The effects of customer equity drivers on loyalty across services industries and firms

Customer equity drivers (CEDs)—value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity—positively affect loyalty intentions, but this effect varies across industries and firms. We empirically examine potential industry and firm characteristics that explain why the CEDs–loyalty link varies across services industries and firms in the Netherlands. The results show that (1) some previously assumed industry and firm characteristics have moderating effects while others do not and (2) firm-level advertising expenditures constitute the most crucial moderator because they influence all three loyalty strategies (significant for value equity and brand equity; marginally significant for relationship equity), while three industry contexts (i.e., innovative markets, visibility to others, and complexity of purchase decisions) each influence two of the three loyalty strategies. Our results clearly show that specific industry and firm characteristics affect the effectiveness of specific loyalty strategies

Incentivizing CEOs to build customer- and employee-firm relations for higher customer satisfaction and firm value

This research reveals customer- and employee- firm relations to be two routes by which firms can leverage executive incentive structures to create customer and firm value. Analyses of a unique dataset with multiple archival sources show that (1) increases in the proportion of CEOs’l ong-term equity-based compensation positively influence actions that build customer- and employee-firm relations as measured by the Kinder, Lydenberg, Domini & Co. (KLD) data source, (2) such effects are stronger in unstable markets, and (3) customer and employee relationship-building actions affect firm value both directly and indirectly via the mediator of customer satisfaction as measured by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) data source. The findings have implications for the improvement of customer satisfaction, the role of marketing in the organization, and the design of CEO incentive packages leading to higher customer satisfaction and firm value

A candidates selection approach for district alliance of university incubators

DEA, Incubator, Alliance,

Two Years of Experience in the Implantation of Heartmate III.

Left ventricular assist devices as long-term mechanical circulatory support are increasingly used as an option for medically refractory advanced heart failure. Heartmate III is one of the alternative devices for circulatory support in those patients. Analyze a two years Heartmate III implantation Program. From November 2015 to August 2017, Heartmate III was implanted in 16 patients with chronic end-stage heart failure, in 81% (n = 13) as a bridge to transplant and 19% (n = 3) as destination therapy. We did a review off demographic, clinical and surgical data, and we analyzed the overall survival using the Kaplan-Meier method, excluding patients who were transplanted. Heartmate III was implanted in 16 male patients (100%) with age 55.8 ± 11.1 years (limits 38-74 years) and body surface area 2.0 ± 0.19 m2. The baseline hemodynamic data revealed a cardiac index 2.1 ± 0.4 l / min / m2 and a left ventricular ejection fraction of 20.7 ± 7.3%. Ischemic cardiomyopathy was the most common etiology in this chronic heart failure population (n = 9; 56%). Seven patients (44%) were classified INTERMACS 4; five (31%) in profile 2; three (19%) in profile 3 and one (6%) in profile 1. The implantation of the devices was performed under Cardiopulmonary Bypass (78.6 ± 25.7 min), and 25% of the patients (n = 4) had right ventricular dysfunction, requiring postoperative temporary right ventricle support. As complications, 6 patients (38%) manifested bleeding requiring surgery and 2 (12%) reported gastrointestinal bleeding, 4 (25%) developed driveline infection, 3 of them were treated (18%) with conservative therapy and in 1 patient (6%) with driveline transposition. During the total follow-up time (19 months), three patients (18%) were transplanted; two deaths occured due to pulmonary embolism and ischemic stroke respectively; verified by the Kaplan Meier method, an overall survival rate of 92.9 ± 6.9%, stable from 6 months after implantation. The 6 months survival rate of 92.9% proves the efficacy of this therapy for our patients and all of them were INTERMACS profils lower than 4. Despite the small number of patients enrolled and the follow-up duration limiting our study, we demonstrated the first experience of our center in the treatment of high-risk population. In conclusion, we show that the Heartmate III was consistent in low INTERMACS profile patients