AMIR, a British financial conglomerate with a large telecommunication division, was interested in further expanding its business operations and was investigating opportunities in the former Soviet Union for its financial services division. AMIR’s Board of Directors sought information on the current state of CRM practices in Russia with particular interest in any specific challenges that might be faced in implementing CRM strategies in Russian firms. James Williams, a senior project advisor with AMIR’s international division was tasked with developing a presentation on CRM in Russia for the Board of Directors. Prior to joining AMIR, Williams had been program manager at Mashkin and a member of the task force that had steered the unsuccessful CRM project. Williams was given the following report prepared by a manager at AMIR’s telecommunications division who had been given a similar research task focusing on the communications market.