Importance of Integrating Databases Located at Each Casino
Harrah’s Entertainment Inc. has integrated its databases in various locations to help it conduct business and customer-relationship-management activities more efficiently. For instance, the integration of the databases has allowed Harrah’s to carry out its Total RewardsTM effectively, by allowing it to track customers’ gaming habits in all its properties. In this section, the paper discusses how Harrah’s would be affected if it did not integrate the databases it maintains at each of its Casinos.
Failure to build integrations among its databases would prevent Harrah’s from providing timely service to its customers. Integration among databases in various locations allows an entity to retrieve information from various sources promptly thus allowing better service for the customer (Chen & Popovich, 2003). In Harrah’s case, its Total RewardsTM CRM program depends on the analysis of data collected at different locations.
Based on such data, employees of Harrah’s can offer clients the appropriate rewards based on the loyalty level revealed by such data. Failure to integrate databases at these locations would mean that employees at points of sale would not have all the relevant information to reward customers appropriately. Such lack of access to critical customer information would affect Harrah’s service negatively thus reducing the effect of its CRM activities.
Failure to integrate its databases would also challenge Harrah’s marketing strategy to make individualized, targeted promotions. Integrated databases allow entities to analyze customer patronage behaviors across all their properties that generating information about customer preferences and trends (Hochhauser, 1992). For Harrah’s, by integrating the databases, it can avail collect all customer activities into a centralized database that can be used to target customer communications based on their patronage history.
Without database integrations, Harrah’s would also need to train its employees to use a variety of applications to access information from separate databases. By integrating the databases, Harrah’s allows employees to retrieve information using an application whose interface they are familiar with. This enhances efficiency thus boosting Harrah’s performance. Failure to integrate its databases would thus curtail the extent to which Harrah’s can implement its CRM programs effectively.
Use of data warehouse to synchronize customer information
A data warehouse refers to a “single, complete and consistent store of data obtained from a variety of sources and made available to end-users in a way they can understand and use in a business context” (Ma, Chou & Yen, 2000, p. 125). Harrah’s can use a data warehouse to synchronize customer information in various ways. Firstly, creating a data warehouse would allow Harrah’s to store customer information collected from various points of contact and organize such data into a database that users who interact with the customers can access (Xu & Walton, 2005). Through the data warehouse, operational data can be updated on a record-by-record basis thus ensuring that the data available in the warehouse is current thus can support current business decisions (Ma, Chou & Yen, 2000, p. 125).
Secondly, a data warehouse would allow Harrah’s to analyze stored data into information that would enable it to create customer profiles and identify customer behavior patterns helpful in creating relevant customer segments (Xu & Walton, 2005). When such analysis is completed, Harrah’s can format and store the critical customer information identified in a mode that users at various points of contact can access (Ma, Chou & Yen, 2000, p. 125). Accordingly, a data warehouse would enable Harrah’s to synchronize customer information in two main ways; firstly, it provides a centralized place to collate and organize customer data from various points. Secondly, it facilitates the analysis of the stored data into customer-based information that can be stored to support business decisions.
References
Chen, I. J. & Popovich, K. (2003). Understanding customer relationship management (CRM): People, process and technology. Business Process Management, 9(5), 627-688, Web.
Hochhauser, R. (1992). The power of integrated database marketing. Direct Marketing, 55(5), 32-35.
Ma, C., Chou, D. C. & Yen, D. C. (2000). Data warehousing, technology assessment, and management. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 100(3), 125-134.
Xu, M. & Walton, J. (2005). Gaining customer knowledge through analytical CRM. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 105(7), 955-971, Web.