An Integration of Marketing with PDM, SCM and CRM

There’s been quite a major change in the concept of marketing, both from the theory and practice points of view (Srivasta, Shervani, and Fahey, 1999). The success or failure of marketing is no longer determined by conventional measures such as sales and market shares. It should also be based on broader marketplace performance such as brand loyalty and financial aspect such as cash flows.

Marketing aims to attract and maintain customers by providing better value than competitors. This value of customer and shareholder is created and maintained by an organization through three business processes known as Product Development Management (PDM), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Thus, it is obvious that marketing is interconnected with business processes. PDM is related to the activities of creating or enhancing solutions for customers. SCM is the process that includes both the acquirement of all inputs and the effective and efficient transformation of those inputs into customer solutions. CRM deals with all activities in building relationship with the customers.

As macro environmental and competitive factors are dynamically changing, an organization must carefully design its business processes and wisely adapt changes. The competitive context has brought marketing paradigm to shift in many ways. A view of focusing on customer functionality has replaced its predecessor which focuses on product. Product differentiation is giving way to the solution customization. Transaction-based exchange is evolving to relationship-based customer intimacy. Competition between organizations is no longer a stand alone competition but it moves to network rivalry. These shifts are also should be absorbed into the business processes. Lehman states that information use and research process give a significant contribution to the establishment and delivery of business processes. I believe that there should be a closed cycle between marketing and business processes (PDM, SCM, and CRM). Information of result achieved in marketing and also its obstacles should be the input of business process enhancement. Srivasta et.al. (1999) say that aspects such as human resource, technology, and finance management are considered as support processes. However, I think human resource is also important since all the activities are done by human. Thus, organization should pay attention human resource-related aspects such as its quality, development, rewarding systems, etc.

Nevertheless, in order to assure the survival and growth of an organization, it has to integrate marketing and business processes, and also supporting processes especially human resources.


Srivasta, R. K., Shervani, T. A., and Fahey, L. (1999). Marketing, Business Processes, and Shareholder Value: An Organizationally Embeded View of Marketing Activities and The Discipline of Marketing. Journal of Marketing, 63(Special Issue 1999), 168 - 169.