Purpose - This paper looks at the issue of perceived ease of use of a web-based customer relationship management system and considers the role of organizational commitment as a possible antecedent.Design/methodology/approach - Data for this study were collected from among managers of a major player in the community banking sector within the E.U. A total of 274 valid responses were obtained from 398 managers. Findings - Results have been mixed and partially conditioned by service providers’ willingness to leverage the possibilities that the technology can provide.Research limitations/implications - The study was limited to a single organization and consequently the results should be generalized with caution. Replication studies with improved measures, in other countries and contexts are desirable.Practical implications - The results can be useful for management, since Web-based customer relationship management systems have been adopted by many service providers in their quest to offer better one-to-one marketing possibilities to their customers.Originality/value - This paper demonstrates the importance of fostering a sense of organizational commitment amongst key service providers as this in turn seems to enable them to overcome many impediments pertaining to technology use.

Purpose - This paper seeks to examine the effect of behavioural inhibition and behavioural activation systems on users’ intention to adopt CRM applications.Design/methodology/approach - Data for this study were collected from among managers of a major player in the community banking sector within the E.U. A total of 274 valid responses were obtained from 398 managers. Findings - Results indicate that individuals with different combinations of BIS-BAS levels demonstrate varying degrees of willingness in adopting and contributing towards the CRM system.Practical implications - The results can be useful for HR managers, who can screen individuals for positions requiring customer interface and effectice use of CRM systems. The need to align employees’ characteristics with CRM goals and strategies is critical to the successful application of CRM systems but has often not been given sufficient attention. Originality/value - This paper demonstrates that individual behaviour can be attributed to different personality traits which in turn can be traced back to physiological as well as psychological origins.

Purpose - Purpose This study identifies perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use as key elements that are critical in encouraging service providers’ intention to use Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Design/methodology/approach - Design / Methodology / Approach The research is grounded in the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Technology Acceptance Model. These are used as a basis for developing hypotheses of the relationships between the variables pertaining to the intention to use CRM systems, among a sample of service providers. Data are collected from a sample of managers in a community bank. Findings - Findings Results indicate that the higher the perceived ease of use, the greater the perceived usefulness and the higher the intention to use CRM. Moreover perceived usefulness is also found to act as a partial mediator between perceived ease of use and intention to use CRM. Research limitations/implications - Research limitations / Implications The study was limited to a single entity and consequently the results should be generalized with caution. Replication studies, that could possibly include additional variables, across other countries and contexts are desirable. Practical implications - Practical Implications The effect of Perceived Ease of Use on employees’ intention to use CRM is supported, highlighting the need for management to devote adequate resources toward developing this aspect. The study is also helpful because it highlights the need for senior management to create the right environment to enhance systems adoption. Originality/value - Originality / Value This paper investigates the interaction among these key elements and their effect on CRM systems adoption within a banking context thereby contributing to better understanding of the underlying links.

This study looks at equity sensitivity and organisational commitment and considers the possible moderation role that managers’ perception of organisational performance may have. Using an equity theory perspective, the constructs of equity sensitivity and organisational commitment, as well as the effect of perceived firm performance, are considered. A research model linking their interaction is proposed. Data are collected from managers of a commercial bank and moderated regression is used to test the hypotheses. Results support a positive effect of equity sensitivity on organisational commitment whereas high or low perceived firm performance is found to have a determining effect on this relationship.

Customer relationship management, better known as CRM, has become synonymous with business practices nowadays. Technology advancement has made it both possible and feasible for organizations to develop individual and intimate business relationships with their customers, irrespective of the size of their customer base or geographic dispersion. Unfortunately research has uncovered a significant number of cases in which CRM implementations simply failed to meet organizational expectations. Moreover, user resistance has been found to be a significant cause for this anomaly.This study aims to fill an existing gap in the literature by identifying a number of salient cognitive and behavioural constructs that, when grounded in a theoretical framework made up of the Technology Acceptance Model together with Equity Theory, can help us to gain a better understanding of the mechanics behind user resistance and identify ways to overcome it.A sequence of five separate yet interdependent studies has been conducted among the managers of a large bank. The studies focus on behavioural activation and inhibition, equity sensitivity, emotional labour as well as users’ perception of CRM systems’ usefulness, ease of use and firm performance. Findings suggest that a lot can be gained by recruiting the right employees and investing in them, in terms of training and empowerment, thereby creating teams of satisfied, highly competent service providers who would be willing to adopt and use their organization’s CRM system to enhance customer loyalty.

Are we living in isolation? Ray Oldenburg postulates that busy schedules impede people from socializing as much as they should; consequently traditional third places have almost disappeared. However there may be a second chance for a new "Third Place". Our aim is to explore two questions conceptually. Has Facebook become the new "Third Place", furthermore is Facebook really a "Third Place"? The theory of the third place is briefly described and this is followed by a description of Facebook. Oldenburg's nine characteristics that qualify a third place are then applied to this social networking site to show that Facebook can possibly be regarded as a third place. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research conclude this paper.