Impact of Customer Relationship Management as a Strategy for Competitive Advantage in Kenyan Public Universities: A Case Study of Moi University

Abstract

The presence of the information technology revolution and, in particular, the World Wide Web is the opportunity to build better relationships with customers than has been previously possible in the offline world. By combining the abilities to respond directly to customer requests and to provide the customer with a highly interactive, customized experience, companies have a greater ability today to establish, nurture, and sustain long-term customer relationships than ever before. The ultimate goal is to transform these relationships into greater profits by increasing repeat purchase rates and reducing customer acquisition costs. The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of customer relationship management on a company's sales performance and gaining competitive advantage. The investigators carried out a survey aimed to determine the effect of customer relationship management on customer loyalty in Moi University. The study adopted the case study research design and targeted a population of 25,013 broken into 1 vice chancellor, 12 heads of schools in Moi University, and 25,000 students. The targeted population was put into strata of three consisting of the vice chancellor, the heads of schools and the students. The sample size for the students was calculated using fishers formula, giving sample size of 100. Therefore the total sample size was 113. The sampling technique used was purposive sampling technique for the vice chancellor and heads of schools, the students were selected using convenience sampling technique. The data was collected using questionnaires and the interviews. The questionnaires were administered to the students and heads of schools while the vice chancellor was interviewed. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study will benefit the organizations especially institutions of higher learning in understanding certain aspects that could be considered in managing their Customer Relationship Marketing programme, products and services to be imaginative and entertaining.