured promotions, negotiation power, cross selling, management of seasonal peaks and so on.

DunnHumby had been extremely helping in this scenario by proving correct knowledge in every aspect of the consumer base to TESCO. 

The customer relationship management plays a significant role in the success of any given organization (Winston and Weinstein 2016). It has been observed that customer relationship management offers significant numbers of benefits to the organizational success. These benefits are mentioned below:

• Better client relationships
• Improved ability to cross sell
• Increased team coloration
• Improved efficiency in serving clients
• Greater staff satisfaction
• Increased revenue and profitability
• Cost savings
• Less client attrition

Ways ICT Can Support Customer Relationship Management Process in an Organization

Tesco had initiated a system of loyalty card scheme that enables consumers to enjoy basic discounts and offers on every purchase and so tailor discounts and offers according to the products they buy.  This particular loyalty card scheme has exceptionally helped the organization to attain greater customer satisfaction and opportunity for enhanced repeat business.   They have an exceptional system of tailoring the discounts according to the consumer needs and can track the consumer carts and thereby understand each of the consumer personality traits and requirements in life. This particular facility helps Tesco to attain ability to satisfy the consumers. This card holds points, which can be redeemed on next purchases. It also enables the customers to acquire new deals on the basis of the points of the cards. It assists the organization to create customer loyalty that thereby increases the repeat purchasing behavior. Segregating them into micro segment by their lifestyle habits helps Tesco to send newsletter and personalized information along with other marketing programs.  The detailed knowledge will further encourage the customers to engage with Tesco. Hence, one can easily understand that the customer relationship management in Tesco has helped to earn more profits through larger as well as loyal customer base.

Make justified recommendations for the improvement in customer relationship management for a selected organization

      Tesco should try to incorporate more schemes like loyalty card for maintaining a strong CRM. There are certain recommendations, which can be most effective for enhancing the customer relationship management of Tesco, are mentioned below

• Reward Adoption: The CSR program of Tesco is highly customer focused. However, the company needs to focus also on the satisfaction of the staffs, as they are the responsible for the first interaction as well as impression. Therefore, the company should adopt the rewarding framework.
• CRM Communities: Tesco needs to develop a online community where the customers would be able to share their opinion on the products of Tesco. The company should response to their grievances earnestly. It would eventually increase the employee commitment and enhance the customer loyalty.
• Community Development: Tesco needs to improve their brand image through the customer relationship management. In this context, the organization needs to focus on community development. The active participation in the development of the community also encourages in purchasing from the organization as it provides a sense of involvement in the community development activities. 

Public company: National Bank of Abu Dhabi

Private company: Marriott

Volunteer company:  The UAE Red Crescent and Emirates Wildlife Society

Virtual company: AIDO.com

The UAE Red Crescent

Field of activities 

• Provide support in peace and war
• Carry out Red Cross operations
• Dissemination of humanitarian values

Stakeholders

• Donors
• Employee
• Government

Stakeholder’s needs, interest and expectation

	Needs	Interest/expectation
Donors	Full details of the project and a reliable way of payments options (Rcuae.ae 2017)	Show them accurate benefits from their donations that make them to remain associated for future (Rcuae.ae 2017)
Employee	Ethical working environment	Help others in future with technological advancements for better result (Rcuae.ae 2017).
Government	They need information regarding their voluntary plans and projects (Rcuae.ae 2017)	Support the organization with some financial and non-financial benefits

• Donors: High power – Low interest
• Employee: Low power – High interest
• Government: High power – High interest

Field of activities 

• Financial guidance to community
• Establish goof investor relations
• Hosts global; financial events

Stakeholders

• Customers
• Staffs
• Government

Stakeholder’s needs, interest and expectation

	Needs	Interest/expectation
Customers	Provide them finical advice  on their problems	They get proper benefits and take future helps also
Staffs	Work-life balance working environment	Provide their services in times of economic adversity for the nation (Nbad.com 2017).
Government	Customer services and high profitability of the organization (Nbad.com 2017)	Easiness of Trade and Commerce Functions (Nbad.com 2017) Capital Formation and promoting Industries

• Customers:  Low power – High interest
• Staffs: Low power – High interest
• Government: High power – High interest 

Customer’s relationships with “The UAE Red Crescent” and “Emirates Wildlife Society”

Customer’s relationships factors	The UAE Red Crescent	Emirates Wildlife Society
Communication with clients	-Direct communication with donors through social media -Helping affected people directly	Communication with customer through online media
Effective client services	Provision of dignity, respect, equality at the time of providing services (Khan 2015)	Provision of effective services with the help of modern ecological, albeit technological approaches (Azar et al. 2016)
Additional benefits	Clients can contribute their money to needful people by not investing their time through Red Crescent (Khan 2015) Tax relaxation due to noble cause	Clients can contribute their money to environmental concerns by not investing their time through Wildlife Society (Azar et al. 2016)

Marketing strategies of National Bank of Abu Dhabi, Marriott and The UAE Red Crescent 

Marketing Strategies	National Bank of Abu Dhabi	Marriott	The UAE Red Crescent
Marketing orientation	Benchmarking market orientation This helps the bank to find out whether they are performing well compared to other organization (Jumaa and Ahmed 2017)	Customer orientation This customer centric approaches helps the organization to attract more clients	Societal marketing This helps the organization to interact (Rcuae.ae  2017) More clients across the world.   The details of their noble help will be illustrated to their entire world
Client interaction	Directly communication with the clients Telephone calls E-mail interactions Communication through SMS	Feedback forms Online survey regarding their services (Marriott.com 2017)	Direct communication through e-mails
Promotional strategies	Through social media and conventional promotional strategies like press releases and media releases (Nbad.com 2017)	Social media advertisements and free meals offer to the existing clients so that word-of-mouth advertisement can be attained	Social media awareness Formulation of Facebook fanpages Opening Twitter account and YouTube Channels Conducting charity events (Rcuae.ae 2017)

Key issues involved in marketing activities of AIDO.com 

AIDO.com is the one of the leading e-commerce site in United Arab Emirates and all its functionalities are attained through internet and can be considered as a virtual organization.

1. Lack of Face-to-face interaction with customer- Boone and Kurtz (2013) depicts that since all the marketing approach are accomplished through internet starting from placing order to delivery system; hence, direct interaction with the customer is not possible. Customers have to make queries in the website regarding the products.

2. Duplicate contents- Marketers have to research on the fake organization that sells similar products of low quality. Turban et al. (2015) portrays that these duplicate contents may results in low customer retention and poor business approach. Advertisement and long-checkout are also a marketing problem for virtual organizations like e-commerce companies (Boone and Kurtz 2013).

Benefits of Customer Relationship Management in Tesco

3. Optimized products pages- AIDO.com should check whether their website provides the facility of filtering products according to their products types, colours, price range and most recommended items (Turban et al. 2015). Boone and Kurtz (2013) moreover explain that if problem of optimised pages cannot be fulfilled, ease in handling the e-commerce cannot be attained. 

It has been observed that the marketing mix plays a significant part in fabricating organizational strategies, which would ensure the successful business operation. Over the years the marketing mix has evolved and extended from its four usual avenues of business aspects. This extended marketing mix is also known by 7P’s marketing.

 

Figure 1: Extended Marketing Mix

The 7P’s extended marketing mix immensely helps the entrepreneur to adopt most effective business strategies in above depicted seven business aspects. It has been observed that overall all issues are mainly related in these seven business aspects. Therefore, DHH would be most beneficial in the context of acquiring a successful business boost by covering these seven avenues of business.

DHH had extensively used the concept of the extended marketing mix in order to attract customers. They have provided the correct product, which in this case is the maximum luxury during travel and holidaying providing the correct price for the luxury. It has offered a greater customer satisfaction and perceived value from their products. Finalizing the place with the utmost luxury along with the provision of cooks, chauffeurs, attendants, butlers and many others they have tried to serve their customers in such a way so that they can ask for none. The marketing mix has also ensured the convenience of the customers by adopting proper strategy for place selection and service provision selection. The entire process and the physical layout is been planned by the organizers in such a way so that the consumers of the service can have the best time without any complains. The effective process and physical layout has also ensured the operational smoothness throughout the marketing activities.

It has been observed from the above case study that DHH has quite adeptly applied the extended marketing mix in a significant fashion. However, it can be also noticed that the promotional activities of DHH has been quite moderate. Therefore, the organization need to improve their promotional activities so that they can attract majority of the customers. The most effective way to improve the promotional activities are discussed below:

• Social Media Advertisement: The organization must involve into the social media advertisement campaign. The social media platforms offer a greater opportunity for the organizations to reach larger customer base. DHH must use this platform and attract more and more customers through social media campaigning.
• Customer Referral Incentive Program: DHH must initiate customer referral incentive program, where the customer would be provided incentive for referring new customers for t7eh organization. It would encourage the customer to provide more and more customers, which thereby will increase the cutomer base of the company.
• Branded Promotional Gift: DHH needs to offer branded promotional gift to the customers instead of giving normal cards. This gifts have the capability to create curiosity among the friends and peers of the customer. It will create a greater brand awareness among the social acquaintances of the clients.

A number of issues can be faced by the hospitality sectors of DHH. These issues are discussed below:

Recommendations for Improvement in Customer Relationship Management for Tesco

Changing customer expectation: The evolving expectations of the changing demography of the world have created a certain dilemma in overall tourism sector. In this context, the customers are inclined to maintain an electronic contact with overall world through internet, whether they are in tour. Therefore, the DHH needs to introduce most ultra-modern technical equipment so that changing expectation of the customers can be met.  

Security Concerns: The growing trend of condo hotels in different areas need also to be checked and strategies gave to be taken against it. As DHH have large residential hotels, cruises and yatch systems, a concern of security and safety is to be noticed and proper systems should be implemented. In this context, the company needs to undertake proper security measures for ensuring the safety of the customers.

Energy consumption: As DHH offers a lavish lifestyle to their customers; it is likely that the energy consumption will be high. In this context, the increasing environmental concern has forced the tourism sector to reduce the use of energy. Therefore, DHH needs to undertake an economic policy that would reduce the consumption of energy.

Moreover, escalating renovation and construction costs are also too high and needs to be managed strategically.

As we all live of Information in the age explosion, elaborate on the pivotal role played by Information Technology in services marketing management with reference to Distinctive Holiday Homes.

Information technology plays a great role in enhancing the profit margin as well as operational smoothness of the hospital industry. Computer technology mainly helps in three bigger factors like operation areas, guest services and management information. The Information technology has immensely increased the efficiency, flexibility and quality of services that are offered to the customers of DHH (Melian-Gonzalez 2016). The information technology also helps the organization to maintain a proper communication between the staffs of DHH so that the employees would be able to provide better service to the customers.  Not only for operational management, it is also used in tactical and strategic management that empowers the tourism and hospitality management system of DHH to communicate more directly and also more effectively and efficiently with prospective customers and suppliers and also will help to achieve any competitive advantage.

Emirates NBD is the most renowned banking groups in the Middle East. It operates its business in various core business lines as well as retail banking franchise sector. It has more than 220 branches as well as 900 ATMs and CDMs across the world. In the sector of corporate banking, the company is considered as one of the major players. The organization is aimed to make the customers’ life simpler by providing solutions, which will be crucial for fulfilling their financial aspirations. In this context, this particular organization has been considered in order answer the following questions.

Stakeholder Analysis for a Voluntary Sector and a Public Sector Organization

There are several major ethical issues that have corrupted the image of Emirates NBD in the society. These ethical as well as social issues are described below:

Lobbying: As the financial crisis has plagued the banking sector, the government has focused on exclusive reform in the banking sector. In this context, it has been observed that Emirates NBD has created a greater lobbying tactics for attaining benefit from the political parties.

Inappropriate transaction policy: Emirates NBD is a bank in United Arab Emirates that often have been involved in serious debates regarding the recent jailing of the borrowers who have been seen to be borrowed money from the back. The banks are nowadays giving loans to borrowers on the condition of writing postdated cheques at the same money as equal to the repayments that the borrower has to pay. When by any chance, the borrowers are failing to repay, this postdated cheques are issued and when they are bouncing, the borrowers are sent to jail. This is an ethical issue that has been affecting the society in a negative way destroying the social harmony of existing citizens.

Customer Service: Although it is often promoted by Emirates NBD that it highly focuses on the customer satisfaction, in reality the organization has received a number of complaint regarding their service. Moreover, the bank has also failed to address the issue.

Tax Avoidance: The local population of UAE is highly concerned at how Emirates NBD offers the scheme for the rich people that can be utilized for avoiding taxation. It effectively hinders the social structure and operational framework of the government (Cheng et al. 2014).

Corporate social responsibility, generally abbreviated as “CSR” mainly refers to the business practices that mainly involve different initiatives that are undertaken for the assessment and taking responsibility for the organizational practices on the wellbeing of society and environment (Okpara and Iodowu 2013). It has been observed that corporate social responsibility assist the organization to create a sustainable business development. CSR effectively allows the business to engage in social and environmental development with meaningful action and thoughtful action. Especially, CSR helps to commit in the community and environmental enhancement program beyond legislative requirements. It includes anti-corruption practices, maintaining human and labor rights as well as taking environmental responsibility.  

In addition to that, in the current days corporate social responsibility has become a highly critical aspect of the business strategy. The major benefits that have been noticed from the CSR strategy are mentioned below:

• Product safety and decreased liability
• Workforce diversity
• Access to capital
• Reduced regulatory oversight
• Improved ability to retain and attract employees
• Greater quality and productivity
• Increased customer loyalty and sales
• Enhanced reputation and brand image
• Lower operating costs
• Improved financial performance

Nature of Relationships with Customers within Two Selected Not-for-Profit Organizations

Therefore, it can be easily stated that the CSR strategies play significant role in the current business operation.

Emirates NBD has effectively implemented the strategies of corporate social responsibility that involves placing equal emphasis on serving the community. It has focused on greater development of the community. In addition to that, the organization has also concentrated on the sustainable management of the business activities. They have actively taken part in the welfare events by investing into lifestyle improvement of disable people as well as enhancing financial literacy. These activities eventually created a positive image among the customers (Tai and Chunag 2014). They felt that they would be more engaged with the social welfare activities if they engage with Emirates NBD. This way the Emirates NBD has used the corporate social responsibility as an effective promotional activity. The improved brand image has helped the organization to attract and retain talented employees. Enhanced financial literacy among the market has enriched its customer base and sales. On the other hand, the company has also been able to engage in the community development beyond its business spheres.

In the current context, the public pressure has been greatly forced the Emirates NBD to maintain an ethical practice throughout their business practice. It has been often observed that majority of the banking institution have been involved in illegal practice. However, in the current days the public are highly aware of the responsibilities of the banking sector. Therefore, Emirates NBD has been highly influenced by the pressure of public. In addition to that, the revolution of the internet has created a greater transparency. In this era of information, the banking sector has to disclose a detailed information to every stakeholders. Therefore, it has left a very limited opportunity for the organization to partake in any illegal activities.

In this context, published &broadcast media has taken a very influential role to convince Emirates NBD in continuing their ethical and legal practice. For instance, a government owned daily, named as ‘The National’, has indeed played a great role in the establishment of different issues that have recently resurfaced in the banking sectors. There have been recent complaints from customers of different banks that behaviors from the officials are not cordial. In this context, the organization has been forced to provide effective training to its employees that can enhance their standard of customer service. It has also helped the employees to enhance their skills and expertise. A high number of complaints have been based on the loan repayment system that had forced many persons to flee the country or being jailed. This unethical practice has been reported in the daily that had helped people to protest against the law. In this aspect, NBD environment has been pressurized to engage in the financial literacy program. These particular moves enabled the company to earn the trust of the community as well as enhance the communities’ way of managing funds. This way the pressure group has forced the organization to initiate CSR strategies. This had also helped the government to take strict note of the issue and thereby take active steps against banks to put ethical and moral virtues in place (Binali 2017). In this aspect, the organization has been forced to make their dealing more transparent. The transparency has eradicated any chance of corruption and helped to earn back the customer loyalty. This way the published & broadcast media has pressurized Emirates NBD to maintain a lawful and ethical business practice.

Comparison of Marketing Methods in Public, Private, and Voluntary Sectors

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