Strategic Planning as a Mediator between Customer Relationship Management and Business Performance: Evidence from Ethiopian Private Banks

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine how strategic planning functions as a mediator in the link between business performance (BP) and customer relationship management (CRM). It tackles the issue of how businesses should integrate strategic planning procedures into their CRM operations to maximize performance. Businesses that successfully incorporate strategic planning into their CRM systems typically see improvements in business performance indicators like profitability and customer satisfaction. The consequences of these findings indicate that companies should emphasize developing strong strategic planning capabilities in addition to implementing CRM technologies. Future study avenues include examining how evolving technologies affect CRM and strategic planning, as well as how organizational culture contributes to the successful integration of these components. Longitudinal research may also shed further light on the long-term advantages of strategic planning alignment and efficient CRM. Received: 23 May 2026 / Accepted: 30 June 2026 / Published: July 2026