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

Randomised trial to assess the efficacy of pelvic drainage in preventing pelvic collection after elective rectal resection for cancer

INTRODUCTION: Rectal cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer occurring in both males and females globally. In India, the incidence of rectal cancer among males is higher than females, which is different from the rest of the world. Increasing incidence among younger males in India has been seen as a trend. Low socioeconomic status has been seen to be associated with the incidence of rectal cancer both globally and in India. Though the management of rectal cancer is multimodal, adequate surgical resection is the mainstay of treatment and is considered the primary treatment modality. Rectal resection remains a morbid operation, one of the most troublesome complications being pelvic collection. Pelvic drainage by means of closed tubular drainage has been practised routinely with the objective of reducing the post operative morbidity. This study aims to observe the role of closed tube pelvic drainage in the post operative outcome following rectal resection. Although the ineffectiveness of such an intervention in reducing postoperative morbidity has been established in patients undergoing small intestinal and colonic resections, there is no conclusive data in patients undergoing rectal resection. In fact the effectiveness of such an intervention for rectal resection has been questioned. OBJECTIVES: 1. To detect the presence of pelvic collection by ultrasonographic imaging of the pelvis on the 5th post operative day and measure its volume if present. 2. To assess the morbidity in terms of deviation in the normal post operative course 3. To record the number of days of hospital stay according to ‘fit for discharge’ criteria. 4. To document the occurrence of urinary tract infection (UTI) during the post operative period (30 days following surgery). METHODS: The study was a randomized controlled trial which included all patients undergoing elective rectal resection under General Surgery Unit 2. The intervention was absence of pelvic drainage and this was compared against the comparator which was closed pelvic drainage. The exclusion criteria were: 1. Patients operated on an emergency basis. 2. Patients with disseminated disease where surgery is a palliative procedure. 3. Patients with compromised immunity (on steroids, immunosupression, post transplant patients). 4. Patients with intraoperative complications for which drainage is inevitable (spillage). The method used for randomisation was a block randomisation with concealment in sealed envolopes. The sample size was calculated by a two proportion methos with a power of 80% and an alpha error of 5%. Statistical analysis was performed by means of chi square test and independent sample T test. RESULTS: Although the study was not carried on till the complete sample size was reached, the results were all consistent and showed trends in the same direction. However, statistically significant conclusions cannot be drawn from the analysis of the results. The duration of the study and the time constraint is one of the major limitation of this study. Apart from this, sensitivity of a pelvic ultrasonogram, observer bias and the inability to perform blinding are the other limitations. The increased incidence of rectal cancer among younger males has stood out in this study which is in contrast with studies from the western population. The use of pelvic drainage has not shown to drastically contribute towards reducing post operative morbidity in terms of decreased pelvic collections or reduced hospital stays. Infact, the absence of a pelvic drain has shown a trend towards reduced incidence of pelvic collection and reduced hospital stay. However, these results are not statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS: The aim of conducting this study was to establish a definitive association between the routine use of closed tube drainage of the pelvis in patients undergoing resection for rectal cancer. The paucity of data in this area and the equivocal results of existing studies further warranted the need for this study. Although the study was not carried on till the complete sample size was reached, the results were all consistent and showed trends in the same direction. However, statistically significant conclusions cannot be drawn from the analysis of the results. The duration of the study and the time constraint is one of the major limitation of this study. Apart from this, sensitivity of a pelvic ultrasonogram, observer bias and the inability to perform blinding are the other limitations. The increased incidence of rectal cancer among younger males has stood out in this study which is in contrast with studies from the western population. The use of pelvic drainage has not shown to drastically contribute towards reducing post operative morbidity in terms of decreased pelvic collections or reduced hospital stays. Infact, the absence of a pelvic drain has shown a trend towards reduced incidence of pelvic collection and reduced hospital stay. However, these results are not statistically significant. The other factor that contributed to the outcome of these patients was neoadjuvant therapy in the form of long course chemoradiation. The lack of unequivocal evidence in the benefit of routine pelvic drainage has shown that it is a questionable intervention

Effectiveness of Google Classroom: Teachers’ Perceptions

Technology has gained importance in all stages of education yet educators have been unable to figure out which of the many available technological tools best fit their classroom practices. Google Classroom is one such tool that is free of cost and has gained popularity within a short span of time. The main purpose of the study is to assess teachers’ perception on the effectiveness of Google Classroom. The study is carried out through a qualitative research design. The sample of the study, which uses semi-structured interview method, consists of 12 higher education teachers who have implemented Google Classroom for at least one semester in their classroom. The data acquired has been put through a comprehensive analysis by coding and categorizing the data through NVivo. Findings revealed that teachers perceive it as only a facilitation tool that can be used for document management and basic classroom management, without having a significant impact on teaching methodologies. The responses of the teachers indicate that lack of user-friendly interface is the main reason for its inefficiency. Further studies can be conducted by taking the students’ perspective into account. Key words: Educational technology, Google Classroom, Integrating technology, Virtual Classroom

Effectiveness of Google Classroom: Teachers’ Perceptions

Technology has gained importance in all stages of education yet educators have been unable to figure out which of the many available technological tools best fit their classroom practices. Google Classroom is one such tool that is free of cost and has gained popularity within a short span of time. The main purpose of the study is to assess teachers’ perception on the effectiveness of Google Classroom. The study is carried out through a qualitative research design. The sample of the study, which uses semi-structured interview method, consists of 12 higher education teachers who have implemented Google Classroom for at least one semester in their classroom. The data acquired has been put through a comprehensive analysis by coding and categorizing the data through NVivo. Findings revealed that teachers perceive it as only a facilitation tool that can be used for document management and basic classroom management, without having a significant impact on teaching methodologies. The responses of the teachers indicate that lack of user-friendly interface is the main reason for its inefficiency. Further studies can be conducted by taking the students’ perspective into account. Key words: Educational technology, Google Classroom, Integrating technology, Virtual Classroom

Cognitive Storage Model And Mapping With Classical Data Structures

Memories are the internal mental records that we maintain .Human mind is a very complex organ.. Processing depends on how we memorize information, events and how we recall things and use them efficiently in situations when required. It can be related that for Storage in mind we use different data structures for storing variety of information. We remember the names of known persons, and the people we met more frequently.The Topics in book, Months of the year, our CNIC Number, the way we learn words of a new language etc. Recently invented data structures e.g skiplist [1] show much similarity of how the brain store the information. So we can say Careful study of how the cognitive storage works could lead to the discovery of the new data structures In this paper we have attempted to relate the existing data structures with how we store information in mind

Purposes to Seek Information Resources by Academicians of the Oldest & Leading University of the Sub-Continent: An Explanatory Study

Major goal of this research was to know the purposes of seeking information resources by the academicians at GC University Lahore. As an allied goal, effort was made to know the role of the university library in meeting information and research needs of the academic faculty. Mixed methods research design was adopted for meeting goals of the research. Explanatory Sequential Design (QUAN + qual) was utilized. Firstly, quantitative data was collected through the instrument of questionnaire and analyzed by SPSS Software. Qualitative data was collected from 30 seasoned academicians working in different departments of the university. Thematic approach was followed to make analysis of the qualitatively driven data. Results of the study show that academicians search information resources for the purposes of preparing lectures, for guiding research scholars and students, for presenting research papers, to keep up with current developments, for writing research articles and enhancing their general knowledge. Findings of the study show that respondents are satisfied with the resources and services of university library. Participants recommend the need of formal training for developing skills to search specific information resources through online sources. Findings of this study are limited to the teaching faculty at GC University Lahore Pakistan, a leading institute of the sub-continent. The study has practical implication for the authorities of the universities and policy-makers of Higher Education Commission, Islamabad to design services in accordance with the needs of faculty members of the university. The study has revealed purposes of seeking information resources by academic faculty of the university, role of the library and practical solutions to meet information and research needs of the teaching faculty members

Resource Sharing among Medical Teaching Libraries: A Developing Country Perspective

Resource sharing is a functional as well as financial need of any library. In this modern era of information technology while information explosion is at extreme, it is impossible for a library to cover the entire surface of available knowledge. Developed countries are actual beneficiaries of this practice where idea of resource sharing has been transformed into a formal practice. Developing South Asian countries are also working on this concept in order to adopt it as a practice. This study identified the resource sharing opportunities for medical teaching libraries in Lahore with reference to perception and willingness. The sample of this study encompassed 26 leading medical libraries of all public and private degree awarding institutions in Lahore, Pakistan. The survey research method was adopted for this study. Findings showed that resource sharing is a valuable practice. It enhances the level of user satisfaction. It adds value to library collections which is not limited to library books only. Libraries are willing to initiate resource sharing through creating union catalogues. This study could be applied to all medical libraries in Pakistan to develop a real time formal resource sharing network which would accelerate performance reaming in limited financial resources

Does multidetector computed tomography unravel the hidden domains of conventional radiography in calcaneal fractures?

Background: The most often fractured bone among the tarsal bones is the calcaneum. The first assessment of the suspected calcaneum fracture is conventional radiography. The modern assessment of calcaneal fractures is mainly based on multidetector computed tomography, because of its three-dimensional nature and Volume rendering techniques. The objective of this study was to compare the diagnostic value of Multidetector CT with Conventional radiography in Calcaneal fractures taking operative data as reference standard. Methods: The patients suspected for calcaneal fracture were subjected to conventional radiography and computed tomographic imaging and results were compared in terms of Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and Diagnostic accuracy, taking operative/MRI findings as reference standard. Results: We included 68 cases in our study The Sensitivity, specificity and diagnostic accuracy were 92.6%, 33.33%, 82.3% and 98.3%, 71.4%, 95.5% for conventional radiography and MDCT respectively. Conclusions: We settled that MDCT is far ahead of the conventional radiography in complete depiction, diagnosis, characterization and treatment formulation for calcaneal fractures

Use of Social Media in Libraries: A Perspective of a Developing Country

Social Media (SM) provides a range of possibilities for libraries to provide services out from traditional ways and means as modern life has been influenced greatly and massively by the internet. Owing to the amazing advancement of services given through the internet, libraries and information centers have to change and perform efficiently to convene the information needs of modern users. Libraries must use modern SM tools to enhance and thrive in this age of the internet. Currently, libraries are adopting these tools in their services to satisfy the information and research needs of the users. SM applications in libraries drive to convene the growing and varying prospects of library clients. This paper aims to investigate the use of SM to enhance library effectiveness in Pakistani libraries. The study is based on a survey that was administered through survey monkey. The data of 71 filled questionnaires were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Results show that 73.2% of respondents started using social media after 2008, and the top users are university libraries (53.52%). 76.1 % using Facebook, but 56.3 % believe in the usefulness of blogs/blogging. Professional networking (74.6%) is the main purpose of using SM, followed by the promotion of library services (69%). Three main challenges in using SM at libraries are 1) technical problems, 2) restrictions on using social media at the office; and 3) low internet connection

Attitudes of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty Students towards English Language at Karachi University

The research paper aims at studying the attitudes of the students of Islamic Learning and Education Faculty towards English at the University of Karachi. It is based on testing the hypothesis that the students of Islamic Learning Faculty have less positive attitudes towards English as compared to the students of Education faculty through a survey on first year students of both faculties. A five-point Likert scale was used to conduct a survey on 151 students of the Islamic Learning faculty and 135 students of the Education faculty. The results were calculated using an independent t-testand standard deviation which reveals that there is a minor difference in the attitudes of thestudent of both faculties. The students of the Education faculty showed more positive attitudes when asked about the importance of English as compared to the attitudes of the students of Islamic Learning Faculty. However, the difference in their attitude is negligible. As the results reveal a minor association between the attitudes of the learners and their faculty, the study; therefore, proves the null hypothesiswhich says that there is no significant difference between the attitudes of the students of both the faculties. Keywords: attitudes; English language; t-test; standard deviation; Islamic learning faculty; education faculty; likert-scale