Measuring the effect of customer relationship management (CRM) components on the non financial performance of commercial banks: Egypt case

This paper presents customer relationship management (CRM) components as applied on the Egyptian Commercial Banks, examined from the bankers' point of view. Then, it intends to measure their effect on the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty from the customers’ point of view as examples of the non financial performance measures. The paper is quantitative in nature and consists of two different structured questionnaires using convenience/quota sampling. The first involved 180 employees in order to measure CRM applicability, and the second involved 270 customers to measure the level of customer satisfaction and loyalty and their effect on the Egyptian Commercial Banks' financial performance The findings show that the selected banks apply CRM components but the level of application differs from one bank to another. The results showed a significant positive relationship between CRM and customer satisfaction in the Egyptian Commercial Banks, when applying them together and not separately. In addition, there is a strong positive effect between customer satisfaction and loyalty which was reflected on the Commercial Banks' financial performance. The findings confirm the importance of studying and implementing CRM to achieve customer loyalty and improve the Egyptian Commercial Banks financial performance. Banks wishing to improve their relationships with customers need to focus on the CRM components to develop relevant and effective marketing strategies and tactics. The paper measures the CRM as a multidimensional construct as applied on the Egyptian Commercial Banks and relate it to the achievement of the ultimate goal of retaining customers to gaining a sustainable competitive advantage and achieve more profits

The dilemma of internal audit function adaptation: The impact of ERP and corporate governance pressures

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to provide a conceptual framework that helps to investigate how the internal audit function (IAF) responds to both the introduction of the control logic of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, and corporate governance’s (CG) institutional pressures. Furthermore, the paper aims to articulate the concurrence between the external pressures of CG and internal control logic of ERP systems. Design/methodology/approach: The paper presents a review of the normative literature pertaining to the increase in significance of CG in the light of the worldwide economic crisis. The paper highlights a literature gap related to the lack of studies focusing on the impact of ERP systems implementation on the IAF practices. Findings: The authors articulate institutional theory to formulate a conceptual framework that explains the reciprocal interplay between the macro external governance pressures, micro internal institutional logics inscribed in the ERP systems and their effect on IAF practices and structure within organisations. Research limitations/implications: The paper is conceptual in nature and therefore the proposed framework will be subsequently validated using a qualitative research approach in future research. Practical implications: The conceptual framework would offer the internal auditors some strategies for enabling adaptation to the different internal and external pressures. Also the paper provides a platform for research community to investigate the influence of CG and ERP systems implementation on IAF adaptation. Originality/value: The paper provides a clearer articulation of the various constructs that affect the IAF, which has gained great attention for assuring good CG

Electronic word of mouth in social media: The common characteristics of retweeted and favourited marketer-generated content posted on Twitter

Marketers desire to utilise electronic word of mouth (eWOM) marketing on social media sites. However, not all online content generated by marketers has the same effect on consumers; some of them are effective while others are not. This paper aims to examine different characteristics of marketer-generated content (MGC) that of which one lead users to eWOM. Twitter was chosen as one of the leading social media sites and a content analysis approach was employed to identify the common characteristics of retweeted and favourited tweets. 2,780 tweets from six companies (Booking, Hostelworld, Hotels, Lastminute, Laterooms and Priceline) operating in the tourism sector are analysed. Results indicate that the posts which contain pictures, hyperlinks, product or service information, direct answers to customers and brand centrality are more likely to be retweeted and favourited by users. The findings present the main eWOM drivers for MGC in social media.Abdulaziz Elwalda and Mohammed Alsagga

Interaction of 160 GeV- Muon with Emulsion Nuclei

In this work we present some results of the interaction of high energy muons with emulsion nuclei. The interaction results in emission of a number of fragments as a consequence of electromagnetic dissociation of the excited target nuclei. This excitation is attributed to absorption of photons by the target nuclei due to the intense electric field of the very fast incident muon particles. The interactions take place at impact parameters that allows ultra-peripheral collisions to take place, leading to giant resonances and hence multi-fragmentation of emulsion targets. Charge identification, range, energy spectra, angular distribution and topological cross-section of the produced fragments are measured and evaluatedComment: 13 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables. Accepted for publication in IJMP

Seroepidemiological Studies on Poultry Salmonellosis and its Public Health Importance

ABSTRACT Non-typhoid Salmonella serovars remain a potential threat to human health, and poultry species are possible sources of these organisms. In this study, trials for Salmonella isolation from poultry and humans were conducted in the period April 2009 through March 2010 in Beni-Suef Governorate, Egypt. Cloacal swabs were collected from different live poultry species including 150 broilers, 50 breeders, 50 layers, 50 turkeys, and 50 ducks, beside 30 litter samples from various poultry farms. Regarding the humans, stool samples as well as hand swabs were collected from 90 workers and poultry contacts of the examined farms. All poultry and human samples were subjected to bacteriological examination and serological identification for Salmonella spp. The recovered Salmonella strains were found belonging to S. Kentucky, S. Typhimurium and S. SaintPaul. The obtained results demonstrated that the occurrence of Salmonella spp. accounted for 16.66, 10.0, 2.0, 6.0 and 2.0% in broilers, breeders, layers, ducks and turkeys respectively. Investigation of litter samples revealed that the occurrence of S. Kentucky was 53.33, 66.66 and 28.57% in broiler's, breeder's and duck's litters respectively. Examination of human samples declared that 8 out of 90 hand swabs were found positive for S. Kentucky whereas all stool samples reacted negatively to all Salmonella spp. In the present study, conclusively Salmonella serovars (S. Kentucky) isolated from chickens were frequently isolated from hand swabs of the examined poultry contacts, this provided evidence that direct contact with poultry or poultry environment may pose health hazards for humans

Irradiation embrittlement of pressure vessel steels : analysis of IAEA coordinated programme results

The results of the IAEA "Coordinated Research Programme on Irradiation Embrittlement of Pressure Vessel Steels" were examined again to analyse the reasons behind the reported large scattering and discrepancies in the effect of irradiation on the ductile-brittle transition temperature (DBTT). It is concluded that using specimens from different locations throughout the HSST steel plate thickness was the main reason behind the scattering in these results. Specimens from different locations bad different microstructures and different initial mechanical properties which led to different irradiation sensitivities. The analysis showed that the specimens used can be considered to consist of two sets different in microstructure, mechanical properties and irradiation sensitivity. Set 1 composed of specimens taken from positions between $\frac{T}{4}$ and $\frac{T}{2}$throughout the plate thickness while set 2 composed ofspecimens taken from positions between the surface and $\frac{T}{4}$.In this way the scattering became very small and evennegligable and the discrepancies were explained

An unusual presentation of hemoglobin SD Punjab in a Saudi Arabian adult

HbDPunjab is an uncommon variant hemoglobin that does not result in significant pathology when inherited as a homozygous disorder. When inherited with other hemoglobinopathies, it may result in varying disease phenotypes. HbSDPunjab has been rarely reported in Saudi Arabia, coexisting with alpha or beta thalassemia. In this report, we discuss the case of a 39 years old male who presented with severe anemia and renal injury and was later diagnosed with HbSDPunjab through electropheresis and genetic testing

Optimizing automated characterization of liver fibrosis histological images by investigating color spaces at different resolutions

Texture analysis (TA) of histological images has recently received attention as an automated method of characterizing liver fibrosis. The colored staining methods used to identify different tissue components reveal various patterns that contribute in different ways to the digital texture of the image. A histological digital image can be represented with various color spaces. The approximation processes of pixel values that are carried out while converting between different color spaces can affect image texture and subsequently could influence the performance of TA. Conventional TA is carried out on grey scale images, which are a luminance approximation to the original RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) space. Currently, grey scale is considered sufficient for characterization of fibrosis but this may not be the case for sophisticated assessment of fibrosis or when resolution conditions vary. This paper investigates the accuracy of TA results on three color spaces, conventional grey scale, RGB, and Hue-Saturation-Intensity (HSI), at different resolutions. The results demonstrate that RGB is the most accurate in texture classification of liver images, producing better results, most notably at low resolution. Furthermore, the green channel, which is dominated by collagen fiber deposition, appears to provide most of the features for characterizing fibrosis images. The HSI space demonstrated a high percentage error for the majority of texture methods at all resolutions, suggesting that this space is insufficient for fibrosis characterization. The grey scale space produced good results at high resolution; however, errors increased as resolution decreased

Exogenously applied ZnO nanoparticles induced salt tolerance in potentially high yielding modern wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars

Salinity stress is one of the potential threats that adversely affect the productivity of many cereal crops worldwide. Spraying plants with nano-Zn particles may lessen effectively such negative impacts on plants; yet its mode of action is still not well explored. This study was performed to evaluate the effects of spraying nano-Zn particles with varying concentrations (0, 20, 50 and 80 mg L-1) on two wheat cultivars irrigated with saline water (EC = 6.3 dS m-1) versus a non-saline one. The key results revealed that root and shoot weights decreased significantly under salinity stress conditions, while improved considerably with nano-Zn-particles foliar application up to 50 mg nanoZn L-1; thereafter significant reductions occurred. Also, shoot and root lengths as well as plant leaf area index improved considerably owing to this foliar application. Clearly, roots and shoots weights of wheat plants sprayed with nano-Zn particles under salinity stress conditions exhibited higher values than the corresponding ones that was grown under non-saline conditions without nano-Zn-particles applications. Unexpectedly, this foliar spray led to significant reductions in plant pigments and also in enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in plants. Yet, this foliar spray enhanced formation of total soluble sugars and proline, and raised significantly Ca contents in wheat roots and shoots, and to some extent K contents. In conclusion, the foliar application of nano-Zn particles increased plant growth under salty stress conditions via two parallel processes, i.e., stimulating formation of osmolytes and stimulating nutrient uptake which may, in turn, increase plant metabolism. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CCPeer reviewe