Identifying and Prioritizing Risk Factors in Customer Relationship Project in Iran

This paper, with reviewing 23 key papers published between 2001 and 2007, and by extracting and gathering of risk factors in the literature has developed a checklist includ ing 25 risk factors of customer relationship management (RCM) projects. It then reviews all kinds of classifications in key factors of success or failure in CRM literature and chooses the best classification, and presents new framework of risk factors of CRM project by placing the extracted risk factors in this classification. Because of hierarchal of proposed framework and multi dimensions nature of risk, Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) is used to prioritize based on active project managers' judgments as experts in organizations which service, consult, and sell CRM software in Iran. In Iranian organizations based on experts' judgments the risk factors in the first life cycle phases of CRM such as "changes in the stakeholders and top management, "and "managers" incorrect cognition of CRM and its operational and strategic benefits" become the most important risk factors in CRM projects in 2008. The risk factors in the next life cycle phases of CRM like general factors of classification "dynamic assessment and monitoring' have the lowest priority.