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Unit 7: Delivering Services on the Web

dependent as much on the ability to create new knowledge as on the ability to manage relationships Notes
among partners. In both sectors relationship management has become a fundamental source of
success. (Buyer-seller relationships have always been at the heart of marketing and it seems
obvious that the field of marketing would be able to provide some solutions with respect to
relationship management within technology firms.) Not surprisingly, there is a stream of marketing
known as relationship marketing - often known as the Nordic School of thought. However, to our
knowledge neither ICT nor biotechnology has yet attempted to apply this framework as a basis
for managing high technology innovations in a relational context.

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. Technology innovations management and R&D - often used as ..................
6. ICT Stands for ..................

Caselet Case: SBI helps Customers Shift to eBanking

tate Bank of India has started to give top priority to technology products. “We are not
Sagainst personalized approach. But we want our customers to use some of the facilities
like Internet banking, ATM, e-rail booking etc offered by us. Customers should get a feel
of technology-based products,” Mr Abhijit Datta, Chief General Manager (Chennai Circle).
The bank, he said would shortly be introducing ePayments and salary accounts on the Net.
“These products would help the pensioners,” he added.
To popularize these products, SBI has been conducting special programmes on a regular
basis, he said and pointed out that the customer care cell in each of the bigger branches
help the customers use these products with ease. “We also send out mailers, play CD etc.
It is a handholding exercise,” Mr Datta said.
After decades, the bank is now looking at refurbishing the interiors of select branches.
About 100 branches in Chennai circle are being refurbished.
“The thrust is on retail lending and customer-orientation. Our men have to go out and do
marketing. We have to specialise in sales,” he said.

When asked how SBI proposed to do this and if the employees were willing to move out
and market, he said: “The staff has understood the situation. We cannot be complacent any
more. But there is a lot of difference between the marketing efforts by the private sector
banks and the nationalized ones. We do not engage agents or a third party to market our
products. Our men are in direct touch with the customers. We are more transparent in our
charges,” he explained.
To a query on sizing down the strength with technology in place, he said “actually, it is not
just core banking. Our efforts are now on business process management.”
On inter-connectivity, to facilitate anywhere banking, he said, “40 branches are now
interconnected (all India). We propose to extend it to 250 branches by June 2004 and 500 by
December 2004. Our target is to cover 2,800 branches in all by March 2006. In Chennai
circle, 9 branches have been inter-connected. Another 30 would be inter-connected by
December 2004.”
Source: Hindu News Bureou, thehindubusinessline.com

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