LAPTOPS AND THE MARKETING INFORMATION CHAIN - THE BENEFITS OF SALESFORCE AUTOMATION

This paper considers the impacts of salesforce automation on a large manufacturing company. It describes ways in which laptops can add value to generic salesforce functions (selling, ordering, reporting, servicing, consulting) by ensuring that information on customers, accounts, products, prices, technology, market trends and institutional memory is effectively disseminated. The effects of automation are analysed in terms of six key variables: time management, quality of corporate communications, knowledge management, structural reconfiguration, motivation and corporate culture. The paper concludes that the effects of automation will be multidimensional, impacting on sales performance, quality of service and corporate culture, and that traditional approaches to cost-benefit analysis may not be adequate to assess the long-run benefits arising from this kind of strategic IT investment. © 1990.