Note on the CRM Industry 2004

This background note analyses the global heavy building materials industry until 2004. It analyses the competitive landscape and the dynamics of demand and supply. It also looks at the different business models and recent mergers and acquisition trends in the industry, as well as introducing students to the strategic issues faced by firms in a mature commodity sector.

A fundamental change was occurring in the way companies used software to manage their internal operations and their interfaces with customers, suppliers and service providers. Deborah Magid analyses and executes a response to the development of Software as a Service (SaaS) by smaller, entrepreneurial firms.

The case chronicles the development of the TV broadcasting industry in the US, the entry and growth of cable and satellite operators, and the assault by Mr. Murdoch's News Corporation on US satellite broadcasting with the 2003 acquisition of DirecTV.