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Today, workers are spending more hours on the job than ever before. Faced with

a shortage of good jobs, increased competition, demanding executives, outsourcing and

offshorting, and continuous process improvement, many employees find themselves

plugged into work at all hours through laptops, wireless connections, cell phones and

other digital devices (Gostik & Elton, 2009).

This is true to SAP. In which employees are motivated to do their task because of

the environment that they have been working into and the atmosphere itself. SAS

Institute is an organization that astonishes many people. SAS is an exceptional

business that develops analytical software systems that are now used in virtually every

industry across the globe. SAS has been financially successful for its 34 years of

existence and has developed a stellar reputation for the quality of its operations. Their

distinct success has resulted in numerous academic case studies, journal articles and

critical essays by people trying to decipher what magic might underlie the continuous

cycles of invention, creativity and performance that combine to make SAS unique.

SAS provides excellent on-site childcare facilities and subsidizes childcare costs for

em- ployees who work in regional offices. The campus fitness centers are open to all

employees, and regional employees have fitness center memberships in their areas

subsidized. The cam- pus-based healthcare facilities can¶t readily be duplicated for

regional office members, yet people from outside of Cary are eligible to use the on-site
centers when they are in town. And everyone gets M&Ms, a tradition from the early

days when SAS had twenty employees.

³This company has the complete package: benefits, work balance, family

atmosphere, employees work hard and play hard for the good of the company.´ Other

benefits and programs available to people are so numerous that pages would be

needed to list them all. Yet a list wouldn¶t begin to capture the reasoning behind the

benefits. Benefits are provided as an outgrowth of the fundamental beliefs that guide the

organization - everyone is valuable and everyone can make a difference.

Creating a healthy work environment by providing people with services and

amenities that support their ability to focus on work without worry about childcare or

aging parents helps the business. Providing people healthy meal options, exercise

facilities and healthcare clinics helps them to care for themselves, minimize stress, and

do the work that they want to do. It all makes great business sense when looked at as

part of a broad scale effort to create a healthy environment for the whole organization.




In highly competitive global markets, organizations have to distinguish

themselves with creative and innovative solutions to satisfy discerning customers.

Creativity, an importance precursor for innovation, provides organizations with a

competitive advantage in a reinforcing loop of improved customer service, increased

staff morale, increased retention of quality staff and further improvements in service

(Glisson & Durick, 1988; Anderson & college, 1992).

 Customer relationship management is a strategy to manage company's

interaction with customers or clients. It is generally known as CRM. Technology has

given marvelous improvement in the field of CRM. It is used to organize and

synchronize the whole business process. Aim of Customer Relationship Management :

to discover, magnetize, and win new clients. · To look after and keep hold of those

clients which the company already has. · To attract former clients back into the

business. · To trim down the costs of marketing and customer service. Objectives a

company can attain through good CRM if a company has good customer relationship

management, it can attain following objectives: profitability increases overall, market

share increases manifold, helps in reducing everyday expenditure, targets can be set

and achieved in a better way.

And also call centre of the company works more efficiently, faithfulness and

retention improves and service standards raise high. sales productivity is much higher. ·

Sales and marketing processes are smooth and easily manageable. Latest trends in

CRM Like any other field, customer relationship management is also progressing day by

day. Old and traditional CRM methods are left far behind and new trends are taking

their place. Few latest improvements in CRM are: · Analytical customer relationship is

growing very fast. Companies are now analyzing customers' responses and trying hard

to achieve customer satisfaction. · Mobile CRM is a latest development. Firms are

endeavoring to provide customer support and service anywhere and anytime. ·

Integrated CRM is another new concept being followed by business companies. They
no more treat sales, service and marketing as separate units. They have integrated all

these elements of business together to provide quick and speedy service to their clients.

·Internet has revolutionized the world of customer relationship management. Business

companies have now converted all their data and support programs on internet. It is to

make it convenient for their clients to approach them easily. In return company also

gives a rapid response. Thus improving customer relationship. · Vertical CRM is making

its place in the CRM sector. Each organization has different needs, in vertical CRM it is

the responsibility of the sales person to cater for the differences. It is done through

customization. · Technology reliance by the companies is on the rise. Companies are

heavily dependent on computer based customer service programs. There are various

programs in the market. CRM Stages Customer relationship management helps to

support the customer and business relationship in three stages. 1. CRM helps

companies or organizations in obtaining new customers through better contact,

marketing and selling. 2. Good CRM means enhanced customer base. CRM helps the

business to enhance its customer count. 3. By identifying and rewarding its loyal

customers, CRM helps a firm in retaining its old customers. Conclusion Customer

relationship management has recognized itself as a strategy for successful business.

Companies are trying to make CRM more tempting and charming and sales persons

are striving hard to come up with new improvements in the field of customer relationship

management (Lawson, no date).

Creative output comes from the performance of individuals with particular

cognitive and personality traits (Masten & Caldwell, 1987).The organizational

environment included the interaction between workers, risk-taking, orientation, and a

trusting and caring atmosphere (Scott & Bruce, 1994; Humford et.al., 2002). Howerver,

the organizational structure can either facilitate or negate a positive work environment

and creative performance.

³As noted in SAS one of the nice things for all of us who don¶t work at SAS is that

it can serve as an excellent role model for our own companies. On every

measuring stick, SAS comes out in the lead. Employee turnover is way below

industry averages. The number of job applicants is extraordinarily high. Customer

service is top notch with one of the shortest wait-times for customers calling in to

speak with a real live person! And the company is financially successful± al-

ways, every year. All the business goals out there that people claim to be

chasing would be more achievable by following the path laid out by the founders

of SAS Institute, and continuously enacted by its current leaders, managers and

employees´ According to their SAS Employees.

Kanter (1983, cited in Mc Lean, 2005) found that matrix structures were

associated with increased autonomy and the belief that new ideas will be accepted.

Damanpour (1991) explained that the organizational structure reflected the degree of

specialization, the extent of functional differentiation and the openness of

communication channels. Increased specialization and functional differentiation and

decreased communication were consistently shown to decrease creativity. In this study,

the author proposed that in order to promote creativity, supervisors or managers ought

to group workers based on their expertise and put in place a matrix structure that could

promote ongoing communication between groups.

 Flyvie and Ager (1999) found that flat organizational structures were positively

associated with creativity. They attributed this to increased teamwork. Cross-functional

teams, working anonymously an interacting informally, create an open-plan

arrangement that encourages constant movement of staff between offices and

departments. It also creates a perception of continual personal interaction and

information exchange which are thought to enhance organizational creativity.

A more hierarchical structure, on the other hand, emphasizes rules and

procedures which inhibits innovation in organizations (Henry & Walker, 1992; Fryvie &

Ager, 1999). That¶s why SAS has been mentioned as a and company with reputation

for creativity and innovation attributed to its lack of hierarchical structure. That means

they have autonomy to do whatever they want to do.

Organizational structure also determined levels of responsibility, decision-making

authority and formal reporting relations. The structure and size of the organization, and

its working units influence the use of power in the decision-making process. The use of

power is inversely related to the perceived creative climate within an organization

(Isaksen et.al, 2001). Ekvall¶s (1997) research in creativity and organizational structure

revealed that non-adaptive ways of doing things characterize more rigid structure. A

looser structure with more freedom, higher risk inclination, and a debating, dynamic and

playful organizational climate appeared to be associated with creative performance.

In SAS as per background reading to the case, it shows that a good share of an

employee¶s attitude toward work is internally driven person¶s desire for autonomy and

achievement. To help their employees reach their goals, today¶s enlightened, effective
managers are changing the way they lead. They have learned to motivate by tapping

into a person¶s hopes and attitudes around work. They help employees realize their

potential.

As far as the Maslow¶s Hierarchy of Needs, it has been understood that people

first seek to fill their physiological and safety needs ± food and shelter. If wages are

competitive and people are showing up for work, then the food and shelter need is most

likely being met. So employees move on to fill their love/belonging needs. When these

are met, they focus on their esteem needs. What all this means is that employees first

needs to feel safe at work, that their paychecks will clear, that there¶s only the most

remote chance that they will be let go next week, and that if they get sick, their benefit

plan will get them back on their feet again. Second, they need to feel as if they belong,

that they have a vital role in the success of a team or enterprise. And finally, they are

looking to feel important and valued in their jobs. In short employees are seeking

validation from their leaders.

In a culture of recognition, people seek the next level: self actualization. Of

course, this is a boon to any organization, as employees are seeking self-actualization

are striving to excel, to reach their highest potential. This is the level of performance

where workers are engaged and willing to give their best efforts to their work, creating

mutual benefit for the organization and the individual.

The next rung would be recognition, which leads finally to the top rung, a self-

actualized workforce. Recognition is the missing step that helps people reach upward

toward self-actualization. But before one can achieve self-actualization, it is needed to

have recognition to provide confirmation ± proof that other believe in what one can do.

After all, there is a reason that keep old sports and academic trophies; the recognition is

evidence that our achievements are not just in our heads, but are acknowledged and

esteemed by our peers and superiors.

³According to the Carrot Principle, managers who lead without effective

recognition are synonymous with a ladder with a fragile rung. And in teams like that,

even employees who want to be engaged often fall through the cracks and, before long,

disappear.´

The bottom line is that motivating people is paramount to a company¶s ability to

survive, perhaps even more important now than it has ever been before. A new

approach is urgently needed. This has moved the thinking on employee recognition

from Expector managers - to achieve your goals one must reward, coerce, intimidate,

or incent employees ± to Altruist managers - people will meet any challenge when their

achievements are acknowledged and they feel confident in their abilities.

V 

History bears out that in-house user groups can bring great success. In-house

groups are good for the department/company, you personally, and SAS Institute. It is a

win-win-win situation. Leadership tools and guidance are available from SAS Institute.

Within your own working arena you will find talent willing to participate. The in-house

group provides a forum for interchange and development. Work with other departments

for mutual benefit and realizing goals.

 The reason SAS is so successful is that they actually do the things that people

often say will contribute to the creation of a great workplace. SAS started small with a

few key ingredients: a long-term view for making business decisions; a belief that

people will make a positive difference if you let them; an egalitarian commitment to

sharing rewards; and a good product idea.

In addition to that we are seeing a fundamental culture shift from the established

paradigm of customers lining up for companies to companies now lining up for

customers. "This customer expectation will explode in 2011 with people expecting a

deeper level of knowledge and interaction from the companies they interact with,

causing organizations to rethink their current business processes. "The process for

creating enterprise wide change and integrating social strategy will take time because

making changes to large, well established processes is complex, but there isn't a

company who will get through 2011 without making the necessary investments in

listening and responding to its customers on the social Web."

Moving beyond the early adopters a majority of companies in 2011 start their

investments in social listening and engagement, and we will also see many leading

brands demonstrate what an enterprise wide social strategy looks like and showing us

the power of getting the voice of the customer closer to every employee.

Social CRM is great for focusing on listening, analyzing and engaging externally

via those same channels, but it's great to see your focus in this article on the other

"must-haves"... internal employee collaboration and external online communities.

:

Damanpour, F. (1991) Organizational Innovation: A Meta Analysis of Effects of

Determinants and Moderators. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 555-90.

Flyvie, C. and Ager, A. (1999) NGOs and Innovation: Organizational Characteristics and

Constraints in Development Assistance Work in the Gambia. World

Development, 27,1983 ± 95.

Isaksen, S.G., Lauer, K.J., Ekvall, G. and Britz, A. (2001) Perceptions of the Best and

Worst Climates of Research: Preliminary Validation Evidence for the Situational

Outlook Questionnaire.Creativity Research Journal, 13, 171 ± 84.

Kanter, R.. M. (1983) The Change Masters: Innovation for Productivity in the American

Corporation. Simon and Schuster, New York.

Masten, L.A. and Caldwell-Colbert, A. T. (1987)Relationship on Creativity and

Innovation, Psyhological Review, 26.548-48.




Lawson, J. °no date) ideal marketers [url:

http://www.ideamarketers.com/?Relationship_Management&articleid=1461569] [Date

Visited : 3rd January 2011]

SRA In-house SAS Users Group

http://www.sasCommunity.org/wiki/SRA_Inhouse_SAS_User_Group

ʊWhat Are In-House SAS Users Groups?

http://support.SAS.com/UserGroups/NAmerica/in.house.html

ʊHow Does SAS Support IUGs? Send an eMail note to SUGweb@SAS.com.

http://Support.SAS.com/UserGroups/US.html

Lafler, Kirk Paul and Charles Edwin Shipp (2007), ´Collaborate with SAS Users Around

the World with www.sasCommunity.org,´ Proceedings of the 2007 MidWest Users of

SAS Software Annual Conference.

Lafler, Kirk Paul and Charles Edwin Shipp (2007), ´Collaborate with SAS Users Around

the World with www.sasCommunity.org,´ Proceedings of the 2007 Western Users of

SAS Software Annual Conference.

Lafler, Kirk Paul and Charles Edwin Shipp (2007), ´


    
´

  
   Proceedings of the 2007 Western Users of SAS Software Annual Conference.