Assessing The Relationship Between Service Quality And Customer Satisfaction; Evidence From Nigerian Banking Industry

It is the performance of service that creates true customers: customers who buy more and who influence others to buy .However, Nigerian Banks have been found to be characterized by poor service quality. This study was therefore carried to examine the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction. Two hypotheses were formulated in this study and appropriate statistical techniques employed to test the hypotheses were multiple regression and correlation. The study reveals that service quality has significant effect on customer satisfaction. The result also show that there is a relationship between gender and customer service. Conclusion was drawn and it was recommended based on the findings of the study that the banks should focus more on their customers rather than on the products and services, which they sell because customers are the true business of every compan

Relationship Marketing and Customer Satisfaction: a Conceptual Perspective

This article examined the existing body of literature on transaction and relationship marketing. The specific objectives were to develop a conceptual framework to establish the relationship between relationship marketing and customer satisfaction and to examine the components of relationship marketing on the present ever dynamic world of business. The study identified relationship marketing variables and their impact on customer satisfaction. The framework aimed to provide insights into the studies on relationship marketing factors such as trust, commitment, communication, and service quality influence on customer satisfaction. The model provided a basis for empirical studies on the factors of relationship marketing and outcomes of customer satisfaction in developing nations. The study recommends that relationship marketing dimensions such as building customer\u27s trust, commitment to customers, communication, and service quality should be properly managed and maintained by service providers in Nigeria. This helps in building customer satisfaction and in the long-run customer loyalty

Meta-analysis of fraud, waste and abuse detection methods in healthcare

Fraud, waste and abuse have been a concern in healthcare system due to the exponential increase in the loss of revenue, loss of reputation and goodwill, and a rapid decline in the relationship between healthcare providers and patients. Consequently, fraud, waste and abuse result in a high cost of healthcare services, decreased quality of care, and threat to patients’ lives. Its enormous side effects in healthcare have attracted diverse efforts in the healthcare industry, data analytics industry and research communities towards the development of fraud detection methods. Hence, this study examines and analyzes fraud, waste and abuse detection methods used in healthcare, to reveal the strengths and limitations of each approach. Eighty eight literatures obtained from journal articles, conference proceedings and books based on their relevance to the research problem were reviewed. The result of this review revealed that fraud detection methods are difficult to implement in the healthcare system because new fraud patterns are constantly developed to circumvent fraud detection methods. Research in medical fraud assessment is limited due to data limitations as well as privacy and confidentiality concerns.Keywords: abuse, fraud, healthcare, waste, fraud detection method

Information Technology and Computer Science

Abstract- The healthcare system is a knowledge driven industry which consists of vast and growing volumes of narrative information obtained from discharge summaries/reports, physicians case notes, pathologists as well as radiologists reports. This information is usually stored in unstructured and non-standardized formats in electronic healthcare systems which make it difficult for the systems to understand the information contents of the narrative information. Thus, the access to valuable and meaningful healthcare information for decision making is a challenge. Nevertheless, Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques have been used to structure narrative information in healthcare. Thus, NLP techniques have the capability to capture unstructured healthcare information, analyze its grammatical structure, determine the meaning of the information and translate the information so that it can be easily understood by the electronic healthcare systems. Consequently, NLP techniques reduce cost as well as improve the quality of healthcare. It is therefore against this background that this paper reviews the NLP techniques used in healthcare, their applications as well as their limitations

EXAMINING THE LINK BETWEEN UNIVERSITY SUPPORT SYSTEMS, KNOWLEDGE SHARING AND INNOVATION: A FOCUS ON NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS.

The objective of this study was to examine the role of university policy environment in motivating knowledge sharing and innovations among students of Nigerian universities the data for this study was collected from university students of four selected institutions in Nigeria offering a degree programme in entrepreneurship. The selected universities are Joseph Ayo Babalola in Osun State, Federal University of Agriculture in Abeokuta Ogun State, Federal University of Technology Akure Ondo State and Lead City University Ibadan Oyo State. This study adopted descriptive cross sectional survey research design in which the research questionnaire was administered to respondents. It was recommended that university support systems in Nigerian universities should motivate entrepreneurial related knowledge sharing among students to motivate innovations. The policy environment should be characterized by initiatives such as technology patenting and commercialization, seed funding, business mentoring and business incubators. It is also recommended that engagement of students with entrepreneurial development initiatives provided by institutions should involve students across all levels. Recent findings in entrepreneurship research have shown that early exposure to practical oriented entrepreneurship activities can increase the likelihood of expression of entrepreneurial behavior by undergraduate students

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON THE DURABILITY TO SALINE ENVIRONMENTS OF SELF-COMPACTING CONCRETE MADE WITH COARSE AGGREGATES COMBINATION

This study focus on durability to saline environments of self-compacting concrete (SCC) made of granite-gravel combination as coarse aggregates in concrete production. In this study fine aggregates, water, superplasticizer and cement were kept constant. The percentages replacement of gravel in place of granite aggregates were 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50, while 100% granite serves as control. A total of 162 cubes of 100 100 100 mm concrete specimens were immersed over the initial curing in a water container and further cured in 5% sodium chloride (NaCl) and sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) solutions for 28, 56 and 91 days in line with ASTM C39 (2003). The tests results indicate that concrete cured in five percent (5%) of NaCl solution have compressive strength accelerating properties at early age that could not be sustained for long. While those cured in 5% of Na2CO3 solution reduced significantly the compressive strength of concret

MARKETING CAPABILITY AS A MODERATOR BETWEEN INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL SUCCESS

The usefulness of extant literature in guiding entrepreneurial firms in making decisions on strategic marketing with which marketing capability is to augment the adaptability of the firm to new challenges from markets in order to improve entrepreneurial success still remains an empty space in the literature. Consequently, by adopting marketing capability, which is the ability of the organization to explore its understanding, resource and technology to suit the needs of its market or its customers. Thus, This study looked at moderating effect of marketing capability on the relationship between of Schumpeterian forms of innovation and entrepreneurial success in the dessert and confectionery firms. A survey of one hundred and twenty three (123) respondents from dessert and confectionery firm provide support for the study. The data was analysed using the hierarchical regression. The results of the analysis showed that the Schumpeterian forms of innovation significantly affect entrepreneurial success of an organization and marketing capabilities moderates the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurial success. These findings bring about managerial implications that conclude the paper

Empirical Analysis of Marketing Mix Strategy and Student Loyalty in Education Marketing

This study examines the impact of marketing mix strategies on student loyalty. The objectives of the study are to determine the relationship between instructional quality and active participation of the student, to examine the significant relationship between the competence of faculty and staff of the university, to determine if the distribution strategy of a university affects the repeat purchase retention of the students and willingness to recommend the university to others. The study uses survey method with four hypotheses which were later tested with correlation and regression test statistics. Findings show that there is a significant relationship between the impact of the marketing mix and student loyalty. The study recommends that there is a need for institutions to train their staff on how to maximize the use of the marketing mix to the institutions advantage; there is a need for an institution to be highly proactive in tracking customers’ feelings. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p61

Development of Wood-Ash/Resin Polymer Matrix Composite for Body Armour Application

This research work formulated and developed a polymer matrix composite (PMC) for body armour application by adopting hand lay-up processing method in producing the epoxy resin-wood ash composite. The usual waste from wood after combustion, wood ash, was used as the additive in the development of the PMC. Chemical composition of the prepared wood ash was determined using X-ray florescence spectrometry. The mechanical properties of the developed PMC was evaluated and discovered to have been enhanced through the inclusion of the wood ash particles. 2.3% inclusion of wood ash resulted in the tensile strength value of 104 N/mm2against 86 N/mm2 for neat reinforced resin. The impact strength of the PMC increased from 50 J/mm2 (without wood ash) to 112 J/mm2 while 25.4 HRF was recorded for the hardness value of the PMC with wood ash against 23.4 HRF for the neat reinforced PMC. The microscopic analysis also revealed that the wood ash particles were uniformly distributed in the matrix without indication of segregation. When subjected to ballistic tests, the developed PMC successfully arrested the 9 x 19 mm ammunitions after perforating some layers of the sandwiched sample. The research is therefore applicable for the protection of torso

Spread of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria.

BACKGROUND: Artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum has emerged in Southeast Asia and now poses a threat to the control and elimination of malaria. Mapping the geographic extent of resistance is essential for planning containment and elimination strategies. METHODS: Between May 2011 and April 2013, we enrolled 1241 adults and children with acute, uncomplicated falciparum malaria in an open-label trial at 15 sites in 10 countries (7 in Asia and 3 in Africa). Patients received artesunate, administered orally at a daily dose of either 2 mg per kilogram of body weight per day or 4 mg per kilogram, for 3 days, followed by a standard 3-day course of artemisinin-based combination therapy. Parasite counts in peripheral-blood samples were measured every 6 hours, and the parasite clearance half-lives were determined. RESULTS: The median parasite clearance half-lives ranged from 1.9 hours in the Democratic Republic of Congo to 7.0 hours at the Thailand-Cambodia border. Slowly clearing infections (parasite clearance half-life >5 hours), strongly associated with single point mutations in the "propeller" region of the P. falciparum kelch protein gene on chromosome 13 (kelch13), were detected throughout mainland Southeast Asia from southern Vietnam to central Myanmar. The incidence of pretreatment and post-treatment gametocytemia was higher among patients with slow parasite clearance, suggesting greater potential for transmission. In western Cambodia, where artemisinin-based combination therapies are failing, the 6-day course of antimalarial therapy was associated with a cure rate of 97.7% (95% confidence interval, 90.9 to 99.4) at 42 days. CONCLUSIONS: Artemisinin resistance to P. falciparum, which is now prevalent across mainland Southeast Asia, is associated with mutations in kelch13. Prolonged courses of artemisinin-based combination therapies are currently efficacious in areas where standard 3-day treatments are failing. (Funded by the U.K. Department of International Development and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01350856.)