Managing customer relationships: Should managers really focus on the long term?

Researchers and business thought leaders have emphasized that, towards maximizing the lifetime value of customers, firms must manage customer relationships for the long term. In contrast to this recommendation, we demonstrate that firm profits in competitive environments are maximized when managers focus on the short term with respect to their customers. Intuitively, while a long term focus yields more loyal customers, it sharpens short term competition to gain and keep customers to such an extent that overall firm profits are lower than when managers focus on the short term. Further, a short term focus continues to deliver higher profits even when customer loyalty yields a higher share-of-wallet or reduced costs of service from the perspective of the firm. Intuitively, while such revenue enhancement or cost reduction effects enhance the proverbial pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, they lead to even more intense competition to gain and keep customers in the short term. These findings suggest that the competitive implications of a switch to a long term customer focus must be carefully examined before such a switch is advocated or implemented. Paradoxically, customer lifetime value may be maximized when managers focus on the short term.target pricing; customer equity; price discrimination; customer relationship marketing; customer acquisition; customer retention;

Inter arm systolic blood pressure difference is associated with a high prevalence of cardio vascular diseases

Background: Blood pressure (BP) recordings often differ between arms. This study is aimed to observe the presence of inter-arm blood pressure difference and association with hypertension or diabetes. The objective of the study was to establish the prevalence of an inter-arm blood pressure difference and explore its association with obesity and cardiovascular disorder.Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at King George’s Medical College, Lucknow, India among 100 first year MBBS students. After taking verbal consent the age, height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference and family history of hypertension or diabetes were recorded.Results: The systolic blood pressure on right arm was 118.8±11.5 mmHg and 11.7±7.72 mmHg left arm. Result significantly showed higher mean systolic blood pressure on right arm. There were 54, 17 and 29 participants with inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference of 30). Out of 100 subjects, 11 subject having inter-arm systolic blood pressure difference ≥10 mmHg was associated with a family history of diabetes or hypertension.Conclusions: Presence of inter-arm blood pressure difference with having family history of hypertension or diabetes is more susceptible to develop cardiovascular disorder in future

When and how is corporate social responsibility profitable?

Firms in various markets such as health care, financial services, software, consumer goods, etc. spend a significant amount of money on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. The literature suggests that consumers take into consideration firms' CSR activities when making purchase decisions, noting that and doing so either increases their purchase intention or makes them willing to pay higher prices for the firms' products and services. Unfortunately, notwithstanding its strategic benefits, the empirical findings regarding the impact of CSR on firms' financials are mixed. In this paper we explore when and why investing in CSR can have positive or negative impact on a firm's profitability. In doing so, we model two types of CSR (i.e., company ability relevant CSR (CSR-CA) and company ability irrelevant CSR (CSR-NCA)). We allow firms to choose which one to pursue if they decide to invest in CSR, and we incorporate the indirect effect of CSR through expectancy disconfirmation on consumers' utility, which has been ignored by the extant literature. Our analysis reveals the conditions under which it is optimal to invest in CSR and of what type. Then, we extend our analysis by investigating how the increase in consumers' appreciation of CSR and increase in consumers' sensitivity to evaluative context affect firms' optimal CSR strategies

Community Based Assessment of Biochemical Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases in Rural and Tribal Area of Himalayan Region, India

Context. Evident change in nutrition and lifestyle among individuals of urban and rural areas raises suspicion for similar change in tribal area population of India. Aim. To study the biochemical risk factor for CVDs in rural and tribal population of Sub-Himalayan state of India. Settings and Design. Cross-sectional study in rural (low altitude) and tribal (high altitude) area of Himachal Pradesh, India. Methodology. Blood lipid profile using standard laboratory methods. Statistical Analysis. Chi-square test and multiple linear regression analysis. Results. Total of 900 individuals were studied in both areas. As per Asian criteria, obesity (BMI 27.5–30.0 kg/m2) was observed to be significantly high (P=0.00) as 13.7% in tribal area as compared to 5.5% in rural area. Normal level of TC (<200 mg/dL) and LDL (<130 mg/dL) was observed in the majority of the population of both areas, whereas, at risk level of HDL (<40 mg/dL) was present in half of the population of both rural and tribal areas. The prevalence of borderline to high level of TGs was observed to be 60.2% and 55.2% in rural and tribal (P=0.10) area, respectively. Conclusion. Prevalent abnormal lipid profile in tribal area demands establishment of an effective surveillance system for development of chronic diseases

Insights into the Research Trends on Bovine Colostrum: Beneficial Health Perspectives with Special Reference to Manufacturing of Functional Foods and Feed Supplements

Bovine colostrum (BC) is the initial mammary secretion after parturition, which is nature’s bountiful source consisting of nutritional and bioactive components present in a highly concentrated low-volume format. All mammalian newborns require colostrum to enhance physiological processes such as lifelong immunity, gastrointestinal development, and resistance to microbial infections. The genetic, environmental, and processing methods can all have an impact on the biochemical contents of BC and its supplements. BC and its derivatives have been intensively researched for their potential use in functional foods, medicines, and animal feed. Evidence from clinical studies suggests that BC products are well-tolerated, nontoxic, and safe for human ingestion. Functional foods, feed, and pharmaceutical formulations based on bovine colostrum are playing noteworthy roles in the development of innovative products for promoting health and the prevention of chronic illnesses. This systematic review sheds light on recent research on (a) the effects of processing techniques on BC components, (b) emerging techniques used in the isolation and identification of novel components, (c) BC-based functional foods for human consumption and animal feed supplements, and (d) the role of BC in current drug delivery, as well as future recommendations.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Clinical outcome, viral response and safety profile of chloroquine in COVID-19 patients — initial experience

Introduction: Chloroquine and its analogues are currently being investigated for the treatment and post exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 due to its antiviral activity and immunomodulatory activity.Material and methods: Confirmed symptomatic cases of COVID-19 were included in the study. Patients were supposed to receive chloroquine (CQ) 500 mg twice daily for 7 days. Due to a change in institutional protocol, initial patients received chloroquine and subsequent patients who did not receive chloroquine served as negative controls. Clinical effectiveness was determined in terms of timing of symptom resolution and conversion rate of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) on day 14 and day 15 of admission.Results: Twelve COVID-19 patients formed the treatment arm and 17 patients were included in the control arm. The duration of symptoms among the CQ treated group (6.3 ± 2.7 days) was significantly (p-value = 0.009) lower than that of the control group (8.9 ± 2.2 days). There was no significant difference in the rate of RT-PCR negativity in both groups. 2 patients out of 12 developed diarrhea in the CQ therapy arm.  Conclusion: The duration of symptoms among the treated group (with chloroquine) was significantly lower than that of the control group. RT-PCR conversion was not significantly different between the 2 groups

Risk of secondhand smoke exposure and severity of COVID-19 infection: multicenter case–control study

IntroductionExposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is an established causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic lung disease. Numerous studies have evaluated the role of tobacco in COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality but missed the opportunity to assess the role of SHS. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether SHS is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection, severity, mortality, and other co-morbidities.MethodologyMulticentric case–control study was conducted across six states in India. Severe COVID-19 patients were chosen as our study cases, and mild and moderate COVID-19 as control were evaluated for exposure to SHS. The sample size was calculated using Epi-info version 7. A neighborhood-matching technique was utilized to address ecological variability and enhance comparability between cases and controls, considering age and sex as additional matching criteria. The binary logistic regression model was used to measure the association, and the results were presented using an adjusted odds ratio. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).ResultsA total of 672 cases of severe COVID-19 and 681 controls of mild and moderate COVID-19 were recruited in this study. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for SHS exposure at home was 3.03 (CI 95%: 2.29–4.02) compared to mild/moderate COVID-19, while SHS exposure at the workplace had odds of 2.19 (CI 95%: 1.43–3.35). Other factors significantly related to the severity of COVID-19 were a history of COVID-19 vaccination before illness, body mass index (BMI), and attached kitchen at home.DiscussionThe results of this study suggest that cumulative exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness. More studies with the use of biomarkers and quantification of SHS exposure in the future are needed

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract: a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

Background: To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity &lt;6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity &lt;3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population. Results: In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). Conclusions: The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.</p

Track E Implementation Science, Health Systems and Economics

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138412/1/jia218443.pd