Business Technology

A supply chain is an integrated network consisting of an organization, its suppliers, transportation companies, and brokers used to deliver goods and services to customers. Supply chain management (SCM) is the process of working with suppliers and other partners in the supply chain to improve procedures for delivering products and services.
Customer relationship management (CRM) consists of the processes a company uses to track and organize its contacts with customers. The main goal of a CRM system is to improve services offered to customers and use customer contact information for targeted marketing. Businesses know that keeping and maintaining current customers is less expensive than attracting new customers, and an effective CRM system is useful in meeting this goal. Marketing strategies in a CRM system focus on long-term relationships with customers instead of transactions.
Personalization is the process of building customer relationships and increasing profits by designing goods and services that better meet customers’ preferences. It involves not only customers’ requests but also the interaction between customers and the company. You are probably familiar with websites that tailor content based on interests and preferences. Amazon, for example, suggests products users might enjoy based on past browsing and purchasing habits. Customization, which is somewhat different from personalization, allows customers to modify the standard offering, such as selecting a different home page to be displayed each time a browser is opened.
Knowledge management (KM) is a technique used to improve CRM systems (and many other systems) by identifying, storing, and disseminating know how - facts about how to perform tasks. Know-how can be explicit knowledge (formal, written procedures) or tacit knowledge (personal or informal knowledge). Knowledge is an asset that should be shared throughout an organization to generate business intelligence and maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.