QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF TAM
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Clarence Carpenter was selected by his Extension director to discuss CRM technologies
as part of this research. Clarence is an IT professional at a university in the western region. His
university currently does not use a CRM system and does not have plans to use one. However, he
defined CRM by both client engagement and customer service. According to Clarence, the
perceived benefits of CRM technologies include engagement and interaction tracking and
database management. Clarence stated that the critical success factors include perceived
usefulness, perceived ease of use, and data security. His criteria for adopting a technology like a
CRM system focus on cost and resources, evaluation (e.g., focus groups), and perceived
usefulness. Some pre-adoption approaches he would consider would be evaluations and vendor
selection. Clarence identified training and support, as well as knowledge and awareness, as
challenges of implementing a CRM system. The university currently uses different ad hoc
systems. There was no opinion on the perceived ease of use or usefulness of a CRM system;
however, Clarence stated that customer insights and strategic marketing and communications
were potential ways that a CRM could better enable outreach, engagement, and communications.
Deborah Anderson
Deborah Anderson is an evaluation specialist at a university in the northeastern region.
Her university currently utilizes Salesforce, and she has a role in the administration of the CRM
system as a local champion. Deborah defines CRM as data management and lifecycle contact
management. She believes the benefits of a CRM system include engagement traction, customer
service, and data management. She has reported low success with adoption at her university,
with low employee acceptance and high employee resistance. Reasons for resistance include
perceived usefulness, change management, and training failures. Deborah states that the critical
success factors of CRM implementation include user buy-in and training and support. She
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