Ghulam Hasnain

Introduction and Background X-cite by Alghanim Electronics is a multi-brand electronic retailer in Kuwait that sales about above 300 brands worldwide. Alghanim Electronics raised as one of the leading private equity firm in UAE with important existence in above 40 countries globally. Alghanim Electronics is a subsidiary of Alghanim Industries that is a multibillion dollar conglomerate with more than 30 businesses which includes strategic business units like automobiles, engineering services, food and beverages, industrial engineering, consumer goods and other services. Company have total workforce of more than 14000 employees. Alghanim Electronics falls under consumer SBU. X-cite by Alghanim Electronics is driven by a motto which is “where technology meets excitement.” Multi brand electronic store have 21 retail outlets including 5 stores in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Company sale products both online and offline, where company outlets are inspired by the concept of Apple Store which provides contemporary environment and customer friendly layout to provide exceptional shopping experience to customer. X-cite by Alghanim Electronics beliefs on maximizing customer touch points through highly trained sales force which provides superlative experience to the shoppers. Company offers services of free delivery and installation which makes Alghanim Electronics as an essential part of customer convenience. X-cite significantly emphasizes on e-commerce in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia making one of high traffic websites in Kuwait amongst people searching for new gadgets and consumer appliances. Ethical Approach CRM is widely applicable X-cite which is used to process customer orders and improve relationship with customers including after sales supports. Orders being processed online are processed in company CRM at X-cite where customer database including customer name, billing address, credit card information, delivery address and contact details are saved. All orders are executed on a company CRM which is made inhouse by the company and used by stores nationwide. For CRM, X-cite operates on the model of platform as a service where X-cite can customize the application on the platform of Amazon web services (AWS) CRM pledges to create mutually beneficial relationships that improve the customer experience and loyalty (Nguyen & Mutum, 2012) (Frow, Payne, Wilkinson, & Young, 2011). Yet, researchers report that businesses continue to use advanced technologies in CRM for their benefits (Jayachandran, Sharma, Kaufman, & Raman, 2005), and with less concern for the consumers (Haenlein, 2017). Hence, there is a growing awareness of fundamental concerns that have to be addressed if CRM hopes are to be realized (Mukherjee & Nath, 2007). Poor application of CRM and deliberate or unintentional breaches by businesses, as service providers, are sabotaging customer relationships (Payne & Frow, 2013). While investments in CRM is climbing, trust in manufacturers (food industry, pharmaceuticals etc.), retailers and service providers (retail banking, insurance companies etc.) and the media (press, advertising etc.) is declining (Huang & Wang, 2013). The main concern is that implementing CRM may exploit customers’ vulnerabilities instead of developing a balance of power and win–win situations (Wong, Chan, Ngaia, & Oswald, 2009). As a result, new forms of information asymmetry, vulnerability, privacy concerns, and potential causes of distrust are emerging. These challenges are dynamically changing in response to the development of new technologies (big data, internet of things, 5G, etc.) The most prominent ethical issues in the system includes accuracy of information, accessibility of information and ownership of information. X cite CRM is connected through cloud server connected through network. This may increase hidden chances of disclosing customer information to competitors violating privacy of customer. Thus, it is essential for X-cite to maintain privacy and integrity of data to avoid accidental disclosure. Second ethical issue faced by X-cite is access rights which is a high priority for company. X-cite network have implemented firewall to make their system secure from unauthorized access as company CRM is also integrated with intrusion detection system. CRM possess access to the entire customer database, however each users using X-cite CRM is only privileged to access their key accounts to avoid internal data leakage of customer database. Recommendations X-cite should have a disaster management plan where more inclusive approach to recovery, one that includes backup and recovery for both data and systems. It has emerged as an important issue as operating systems can become corrupt, hardware and software can fail, users can make mistakes, natural disasters can strike, and malicious code can significantly disrupt company operations. Manual rebuilding systems from bare metal can take hours, and any disruption in business service is unacceptable, regardless of the cause. X-cite needs to create an information system security policy by working of four myriads which includes (a) access to information system, (b) secured communication, (c) security management and (d) development of secured information system. References Frow, P., Payne, A., Wilkinson, I. F., & Young, L. C. (2011). Customer management and CRM: Addressing the dark side. Journal of Services Marketing, 79-89. Haenlein, M. (2017). How to date your clients in the 21 st century: Challenges in managing customer relationships in today's world. Business Horizons, 577-586. Huang, M., & Wang, E. T. (2013). 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