Impact of CRM adoption on organizational performance: Moderating role of technological turbulence

Purpose Customer relationship management (CRM) is instrumental to attain and sustain organizational competitive advantage. Innovation in terms of CRM adoption is the key to gain competitive advantage, and being innovative is dependent on how well organizations know about changing demands of customers and their changing ways to gain access to the market. There is hence a need to develop ongoing empirical insights from diverse management perspectives into the effect of CRM adoption on organizational performance. In this context, the purpose of this study is to develop empirical insights in relation to the moderation of technological turbulence in the banking sector. Design/methodology/approach Primary data were collected and analyzed from 277 CRM staff-members of the banking sector in Pakistan to test a conceptual model. Frequencies of demographics are calculated with correlation and regression analyses using SPSS. The correlation analysis was performed to identify the direction that exists between the dependent and independent variables, and the regression analysis was performed to study the strength/intensity of the independent variable over the dependent variable. Moderating regression analysis was performed to find the moderation effect of technological turbulence on CRM adoption and organizational performance. Findings The CRM adoption has a critical positive impact on organizational performance in the settings of business-to-customer (B2C) perspective in the banking sector. Moreover, the results uncover that improved client satisfaction through CRM adoption prompts better organizational performance in the B2C organization. The authors also have found that technological turbulence has a negative guiding impact on the association linking with CRM adoption, as well as organizational performance. Research limitations/implications The conceptual model that is proposed in this study and supported by empirical insights offers researchers to develop future research studies on the moderating role of technological turbulence to analyze the influence of CRM adoption on organizational performance. Practical implications The empirical insights of this study are valuable for the professionals in the banking sector and other B2C organizations to enrich their organizational performance through CRM adoption while considering the moderating role of technological turbulence. Originality/value Based on an empirical study, in support of an original conceptual model, the insights of this paper contribute to the extant literature in the CRM, bank marketing and management, service management, B2C marketing and the emerging economy knowledge streams

Robust forecasting of mortality and fertility rates: a functional data approach

We propose a new method for forecasting age-specific mortality and fertility rates observed over time. Our approach allows for smooth functions of age, is robust for outlying years due to wars and epidemics, and provides a modelling framework that is easily adapted to allow for constraints and other information. We combine ideas from functional data analysis, nonparametric smoothing and robust statistics to form a methodology that is widely applicable to any functional time series data, and age-specific mortality and fertility in particular. We show that our model is a generalization of the Lee-Carter model commonly used in mortality and fertility forecasting. The methodology is applied to French mortality data and Australian fertility data, and we show that the forecasts obtained are superior to those from the Lee-Carter method and several of its variants.Fertility Forecasting, Functional Data, Mortality Forecasting, Nonparametric Smoothing, Principal Components, Robustness.

The influence of global, country and firm-level governance on social and environmental reporting: Evidence from developing countries

The study examines the influence of global, country and firm-level governance on social and environmental reporting (SER) in developing countries from the institutional perspective. Using the Bloomberg ESG disclosure, worldwide governance indicators, and other databases for 45 developing countries from 2007–2016, the study examines the influence of global, country and firm-level governance on SER. Results show that all three levels of governance have significant positive influences on SER, with global governance having the strongest influence on SER in developing countries. By interviewing 26 corporate and 23 non-corporate interviewees, the study explores ‘why and how’ the global, country and firm-level governance influence SER in Bangladesh, as a case of developing countries. The findings show that SER in Bangladesh is mainly driven by the coercive pressures from the global market, followed by the normative pressures from the firm-level, and the cultural-cognitive pressures from the country-level. Specifically, SER is primarily aimed at mitigating the coercive pressures from the powerful economic stakeholders, namely international buyers and lenders followed by the normative pressures at the firm-level to be endorsed for SER, thereby branding and expanding the business both at home and abroad. The country governance in Bangladesh is not conducive for SER due to the absence of coercive pressures (there is coercion for political donations, not for SER), normative pressures (lack of national guidelines for SER or CSR), and cultural cognitive pressures (lack of awareness of and interest in SER). The firm-level governance in Bangladesh is mainly superficial, and the inclusion of the so-called independent directors and female directors does not necessarily promote SER. The ‘board independence’ and ‘board gender-diversity’ are ‘in appearance’ rather than ‘in fact’, because of the lack of independent mindset, knowledge and expertise, benefit dependency (co-option), family control, patriarchy, male dominance, and honour culture. Findings indicate that SER is largely symbolic and used as an expedient response to the coercive as well as normative pressures exerted by the international powerful economic stakeholders followed by the normative pressures and expertise of SER at the firm-level for promoting the financial wellbeing of the reporting entities, rather than ensuring accountability, transparency and social justice in developing countries

Etiology of acute undifferentiated fever in patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care center in Karachi, Pakistan

Objective: Our study aimed at identifying the characteristics and etiology of various causes of acute undifferentiated fever in patients presenting to the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital.Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at the department of emergency medicine, Aga Khan University Hospital from January to June 2016. Adult patients presenting to Emergency department with acute undifferentiated fever were enrolled. Descriptive statistics were calculated in terms of mean±SD for continuous variables like age of the patients and duration of fever, whereas frequency and percentage were computed for categorical variables like gender and causes of fever.Results: A total of one hundred and fifty five patients were included. Out of these 97 (62.6%) were males and 58 (37.4%) were females. Most patients (25.2%, n= 39) were diagnosed as malaria followed closely by dengue fever (n=33, 21.3%) and then enteric fever (n= 10, 6.5%). while 41.9% (n=65) were diagnosed as suspected viral fever based on clinical judgment and inconclusive laboratory results.Conclusion: Malaria was found to be the most common confirmed cause of acute undifferentiated fever followed by dengue and enteric fever. The provision of accurate epidemiological data will enable resources to be directed towards key areas and will be of practical importance to clinicians

Performance Enhancement of Wearable Antenna Using High Impedance Surfaces

This paper presents a novel textile wearable antenna that has been designed to operate at Wi-Fi bands of 2.4GHz & 5.8GHz. Antenna performance in free space environment showed Gain of 1.8dBi at 2.4GHz and 4.5dBi at 5.8GHz. However, performance deteriorated when antenna was operated near human body which is lossy and complex in nature. For mitigating the human body effect on antenna performance, high impedance surface (HIS) was designed and integrated with this textile antenna. Due to shielding effect of HIS, antenna Gain increased to 8dBi at 2.4GHz and 9dBi at 5.8GHz. The SAR values were also reduced to 0.682W/Kg at 2.4GHz and 0.0692W/Kg at 5.8GHz for 10g tissue. The proposed antenna was also tested under bending and crumpling conditions. It was observed that antenna performance was not significantly deteriorated. The proposed textile antenna can have exciting applications in emerging wearable technologies

ENVISAGING KSE 100 INDEX USING THE BOX-JENKINS METHODOLOGY

Investment in stock portfolios has never been a risk-free course of action as countless factors impinge on the end result of such a venture. Although fairly rewarding, the element of uncertainty involved keeps many potential investors away as they fail to adequately forecast what moves the stock market is going to make in the near future. The enticement of receiving returns, however, is appealing enough for investors to have their money invested in the stock market. But the ability to forecast the market remains their major necessity. In operational terms, there are two ways of forecasting the current and future values of any time series including stock indices. One way is to regress stock returns over all those factors that have an effect on stock market performance. The other method is making predictions on the basis of the past performance of the stock market. The current paper has adopted the second method of forecasting and has made use of the ARIMA technique. Monthly stock returns data of KSE 100 Index was collected from 1997 to 2019 which translated into 266 observations. It was realized that the technique used in the study helped in adequately predicting stock returns, although only in the short run. The outcomes of this study may be of help for prospective stock market investors, specifically short-term, in deciding when, and when not, to extend their investments at Pakistan Stock Exchange

Broadside Pattern Correction Techniques for Conformal Antenna Arrays

Phase compensation techniques based on projection method and convex optimization (phase correction only) for comparing the maximum gain of a phase-compensated conformal antenna array have been discussed. In particular, these techniques are validated with conformal phased array antenna attached to a cylindrical-shaped surface with various radii of curvatures. These phase compensation techniques are used to correct the broadside radiation pattern. It is shown that the maximum broadside gain compensated is still less than the gain of a linear flat array for any surface deformation. This fundamental maximum compensated gain limitations of the phase compensation techniques can be used by a designer to predict the maximum broadside obtainable theoretical gain on a conformal antenna array for a particular deformed surface

Lack of Association of LPA Gene Polymorphisms with Coronary Artery Disease in Pakistani Subjects

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death worldwide. Pakistan faces a high epidemic of CAD, and the disease burden is increasing with the passage of time. Several genetic markers have been reported to be significantly associated with CAD; one of them is the lipoprotein A gene. The aim of the current investigation was to genotype the LPA gene SNPs, rs3798220 and rs10455872, in Pakistani subjects with CAD in a case control study design. The genotyping was done by TaqMan allelic discrimination assay. The results showed that the cases had significantly higher prevalence of diabetes (64.6%), hypertension (62.1%), and smoking habits (29.5%). The level of cholesterol in cases was higher than in controls (208.25±54.11 vs. 175.34±43.51, p≤0.0001). The LDL-C was higher in cases than in controls (104.62±37.94 vs. 77.05±21.17, p≤0.0001). Similarly, triglycerides were also higher in cases than in controls (214.51±74.60 vs. 190.54±70.26, p≤0.0001), whereas HDL-C was lower in cases than in controls (45.13±11.63 vs. 67.9±17.57, p≤0.0001). For rs3798220, the risk allele (C) frequency was 0.005 in cases and 0.002 in controls. For rs10455872, the risk allele (G) frequency was 0.017 in cases and 0.014 in controls. The risk allele frequencies were not significantly different between cases and controls (p>0.05). In conclusion, these two LPA SNPs do not contribute significantly to CAD progression and cannot be used as independent risk factors for CAD in Pakistani population

The SNP rs10911021 is associated with oxidative stress in coronary heart disease patients from Pakistan

BACKGROUND: rs10911021 (a single nucleotide polymorphism present upstream of the GLUL gene) affects glutamic acid metabolism, and was shown to be associated with coronary heart disease (CHD) in patients with T2DM but a definite mechanism is unknown. It may affect glutathione cycle, an important effector in the antioxidant defense mechanism, in the cells. We checked the association of this SNP with CHD and oxidative stress biomarkers, malondialdeheyde (MDA), GSH and GSSG in Pakistani patients. METHODS: A total of 650 subjects (425 CHD cases and 225 controls) were genotyped by TaqMan allelic discrimination technique. The levels of MDA, GSH and GSSG were measured by standard protocols. RESULTS: The risk allele frequency was higher in cases than controls, but the difference was insignificant (p = 0.55). The SNP was not associated with CHD (p = 0.053) but when the analysis was limited to CHD patients having DM, a significant association (p = 0.03) was observed. The blood levels of MDA and GSSG were higher while that of GSH was significantly lower in the cases than the controls (p < 0.05). Each risk allele increased MDA and GSSG by 0.29 (0.036) mmol/l and 0.4 (0.04) mmol/l, respectively, while decreased GSH by -0.36 (0.03) mmol/l. The SNP was not associated with any of the tested blood lipids. CONCLUSION: The SNP rs10911021 was associated with CHD only in patients having diabetes, but the SNP was associated with total oxidative stress biomarkers MDA and GSH and GSSG levels. As the SNP rs10911021 showed significant association with oxidative stress parameters and these parameters should an increased oxidative stress in the CHD subjects, it can be concluded that the SNP may have contributed to increase the risk of heart diseases in the diabetic subjects by increasing the oxidative stress