Data mining practice in SMEs: a customer relationship management perspective

Data mining is a relatively new practice for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). This study investigates the level of data mining practice being employed by small firms and their motives and interest by implementing data mining. Qualitative questionnaire was designed and distributed to 192 SMEs of which 75 usable responses were received representing 39 per cent of response rate. The findings show that the implementation of data mining is very shallow and varies with firm’s size and the nature of the business. Participants express interest in gaining the knowledge and practical techniques of data mining. This study shows that the motives of SMEs in implementing data mining are very much customer-oriented.