Customer’s Knowledge Acquisition in Web-Based Businesses in Tehran

Abstract

Today with the advent of information technology, internet has provided an opportunity for businessmen to trade. Customer knowledge is one of the success factors of these web-based businesses. Acquisition, facilitation and development of the customer knowledge can ascertain the competitive advantage for the organization. This advanced innovative knowledge can provide the needed infrastructure for upcoming future knowledge. It may also cause continuous improvement of existing products/services or even help the enterprise to produce new products or services.  Therefore, the success and growth of the organization depends on customer knowledge management through which the customer knowledge is used to improve all business processes. Considering the importance of the customers’ knowledge, web-based businesses have to recognize opportunities to collect information from customers and transform it into knowledge, and eventually use this knowledge in business processes. The objective of this study was to determine the amount of customer knowledge management in Web-based businesses in Tehran in 2014-2015. This is a descriptive – applied and quantitative study.  A questionnaire was used to collect data. The study sample consisted of 2064 managers as well as staff of Web-based businesses in Tehran chosen from the development of e-commerce center registration list. The sample size was 341 respondents that were determined according to Morgan and Cochran formula that received and completed the questionnaires. Results showed that the level of acquisition, processing and the use of customer knowledge in web-based businesses in Tehran in 2014-2015 was lower than expected and the distance between the current situation and the desired situation is significant. Based on available evidence and by relying on the views of managers and experts in the field of internet business, it can be acknowledged that yet the customer knowledge acquisition in these companies requires special attention. The results showed that much effort should be done to achieve the desired objectives.