عوامل موثر بر شیوه های CRM در کتابخانه های دانشگاهی

ABSTRACT Factors affecting customer relationship management practices in Thai academic libraries

Academic libraries are currently facing their greatest challenge due to the explosion in tertiary education and academic publications. The alliance of business and universities to create a new paradigm of tertiary education, and the emergence of the virtual university, supported by the virtual library, call into question many basic assumptions about the role of the academic library and the security of its future. Retaining and improving their customer databases and focusing on meeting their customers’ expectations are the only ways for academic libraries to survive in this volatile competitive environment (Cullen, 2001). Competition for customers and resources as well as recognition that the library may no longer be the primary nor the only information source available bring new meaning to the need to promote the library’s value in a crowded arena (Stueart & Moran, 2007). The reviews of literature revealed that customer relationship management (CRM) has been studied and used as part of library strategies for improving the quality of library services. This is because CRM is a widely-implemented strategy for managing organizational interactions with customers. It involves the processes of finding, attracting, and retaining new customers, nurturing and retaining customers the organization already has, enticing former customers back into the fold, and reducing the costs of marketing and customer service. The overall goals of CRM are to create customer satisfaction, trust, loyalty, and retention (Gartner Inc., 2009; Gronroos, 2000; Tiwana, 2001). Recently, there has been increasing interest among Thai academic libraries in using CRM for library services improvement as seen in meetings and conferences that addressed applications of CRM in academic libraries and CRM benefits. The research from Roles of University Libraries in Enhancing the Students’ Learning done five years ago by Tuamsuk, Tulyasuk, Sarawanawong and Dadphan (2005), also suggested that Thai academic libraries had urgent needs to provide more proactive services and integrate the CRM strategy for improving the library services. However, the study by Siriprasoetsin, Tuamsuk, and Vongprasert (2010) found that most Thai academic libraries had no policies on the creation and retention of good relationships with customers. Although there were CRM practices found in some academic libraries such as a study of customers’ attitudes and needs, creation of customers’ profiles, and provision of several options for customers’ communication, most of these practices were related to the traditional library services such as circulation, inter-library loan, and current awareness services. There were few innovative services focusing on customers in Thai academic libraries.

Application of CRM in libraries will add value to library services. It creates confidence and satisfaction among users and will in turn increase the number of users and at the same time bring back former users (Broady-Preston, Felice, & Marshal, 2006; Wang, 2007). However, successful CRM application also depends on a number of factors. Any organization wishing to use it has to understand the various factors in the CRM paradigm in order to establish the framework and mission (Chen & Popovich, 2003). Many academics have studied and compiled factors underlying the success of CRM administration and listed the following as major contributors: information technology, staff, customers, customer management, organizational culture, leadership, organizational strategies, and teamwork (Buttle, 2004; Chen & Popovich, 2003; Combe, 2004). In fact, these factors are the outcome of the CRM administration studies conducted in business organizations. There is currently no study conducted on successful CRM-based administration for library organizations, especially academic libraries which are categorized as non-profit and classify customers as users. The researchers believe CRM administration is a new issue for Thailand and hence, wish to study it in depth and holistically in order to obtain accurate and practical academic information. This study is one part of the research into the development of a CRM model for Thai academic libraries.