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Book Review
Customer Relationship Management in Electronic Markets
Iyer GR and Bejou D
ISBN: 0-789019-45-0 2003 113 pages The Hawthorn Press Inc, Binghampton, New York
Douglas Beatton
Management Work and Industry Futures, School of Management, Faculty of Business, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane QLD
Neither a beginner's guide nor an academic text, the articles in this book (Iyer & Bejour 2003) broadly address Customer Relationship Management from two perspectives, the customer and the business.
In the context of Business-to-Business or Business-to-Customer transactions mediated by Internet technologies, models offer frameworks for building internet-based businesses based on customer needs and expectations (Iyer & Bejour 2003: 15-31). Issues in developing a loyal customer base are discussed in the context of a model that is return-on-investment focussed but could more adequately consider the individual needs of the business customer (Iyer & Bejour 2003: 31-50).
A comparison of Internet mediated Business-to-Business selling exchanges for industry, corporations and small business offers reasons for exchange success but fails to provide the empirical evidence demanded by astute managers (Iyer & Bejour 2003: 51-67). Little evidence of Business-Buyer-Relationship-Management emerged from a search of academic and business electronic sources, perhaps because this jingoistic offering leaves us to define its nature from an article replete with referencing errors that fails to satisfy the expectations set by its introduction (Iyer & Bejour 2003: 67-84).
The customer centred view of emergent Internet technologies should restore the reader's faith in writers who understand their subject material (Iyer & Bejour 2003: 85-108). Perhaps better placed at the beginning of the book, the authors progressively walk the reader along the road that integrates marketing, information systems technologies and Customer Relationship Management; refreshingly viewed from the perspective of customer benefits.
In less than 100-pages, twelve authors sought to address complex subject material that warrants greater explanation. The book's discussion of Customer Relationship Management may confuse the novice and leave the better-informed demanding of more.
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