QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM
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perceived ease of use, and training and support as barriers to CRM adoption. The potential risks
associated with CRM implementation include data security. Annalise reported moderate ease of
use regarding CRM systems and perceives them as useful. Additionally, Annalise believes that
engagement tracking, strategic marketing, and communications resulting from the
implementation of CRM technologies could have implications for outreach, engagement, and
communications.
Cole Alexander
Cole Alexander leads technology efforts for his university in the southern region. He has
previous experience with Salesforce, and his university is currently evaluating the use of
Salesforce for Extension. He defines CRM as lifecycle contact management and client
engagement and serves as the local champion for CRM at his university. Cole states that the
benefits of CRM include contact and data management, as well as email marketing. He reports
varied levels of employee acceptance with a high level of employee resistance. The reasons for
resistance involve change management and digital literacy. Cole states that the critical success
factors include strategic organizational planning, leadership commitment, and perceived
usefulness. Additionally, he states that perceived ease of use and leadership commitment are
criteria for technology adoption. Cole is currently engaged in pre-adoption strategies such as
communicating across the organization, strategic organizational planning, and evaluation. The
barriers to adoption are reported as change management, training and support, employee
resistance, and digital literacy. He reports that CRM systems have a moderate ease of use and are
perceived to be very useful. Currently, the university uses various ad hoc systems, and this is
also considered to be an alternative approach to CRM implementation. Cole reported potential
risks, such as adoption and implementation failure, and poor data management. Cole states that
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