Identification of Key Components of Smart Customer Relationship Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Using Artificial Intelligence: A Thematic Analysis Approach

Abstract

The objective of this study was to design and explain a marketing ambidexterity maturity model emphasizing the balance between exploratory and exploitative marketing activities in Iran’s telecommunications industry. This applied study employed a qualitative approach using grounded theory based on the Strauss and Corbin paradigm. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 experts, including telecommunications managers, marketing specialists, technology professionals, and academic scholars. Participants were selected through purposive and snowball sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. Qualitative data were analyzed using MAXQDA software through open, axial, and selective coding procedures. Trustworthiness was ensured using credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability criteria. The final paradigm model clarified relationships among causal conditions, contextual conditions, intervening factors, strategies, and outcomes shaping marketing ambidexterity maturity. The findings indicated that marketing ambidexterity maturity emerges through causal conditions including market innovation demands, availability of technological infrastructures, and pressures arising from dynamic technological environments. The phenomenon develops within contextual conditions such as organizational structure, human and cultural resources, and market characteristics, while being moderated by intervening factors including governmental policies, economic resources, leadership style, and industry competition. Strategic responses comprised technological capability development, institutionalization of ambidexterity culture, strategic restructuring, human resource empowerment, and external collaboration. These strategies resulted in improved marketing performance, market expansion, sustainable competitive advantage, and enhanced organizational learning and innovation, ultimately leading to a sustainable balance between exploration and exploitation. The study demonstrates that marketing ambidexterity maturity represents a strategic and cultural transformation in telecommunications organizations whereby institutionalized ambidextrous thinking, data-driven decision-making, and continuous capability development enable firms to simultaneously leverage existing competencies and explore future opportunities, ensuring long-term competitiveness in technology-intensive environments.