A Pilot-Testing of Social Customer Relationship Management Adoption in Healthcare Context

Abstract

Social Customer Relationship Management (Social CRM) turns into a popular term which has been broadly talked about in the literature, yet scant attention is given to the factors affecting its adoption in healthcare industry. This study aims to validate the identified factors affecting the adoption of Social SCRM by Iraqi healthcare organizations. Mixed-method design was followed for sample of 8 Iraqi hospitals from surveys, including semi-structured interviews with senior IT and marketing managers from five different hospitals. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyze data and provide the requirements at the initial stage of Social CRM adoption. Findings from both survey and interview have shown that the level of Social CRM adopted by Iraqi healthcare organizations is relatively superficial in the formal integrated Social CRM strategy and policy framework. Additionally, findings of the study have further extended into the developing of proposed practical model to illustrate how Social CRM should be carried out from an organization’s strategic perspective. The developed model of this study was described by the combined three theories TOE, DOI, and institutional theory.