Author(s): Cletos Garatsa, Bongani Innocent Dlamini
Small And Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the development of economies despite a plethora of problems that stifle their growth. The adoption of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of the solutions that can help SMEs to endure and overcome economic hardships. The benefits that can be derived from CRM are too compelling to pass up the opportunity and indeed, the future prosperity of SMEs may lie in CRM adoption. The study unpacked the application of the Technological, Organisational, Environmental (TOE) framework as a guide for the adoption of CRM strategies by SMEs in Kwa-Zulu Natal in 2021. Various hypotheses were tested to ascertain the importance of the TOE framework in the adoption of CRM strategies. A quantitative research method was used to evaluate these factors. Even though environmental, organisational factors are paramount, variables like CRM compatibility and information security which are part of the technological construct and education, stood out as the major driver of adoption. This study therefore concludes that the TOE framework needs to be extended by education and contextualised to the geo-political and social settings of the SMEs under investigation