Instruction: Consider the below case study and answer all the Five  questions given at the end: 'The mission of the American Cancer Society (ACS) is to cure cancer and relieve the pain and suffering caused by this insidious disease', said Zachary Patterson, the ACS's chief information officer (CIO)

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Instruction: Consider the below case study and answer all the Five 

questions given at the end:

'The mission of the American Cancer Society (ACS) is to cure cancer and relieve the pain and suffering caused by this insidious disease', said Zachary Patterson, the ACS's chief information officer (CIO).The ACS is a nationwide voluntary health an organisation dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by supporting research, education, advocacy and volunteer service. Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with 17 divisions and more than 3400 local offices throughout the United States, the ACS represents the largest source of private non-profit cancer research funds in the United States.

To support its mission, the ACS must perform exceptionally well in three key areas. First, it must be able to provide its constituents—more than 2 million volunteers, patients and donors—with the best information available regarding the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer. Second, ACS must be able to demonstrate that it acts responsibly with the funds entrusted to it by the public. 'Among other things, that means being able to provide exceptional service when someone calls our call centre with a question about mammography screening or our latest antismoking campaign', said Terry Music, national vice president for Information Delivery at the ACS. Third, ACS must be able to secure donations of time and money from its constituent base. Its success in this area is directly related to providing excellent information and service, as well as having an integrated view of its relationship with constituents. 'To succeed, we need to understand the full extent of each constituent's relationship with us so we can determine where there might be opportunities to expand that relationship', Music said.

The ACS was experiencing many challenges with its current information. 'Our call centre agents did not know, for example, if a caller was both a donor and a volunteer, or if a caller was volunteering for the society in multiple ways', Music said. 'This splintered view made it challenging for American Cancer Society representatives to deliver personalised service and make informed recommendations regarding other opportunities within the society that might interest a caller'.

The ACS chose to implement a customer relationship management solution to solve its information issues. Critical to the CRM system's success was consolidating information from various databases across the organisation to provide a single view of constituents and all information required to serve them. After an evaluation process that included participation from individuals across the organisation, the ACS chose Siebel Systems as its CRM solution provider. The ACS has received numerous benefits from the system including:

•        Increased constituent satisfaction and loyalty by supporting personalised interactions between constituents and cancer information specialists.

•        Improved productivity of cancer information specialists by consolidating all information required to serve constituents into a single view.

•        Increased donations of time and money by helping call centre agents identify callers who are likely to be interested in expanding their relationship with the ACS.

Very few, if any, of the cancer support organisations in New Zealand and Australia have implemented a CRM to date. These organisations offer a range of services, some of which take advantage of the possibilities offered by the Internet. They offer support during treatment, educational programs, patient information, advocacy on behalf of cancer sufferers, and organise fundraising events. Primary among these in both countries is Relay for Life, a team event to raise funds for cancer research. This is a fun, overnight event suitable for people of all ages and levels of fitness where teams of participants complete a relay-style walk or run.

Use of the Internet is encouraged by the Cancer Society of New Zealand. While it publishes a two-page information sheet on the subject, it also cautions against placing too much reliance on general diagnoses or information gleaned from websites. It suggests that anyone using the Internet might wish to talk through the information found with a doctor or other health professional.

 1. How could the ACS's marketing department use operations CRM to strengthen its relationships with its customers?

 2. How could the ACS's Customer service department use operational CRM to strengthen its relationships with its customers? 

 3. Review all of the operational CRM technologies and determine which one would add the greatest value to ACS's business.

 4. Describe the benefits ACS could gain from using analytical CRM. 

 5. Summarize CRM and describe how ACS could use it to increase efficiency in its business.