Integration of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) for Quality Service Delivery. The Case of Ethiopian Airlines

Abstract

Service quality and customer satisfaction are very important concepts that companies must understand in order to remain competitive in business. In the process of delivering quality service and meet customers’ need, technology plays a larger role. The purpose of this study was to explore the achievements, pinpoint the challenges and scrutinize the prospects of integrating Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and analyze their impact on quality service delivery in Ethiopian Airlines. A structured questionnaire was designed, pre-tested, modified, and distributed to senior executives, employees and customers of the company to capture data. A total sample of 165 were taken as a respondent. Out of these, 115 were employees of the company and 50 were customers who have made a flight with Ethiopian airlines on any route. Non-probability purposive sampling was used during the selection of the sample. The SPSS computer package was used to analyze the collected data. Feedbacks received from 84 employees and 45 customers were analyzed and the response rate was 73.1 and 90 percent respectively. Since the integration, the company is enjoying the ultimate benefit of all-in-one system that can decrease errors, lower cycle times, reduces turnaround time, and support management decisions. In addition, the findings indicated that delivering high quality service increase customer satisfaction, which in turn leads to high level of customer commitment and loyalty. Several challenges were also pointed out among which included lack of expertise in IT to operate the systems, lack of training and development of staff on the systems. The study also assessed the perception of the customers about the quality of the service delivered by the Ethiopian Airlines by using five dimensions of the SERVQUAL model. The result revealed that, in reliability, tangibles and assurance dimensions, the customers are satisfied, but in responsiveness and empathy, they feel dissatisfied. This implies the presence of inefficiency in delivering prompt service and understanding individual customer needs.

Keywords: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Integration of ERP and CRM, Service Quality, Ethiopian Airlines