2021

Electronic customer
relationship
management

NAME-VATSAL NITINKUMAR SHAH FACULTY NAME – VIJAY SIR

PRN - 21030144013
Q1 - Why CRM is necessary for survival and business development in
today’s world? What is Relationship Marketing? Explain its concepts
and its need with suitable live examples if possible.

In simple terms, CRM is a strategic approach allowing you to manage your

company’s relationship with customers or potential customers and all the data
associated with it. Over the course of time, and as your business grows, data
streams from different sources, such as sales, customer support or social media
monitoring, grow in volume. CRM applications enable you to better manage that
data, use it to analyse and forecast trends and customer behaviour, and embed it
in your future business strategy. As a result, CRM offers you an overview of your
customers and your business in relation to business goals, profitability, and sales.
More importantly, CRM empowers you to build positive customer experiences
based on relevant, real-time information that matters for your business.
Customer relationship management is a process implemented with the help of
CRM systems. CRM systems are cloud-based tools designed to gather, manage,
and analyse data with the intention to turn it into useful business information that
drives decision-making, affects change, and impacts performance. CRM
applications have, traditionally, been used as sales and marketing tools. But, as
businesses shift their focus to the customer experience and while customers can
engage with the company in multiple touch-points across different channels,
CRM systems are becoming an integral component of customer service as well.

When it comes to CRM systems, there are many available options to choose from.
It’s worth considering, however, which of these systems better suit your needs
and whether they integrate with each other. It makes sense to manage all
customer-related data from the same place in order to get a holistic view of the
overall experience. If, for example, you use Zendesk as a customer service CRM
tool and Survey pal as a customer feedback management tool you need to have
the option to integrate one to the other to understand how your customers feel
about the quality of service they received

The term Customer Relationship Management is very popular in business settings

and for good reason. Ultimately, Customer Relationship Management, or CRM,
improves the customer’s overall experience by enabling you to better manage
direct interactions, from sales to customer service and marketing. CRM enhances

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the bottom line and can, therefore, determine profitability, loyalty, and overall
success.

Importance of Customer
Relationship Management
Customer Relationship management is the strongest and the most efficient
approach in maintaining and creating relationships with customers. Customer
relationship management is not only pure business but also ideate strong personal
bonding within people. Development of this type of bonding drives the business
to new levels of success.
Once this personal and emotional linkage is built, it is very easy for any
organization to identify the actual needs of customer and help them to serve them
in a better way. It is a belief that more the sophisticated strategies involved in
implementing the customer relationship management, the more strong and
fruitful is the business. Most of the organizations have dedicated world class tools
for maintaining CRM systems into their workplace. Some of the efficient tools
used in most of the renowned organization are BatchBook, Salesforce,
Buzzstream, Sugar CRM etc

Looking at some broader perspectives given as below we can easily determine

why a CRM System is necessary for survival and business development in today’s
world

1. A CRM system consists of a historical view and analysis of all the acquired
or to be acquired customers. This helps in reduced searching and
correlating customers and to foresee customer needs effectively and
increase business.
2. CRM contains each and every bit of details of a customer, hence it is very
easy for track a customer accordingly and can be used to determine which
customer can be profitable and which not.
3. In CRM system, customers are grouped according to different aspects
according to the type of business they do or according to physical location

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 and are allocated to different customer managers often called as account
managers. This helps in focusing and concentrating on each and every
customer separately.
4. A CRM system is not only used to deal with the existing customers but is
also useful in acquiring new customers. The process first starts with
identifying a customer and maintaining all the corresponding details into
the CRM system which is also called an ‘Opportunity of Business’. The
Sales and Field representatives then try getting business out of these
customers by sophistically following up with them and converting them
into a winning deal. All this is very easily and efficiently done by an
integrated CRM system.
5. The strongest aspect of Customer Relationship Management is that it is
very cost-effective. The advantage of decently implemented CRM system
is that there is very less need of paper and manual work which requires
lesser staff to manage and lesser resources to deal with. The technologies
used in implementing a CRM system are also very cheap and smooth as
compared to the traditional way of business.
6. All the details in CRM system is kept centralized which is available
anytime on fingertips. This reduces the process time and increases
productivity.
7. Efficiently dealing with all the customers and providing them what they
actually need increases the customer satisfaction. This increases the chance
of getting more business which ultimately enhances turnover and profit.
8. If the customer is satisfied they will always be loyal to you and will remain
in business forever resulting in increasing customer base and ultimately
enhancing net growth of business.

In today’s commercial world, practice of dealing with existing customers and

thriving business by getting more customers into loop is predominant and is mere
a dilemma. Installing a CRM system can definitely improve the situation and help
in challenging the new ways of marketing and business in an efficient manner.
Hence in the era of business every organization should be recommended to have
a full-fledged CRM system to cope up with all the business needs.

Relationship Marketing:

Relationship marketing is a facet of customer relationship management (CRM) that focuses on

customer loyalty and long-term customer engagement rather than shorter-term goals like
customer acquisition and individual sales. The goal of relationship marketing (or customer
relationship marketing) is to create strong, even emotional, customer connections to a brand

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that can lead to ongoing business, free word-of-mouth promotion and information from
customers that can generate leads.
Relationship marketing stands in contrast to the more traditional transactional marketing
approach, which focuses on increasing the number of individual sales. In the transactional
model, the return on customer acquisition cost may be insufficient. A customer may be
convinced to select that brand one time, but without a strong relationship marketing strategy,
the customer may not come back to that brand in the future. While organizations combine
elements of both relationship and transactional marketing, customer relationship marketing is
starting to play a more important role for many companies.
Relationship marketing is a method of building a customer’s trust and loyalty with a brand,
resulting in ongoing sales that increase their lifetime value. Businesses employ this strategy as
a way to create repeat customers, not single-purchase customers. As this results in repeat sales,
all companies should consider using relationship marketing

How Relationship Marketing Works

Relationship marketing is focused on building customer loyalty. This, however, requires that a
business have an existing customer base. With this in place, businesses must get to know their
customers’ preferences, including what products they enjoy and how they use them. Campaigns
are then built to engage the customers continually with new or different products and incentives
that are of unique value to them; these ultimately encourage repeat sales.

To start the relationship marketing process, businesses that do not have an existing customer
base will need to start by building one. Those with an existing user base will need to focus on
understanding their customers. You can do this by analyzing customer profiles and behaviors,
noting patterns and unique characteristics. Seek to understand why customers purchased from
you, what motivates them, and what their goals are. Surveys are a great way of doing this.

Once a business has a good grasp on who their customers are and what they want, they can
then work to build a strategic marketing campaign that revolves around their customers’ unique
interests and behaviors. This is when a business may build loyalty programs that offer discounts
and incentives or send out materials of value for free to encourage ongoing engagement. All
relationship marketing materials should ultimately lead customers closer to a sale.

Once a business has launched marketing campaigns that promote customer loyalty effectively,
sales will increase. This is because relationship marketing not only drives repeat sales, but
customer loyalty generates word-of-mouth referrals, leading to even more sales. It’s important
to note, however, that relationship marketing should always be paired with other types of
marketing that aim to acquire new customers; this allows businesses to refill the sales funnel
constantly.

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Relationship Marketing Strategies
Relationship marketing strategies vary, but they all put the customers at the heart of the
marketing campaign. Top strategies include getting to know your customers and building
campaigns that provide something of value to them, providing great customer service, and
personalizing communications.

Put Your Customers First

No matter what type of marketing campaign you’re building, relationship marketing puts
customers first. This strategy involves getting to know your customers and then building
campaigns around them and their interests. Rather than giving customers a sales pitch, it gives
customers something of interest or value to them.

For example, a restaurant may send loyalty program members a gift certificate on their birthday
to be used within their birth month. Not only does this encourage repeat business, but it makes
the customer feel uniquely valued.

Give Customers More Than What You Sell

People have many options when it comes to businesses they choose to buy from. The
businesses that are the most successful know that they need to give customers more than the
product or services they sell; they need to offer care, interest, and concern. This makes it easy
to create loyalty, which in turn grows future sales.

The classic, longstanding example of this is airlines giving free upgrades to loyalty members
without them requesting it—making them feel like VIPs. For airlines, it incentivizes customer
loyalty at no additional cost to them. For members, it gives them a better in-flight experience
without the price tag. This encourages repeat business.

Personalize Communications & Offers

Successful relationship marketing requires businesses to know their customers as individuals.
To speak to them as such, they group them by interests or habits―often referred to as market
segmentation―and craft messages that resonate with them.

For example, a dog grooming business may learn that some of its customers appreciate frequent
grooming discounts while others like to learn about the groomers. Therefore, it offers coupons
to some while emailing out groomer bios to others.

Provide Great Customer Service

Customer service is an opportunity to build positive relationships with customers. Typically,
customers reach out when they have an issue, so by providing great customer service that helps
customers, businesses can build or rebuild relationships.

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For example, a clothing company sends a customer the wrong size shirt. Once notified, they
send the correct item promptly with expedited shipping along with a coupon code for a discount
on a future purchase.

Pros & Cons of Relationship Marketing

Overall, relationship marketing is something most businesses should try to build into their
marketing strategy, given that it’s a cost-effective and sustainable way of increasing sales.
However, there are downsides, such as the need for an existing customer base, additional time
to market strategically, and the time it takes to get to know customers.

Pros of Relationship Marketing

Here are the pros of relationship marketing:

Cost-effective: Relationship marketing can be part of any marketing campaign or

communication with customers, so it’s something businesses are already doing—but perhaps
not as strategically as they could be. It doesn’t typically require a major financial investment
to build relationships with customers, which makes it a cost-effective marketing strategy.

Sustainable: Relationship marketing seeks to create long-term customers as opposed to short-

term or one-off marketing campaigns. It also creates loyal customers who may recommend
your business to friends and family, providing you with additional marketing at no cost.

Increases customer lifetime value: Ultimately, relationship marketing drives long-term sales,
increasing your customer lifetime value. This increases profits without the time and money
investment involved in acquiring new customers.

Cons of Relationship Marketing

Here are the drawbacks of relationship marketing:

Requires a customer base: Much of relationship marketing is limited to those who have an
existing customer base. While every business will benefit from taking a customer-centric
approach to marketing, relationship marketing seeks to generate repeat business from existing
customers, so only businesses with an established clientele can use it fully.

Time investment: The more strategy involved in marketing—as is true for relationship
marketing—the more time it will take to build and launch. This can mean added upfront labor
costs, not to mention the time required to craft effective campaigns.

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May be difficult to understand customers: The challenge in relationship marketing is that even
with an existing customer base, not all businesses truly know their customers. Those who have
a hard time connecting with customers will find it difficult to learn about their interests,
preferences, and motivations—all of which are key to relationship marketing campaigns.

For most businesses, the pros of relationship marketing far outweigh its negatives. Even with
the added time that it may take to build and implement relationship marketing campaigns—as
well as the challenges involved—businesses will be more likely to achieve long-term sales and
growth cost-effectively with relationship marketing in place.

Examples of Relationship Marketing

Lay’s: ‘Do Us a Flavor’

Lay’s, America’s top potato chip brand, took relationship marketing to new
heights when it launched its “Do Us a Flavor” campaign, which invited the public

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to get involved in the process of creating and choosing new chip flavors. It did
this by asking customers to submit their own unique flavor ideas. The top ideas
were manufactured, then Lay’s once again asked customers to choose their
favorite from the bunch.

This is a great example of relationship marketing as Lay’s gave its customers

massive creative control of its product. This created a deep feeling of ownership
among buyers, which resulted in deep loyalty to the brand. Not only did buyers
choose Lay’s because of the flavor, but they also chose it because of the
investment the brand put in them as consumers.

Q2 - What do you understand by Organizational Structure? Which

structure would you recommend for food industry and pharma sector
in current scenario? Explain with suitable examples (preferably live, if
possible) along with reasons.

First and foremost we must remember that an organisation structure is a result of

the organising process. The organisation structure consists of the various jobs,
departments and responsibilities in the enterprise coupled with the definition of
the extent of control, management and authority.

Organisation is not an end itself, but a means to end of business performances

and business results. Organization structure is an indispensable means; and the
wrong structure will seriously impair business performance and may even destroy
it. Organization structure must be designed so as to make possible the attainment
of the objectives of the business for five, ten, fifteen years hence

It also consists of the relationships between various members of the enterprise.

All in all, an organisation structure is a framework within which managerial and
operating tasks are performed. This is because it defines the extent of
management or the span of management.

We now know that organisation is one of the major functions of management. In

layman terms, one can look at organising as an activity to eliminate chaos and
introduce a systematic functioning in the enterprise. But by organisation

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definition, the organisation helps in establishing authorities, dividing workloads,
assigning responsibilities, grouping tasks and allocating resources.

This is of utter importance because once the plans have been laid there is a need
to allocate resources, divide tasks, workforce, ensure optimal utilisation of
resources etc. so that the objectives are fulfilled. Further, it facilitates the
collective working of the various members of the enterprise in an ordered manner.

Also, organisation involves defining various roles that need to be filled by

suitable employees and establishing relationships between these defined goals to
eliminate ambiguities in performance. In turn, this groups the activities clarifies
the amount of power and authority in the hands of different employees and
clarifies the responsibility for various activities within the enterprise.

In a nutshell, an organisation can be defined as a process that defines the resources

as well as allocate them, coordinates human efforts and integrates both in order
to achieve the defined goals.

An organization structure is a set of planned relationships between groups of

related functions and between physical factors and personnel required for the
performance of the functions. The organization structure is generally shown on
the organisation chart. It shows authority and responsibility between various
positions in the enterprises by showing who reports to whom. Organization
structure lays down the pattern of communication and coordination in the
enterprises.

Importance of Organisation
Organisation brings adaptability to the table for any enterprise. It helps in a
smooth transition in accordance with the dynamic business environment. To point
out, this is achieved by facilitating growth and survival. The importance of
organisation is highlighted as follows;

Benefits of Specialisation:
Organisation assigns work in a systematic manner to the diverse employees
within an organisation. It ensures that suitable work is handed out repetitively to
an employee who is a good performer in his field. An employee working regularly
in a specific area gains invaluable experience in the long run. Consequently, this
leads to specialisation.

Clarity in Working Relationships

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As discussed before, organisation induces accountability by defining
relationships among the employees within an enterprise. This is done by defining
whom an employee is accountable to. In effect, it provides an ordered flow of
information and instructions. Furthermore, this also helps in clarification of the
extent of authority, responsibility and provides for a hierarchy.

Optimum Utilisation of Resources

Organisation helps in optimum utilisation of financial and human resources. It
not only aids in the proper assignment of jobs to suitable employees but also keeps
track that there is no waste of resources and efforts due to duplication of work.

Effective Administration & Governance

Another important feature of organising is that it ensures that the jobs are clearly
defined within an enterprise such that there is no duplication and wastage.
Coupled with, facilitating the clarification of work relationships, it promises
effective administration.

Development of Personnel
Assignment of jobs to suitable personnel is an important step for the organisation.
This delegation of jobs helps in the induction of creativity in managers. This
happens because, with the help of delegation, a manager not only looks to reduce
the workload but also discover new ways of getting the tasks done.

Further, this gives them the tie to explore areas for growth of the company. From
the employee’s perspective, it generates experience and prepares him to face new
challenges which effectively helps him to realise his full potential.

Growth and Expansion

Organisation ensures that the enterprise undertakes new challenges. As a result,
the company grows and diversifies.

Types Of Organisation Structure

At some point, We have likely seen an organizational chart for Any company.
And we can probably guess what it looked like.

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The typical org chart looks like a pyramid, C-level executives at the top with lines
stretching down to middle management and finally staff-level employees.

But not every company functions best with a hierarchical organizational structure.
Many types of organizational charts exist because many types of organizational
structures exist.

Let’s go through the Three common types of org structures and reasons why you
might consider each of them.

1) Hierarchical org structure

2) Matrix org structure
3) Line org structure

We understood three Organisation structure. First We start with

Hierarchical org structure.

Hierarchical org structure

A hierarchical organizational structure contains a direct chain of command from
the top of the organization to the bottom. Senior management makes all critical
decisions, which are then passed down through subsidiary levels of management.
If someone at the bottom of this organizational pyramid wants to make a decision,
they pass the request up through the chain of command for approval, for which a
decision will eventually be returned. A hierarchical structure operates well when
there are few products that are sold in high volume, so that tight control can be
maintained over the design, quality, production, and distribution of goods.

For example, Horton Corporation develops a wildly popular super widget that is
in strong demand in many countries. This widget is the only product that Horton
sells. The president decides to tightly control the quality of this super widget by
producing it in a single, large-scale facility, and selling it through a chain of
distributors. This calls for a hierarchical structure to control all aspects of
production and distribution. The distributors are allowed to engage in their own
marketing activities, so this portion of the business is essentially localized and
not under the control of Horton.

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Advantages of the Hierarchical Structure
A hierarchical system allows a few people to control all aspects of an
organization, which has the following advantages:

• Control orientation. When there are just a few key products being sold, or
there is a specific marketing message to be distributed, the hierarchical
system works well. For example, a high-end women’s handbag
manufacturer will likely need to employ a hierarchical system in order to
closely monitor the design and production of handbags. Similarly, a high-
volume consumer products company needs to maintain a consistent
worldwide brand image, and so needs to control all aspects of production,
distribution, and marketing.

• Career path. There is a clear career path through this type of organization,
with employees gradually advancing through the various levels of
management over a number of years. Those reaching senior positions tend
to have built up massive experience with the company.

• Clear reporting. Since power is so centralized, it is easy to determine who

is authorized to make a decision.

• Specialization. Employees are more likely to have niche positions that

allow them to become in-depth specialists. If their expertise is used
effectively, this means that a company can have a number of centre’s
within the organization where best practices are employed.

Disadvantages of the Hierarchical Structure

Though the higher level of coordination associated with the hierarchical system
is useful in some instances, there are also a number of problems with it relating
to the flow of information, the speed of decision making, and added costs.
Consider the following issues:
• Restricted information. Information tends to flow toward the top of the
organizational structure, so that the management team has a complete set

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 of information with which to run the business. However, the reverse is not
the case. There is very little downward flow of information to the lower
levels of the organization, which tends to cramp any initiatives that might
otherwise originate in these areas.

• Slow decision making. The hierarchical system takes time for management
decisions to percolate down through the various levels of management and
be enacted. If a company operates in a swiftly-changing environment, this
can mean that the business is slow to react to competitive and
environmental pressures, and so can lose market share.

• Added costs. A hierarchical system requires a considerable amount of

corporate overhead to support the senior management group, including
extra layers of management, internal auditors, budgeting and control
departments, and so forth. This can be an excessive burden on profits when
the bureaucracy is especially bloated.

In general, there is a trend away from the hierarchical system and toward a
decentralized organizational structure. This trend is primarily driven by the
speed with which decisions must be made, since many markets are now highly
competitive and require lightning-fast decision making. This does not mean
that the hierarchical system is entirely outmoded – on the contrary, there are
a number of businesses that require tight control over limited product lines,
and which therefore continue to operate well within this structure.

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There Is some Picture of hierarchal org Structure

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Matrix Org Structure

A matrix organisation is a structure in which there is more than one line of

reporting managers. Effectively, it means that the employees of the organisation
have more than one boss!

A matrix organizational structure is a company structure in which the reporting

relationships are set up as a grid, or matrix, rather than in the traditional hierarchy.
In other words, employees have dual reporting relationships - generally to both a
functional manager and a product manager

A matrix organizational structure is most commonly used in companies to

distribute resources and workers across multiple operations. This type of structure
can have both advantages and disadvantages within the workplace.
Understanding the benefits and downsides of a matrix organizational structure
can help you determine if this type of structure is best for your company. In this
article, we will discuss what a matrix organizational structure is as well as the
advantages and disadvantages of this workplace approach.

Advantages

In a matrix organization, instead of choosing between lining up staff along

functional, geographic or product lines, management has both. Staffers report to
a functional manager who can help with skills and help prioritize and review
work, and to a product line manager who sets direction on product offerings by
the company. This structure has some advantages:

• Resources can be used efficiently, since experts and equipment can be

shared across projects.
• Products and projects are formally coordinated across functional
departments.
• Information flows both across and up through the organization.
• Employees are in contact with many people, which helps with sharing of
information and can speed the decision process.
• Staffers have to work autonomously and do some self-management
between their competing bosses; this can enhance motivation and decision
making in employees who enjoy it.

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Disadvantages
A matrix structure may not be well suited for businesses working in a more settled
environment, with set customer requirements. Because of its complexity, and the
need for employees to report to two bosses, it can lead to:

• confusion regarding roles, responsibilities and priorities

• divided loyalties between project teams
• blurred lines of accountability
• difficulties in coordinating tasks or functions
• power struggle between the project manager and the functional manager
• large overhead costs, on account of having multiple managers

The Template Of Matrix org Structure

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Flat Org Structure

Flat organizational structure is defined as an entity where the top management is

in direct contact with the front-line salespeople, employees at the floor levels as
well as the customers. In such an organization leadership is decentralized, and
there is no role and responsibility of the mid-management levels. The purpose of
a flat organizational structure is to have very little hierarchy so that everyone
becomes adept at handling whatever work comes their way.

In a flat organizational structure, the manager has more responsibility as the

number of people directly supervised by him is significant and these people at
lower levels rely on him for support, guidance, help, and direction. This type of
structure is created to empower employees so that they can take independent
decisions. This structure is best for small and start-up organizations as it is
designed to minimize bureaucracy

Advantages OR Disadvantages Of Line Org Structure

Advantages Disadvantages

Less layers leads to better communication Lack of progression opportunities

More autonomy and responsibility for Higher workloads for managers

employees

Employees may feel more motivated, Managers have more subordinates

therefore being more productive

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 RECOMMEND Structure For Food Industry
The food industry involves many stakeholders – e.g. food producers, distributors,
consumers, etc. – we have decided to take the perspective of fast-food chain
restaurants, as these actors are involved in many stages of the food supply chain
and are subjected to constant changes – therefore for them being agile is crucial
but they may find it very difficult to adapt, given the size and scope of their
operation

Parle Agro Company

Here we Studied The Parle Agro Company Organisation Structure And scenario

Company’s Profile

'Parle Products Pvt Ltd based in Mumbai, India has been India's largest
manufacturer of biscuits and confectionery, for almost 80 years. Makers of the
world's largest selling biscuit, Parle-G, and a host of other very popular brands.
Its reach spans even to the remotest villages of India. Many of the Parle products
- biscuits or confectioneries, are market leaders in their category and have won
acclaim at the Monde Selection, since 1971. With a 40% share of the total biscuit
market and a 15% share of the total confectionery market in India, Parle has
grown to become a multi-million dollar company.Parle Agro is a food and
beverage company based in Mumbai, India.

Parle Agro - a trusted name in the beverage industry for agro based drinks.
Parle Agro is a leading Indian Beverage Company, the only Indian transnational
giant with the past experience of having successfully launched leading soft drink
brands like 'Frooti, Appy Classic,Appy- Fizz, Bailley Packaged Drinking Water
& Confectionery brands like Mintrox and Buttercup'. Parle Agro strength is our
people who have worked towards making our presence felt throughout the
country and all over the world through a strong franchisee network and well-
developed strong infrastructure. Parle Agro has its factories located in Silvassa,
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Patalganga, Bhopal, Chennai, Ghaziabad and Hyderabad. At Parle Agro, success
is a habit; where greater heights are achieved through consumer insight, sound
business practices, marketing and sales innovation, with the focus on the
consumer. 'Thinking consumer, Tasting success, Always' - that is what Parle Agro
is all about.

Organisation Structure

in current scenario food industry apply the Hierarchical org structure because A
hierarchical structure is typical for larger businesses and organisations. It relies
on having different levels of authority with a chain of command connecting
multiple management levels within the organisation.

The decision-making process is typically formal and flows from the top down.
This creates a tall organisational structure where each level of management has
clear lines of responsibility and control. As the organisation grows, the number
of levels increases and the structure grows taller.

Often, the number of managers in each level gives the organisation the
resemblance of a pyramid. This structure gets wider as you move down - usually
with one chief executive at the top, followed by senior management, middle
managers and finally workers. Employees' roles are clearly defined within the
organisation, as is the nature of their relationship with other employees.

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