Large Customer Base Research Articles

Rescue Operation in the Air: A Case of Air India

Air India (AI), the public sector company, which had its beginning sixty five years ago, is involved in divestment process. It was beset with operational inefficiency and has been making losses for the last many years, with an accumulated loss of Rs. 46,256 crores between April 2010 to December 2017. To keep the airline in running condition, the government invested Rs. 26, 545 crores into the airline since April 2011. Finally, the government has decided to divest 76% stake in the company. A 100% stake is offered in its subsidiary Air India Express and a 50% stake on the branch which is handling ground operations. Its other subsidiaries-Alliance Air, Hotel Corporation of India, Air India Air Transport Services and Air India Engineering Services, are not offered for sale and would be transferred to a special purpose entity (SPV). Apart from financial re-structuring, focus has also shifted to organizational and managerial re-structuring too. For prospective buyers, the strengths of AI which could have attracted them to buy were its bilateral flying rights, lucrative international destinations, large fleet of wide bodied and narrow-bodied aircraft and a large customer base. However, these were offset by the huge debt burden and the large employee base. The government could not attract a single potential bidder for the company. The government was in a dilemma. It had to put on hold the divestment process. The future is bleak, whether the government will be able to revive the ailing airline remains to be seen. The objective of the case is to identify the reasons for divestment and the structure of divesting an enterprise. Also, to identify the financial, HR, operational and marketing implications of the process of divestment.

Integration of Cloud Computing with Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Telecom Sector—A Case Study

The technologies cloud computing (CC) and artificial intelligence (AI) are very much on business horizon as smart transformation technologies for companies to be smarter once, so as to render their services in a smart way to their customer, meaning promptly, efficiently and economically that best satisfy the customers. This study is a study of the application of CC, and AI in the leading telecom MGA-MENA Company in the middle-east. The result of the application of the twin-technologies of cloud computing and artificial intelligence is the increase in operational services, product efficiencies and better products and more customer satisfying services of a Smart MGA-MENA Company. The conclusion that follows is that the big telecom enterprises like MGA-MENA with a large customer base and every minute umpteen transactions, cloud computing and artificial intelligence is a new and advanced business opportunity. So, it is suggested that telecoms need to be technologically dynamic and updated.

Agile Requirements Engineering: An Empirical Analysis and Evidence from a Tertiary Education Context

Aim/Purpose: The study describes empirical research into agile Requirements Engineering (RE) practices based on an analysis of data collected in a large higher education organization. Background: Requirements Engineering (RE) in agile development contexts is considerably different than in traditional software development. The field of agile RE is still nascent where there is a need to evaluate its impact in real-world settings. Methodology: Using a case study methodology, the study involved interviewing nine experienced software practitioners who reflected on the use and implementation of various agile RE practices in two software development projects of a student management system. Contribution: The primary contribution of the paper is the evaluation of agile RE practices in a large tertiary educational organization. Based on the analysis of the data, it provides valuable insights into the practice of agile RE in a specific context (i.e., education), but just as importantly, the ones that were omitted or replaced with others and why. Findings: While the evolutionary and iterative approach to defining requirements was followed in general, not all agile practices could be fully adhered to in the case organization. Although face-to-face communication with the customers has been recognized as one the most important agile RE practices, it was one of the most difficult practices to achieve with a large and diverse customer base. Addressing people issues (e.g., resistance to change, thinking, and mindset) was found to be a key driver to following the iterative RE process effectively. Contrary to the value-based approach advocated in the literature, the value-based approach was not strictly adhered to in requirements prioritization. Continuous integration was perceived to be a more beneficial practice than prototyping, as it allows frequent integration of code and facilitates delivering working software when necessary. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our study has important implications for practitioners. Based on our empirical analysis, we provide specific recommendations for effective implementation of agile RE practices. For example, our findings suggest that practitioners could address the challenges associated with limited face-to-face communication challenges by producing flexible, accessible, and electronic documentation to enable communication. Recommendations for Researchers: Researchers can use the identified agile RE practices and their variants to per-form in-depth investigations into agile requirements engineering in other educational contexts. Impact on Society: There are a number of new technologies that offer exciting new opportunities that can be explored to maximize the benefits of agile and other requirements techniques. Future Research: Future research could conduct case studies in different contexts and thus con-tribute to developing bundles or collections of practices to improve software development processes in specific contexts.

Brand Awareness through Instagram Advertising

We live in an era where we are cluttered with a lot of information being generated every second. The source of it is TV, newspapers or increasingly popular online media. It has therefore become quite important for both Product and service-based companies to stand out amid all the buzz. As we have witnessed in recent years, technology has given new platforms through which companies can communicate and interact with their target audience. Social media has risen as the leading star. Out of these social media platforms, image sharing service platforms such as Instagram have gained huge success and attracted a large customer base. Instagram is basically a free, visual content sharing social network platform, focused mainly on sharing of pictures with friends/followers through an easy to understand and use mobile application. It recently surpassed 300 million registered users, which clearly indicates the growing appeal and the use of visual social media. As consumers are inclining more and more towards new social media platforms, brands must identify the change and learn to communicate in innovative methods. To gain that engagement, brands first need to understand which kind of content drives users’ engagement. The subject areas such as visual communication, brand communication/branding on social media as well as social media itself have been researched independently, but their combined effect i.e. visual brand communication and consumer engagement, has not been researched in the specific context of Instagram. Our study will explore visual brand communication applied to visual social media platform i.e. Instagram, to understand what type of visual brand communication is effective to engage with customers and why. This theoretical framework presents Social media and visual communication in an in-depth manner, with focus on brand communication/branding, on social media platforms and a presentation on specific platform: Instagram.

Performance of Kotak Mahindra Bank after Merger

The paper is an attempt to analyse the performance of Kotak Mahindra bank for pre and post-period. The approach is Based on comparison of ratios in pre and post period. The period taken for pre-merger is two years and post-merger is three years. Performance is evaluated on the basis of, current ratio, quick ratio, Credit Deposit Ratio, debt equity ratio, Investment Deposit Ratio, Cash Deposit Ratio, Financial Charges Coverage, Capital Adequacy Ratio, Net Profit Margin Ratio, Return on Long Term Fund Ratio, Return on Net Worth Ratio, Operating margin Ratio, Gross profit margin Ratio, Adjusted cash margin Ratio for pre and post merger period. The final conclusion is that Merger is a useful strategy for Banks to expand their operations, serve larger customer base, increases profitability, liquidity and efficiency but the overall growth and financial illness of the bank can't be solved from mergers.

ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECT OF EDUCATING CUSTOMER, SERVICE FAIRNESS, CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AND LOYALTY: A STUDY ON ISLAMIC BANK IN INDONESIA

The low level of market share of Islamic banks continues in Indonesia despite having a large potential customer base as the most populated Muslim country in the world. . This study analyses two factors related to marketing of Islamic banking in Indonesia, namely educating customers and service fairness. This research was conducted in Jakarta with a sample of 200 people. This study employs Structural Equation Model (SEM) using AMOS software. The study found that service quality has a significant and positive impact on customer satisfaction but does not have a significant impact on customer loyalty. The study also found that educating the customer has a negative significant impact on customer satisfaction, which means that as more customers learn about Islamic banking, the higher their dissatisfaction. Furthermore, educating the customer also has no significant effect on customer loyalty. This study shows that Islamic banks in Indonesia have not been able to build the loyalty of its customers.. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that Islamic banks in Indonesia should re-evaluate and improve their marketing strategies primarily in terms of educating their customers.

External Perception of Organisational Culture and Customer Based Corporate Reputation: The Mediating Role of Transparent Communication

Companies that are able to take advantage of good reputation are likely to increase their economic performance by retaining large customer base. While studies have established a direct relationship between organisational culture and corporate reputation, scholars have argued that there is paucity of studies that examined external perception of organisational culture (POC) on customer based corporate reputation (CBCR). Similarly, studies have not examined the causal link through which POC influence CBCR. Hence, this present study was conducted to provide additional insight by examining the mediating role of transparent communication (TC) on the relationships between POC and CBCR. The data for this study was collected from 321customers of three major insurance companies (Custodians and Allied Insurance, Mutual Benefits, NEM Insurance PLC) in Nigeria. The study utilized PLS-SEM path modelling with the aid of SmartPLS 2.0 software to test the research hypotheses. The findings revealed that TC plays a competitive mediating role by changing the negative significant relationship between POC and CBCR to significant positive relationship. As such, a competitive mediation was established between POC and CBCR through TC. The study recommended the need for insurance companies to engage in aggressive communication strategy by focusing on transparent communication to foster better insurance awareness with a view to improving their reputation in the eyes of the Nigerian public.

Effects of Agency Banking on Bank Performance: A Case of Equity Bank Meru Branch, Kenya

The purpose of this study was to establish the effects of agency banking on bank performance with a focus of Equity Bank Meru Branch, Kenya. The reason for the selection of Equity Bank was because of its large customer base and because of its growth. The study adopted a descriptive research design and the target population was the eighteen agency bank agents. The study used stratified random sampling to select 11 agents that were used in the study. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected by use of questionnaires with both open and closed ended questions. Data was analyzed and presented using descriptive statistical tools. The study findings indicated that the general cost such as operations and transactions cost were still high even for agency banking, security measures were in place that is physical security though it needed strengthening, transaction security and customer security were not good and needed improvement and the regulations that were in place for agency banking also needed to be improved. The study made the following recommendations: For agent banking operations to be effective, strong internal control systems should be put in place which should be flexible and be evaluated periodically to increase efficiency and effectiveness; there should also be frequent updates of regulations and policies that guide agency banking and procedures that are used in the banking and agency industry in Kenya. Bankers Association in consultation with the Central Bank of Kenya should carry out frequent audit and research in relationship to agency banking to determine any loopholes and challenges in order to advice the banks accordingly. Also banks should work closely with the agents in order to streamline the systems and processes to help achieve efficiency. The results gathered out of the audit and research will help the banks to keep their agents updated.

Effect of process variables on the properties of dual-core yarns containing wool/elastane

The denim, having a large customer base irrelevant of age, gender and social status limitation, has been one of the most important products for thegarment sector. Denim fabric demand has diversified with the changing consumer’s sense of life day by day. The denim manufacturers develop alternative production techniques and materials by turning towards new researches in order to adapt to consumer demands. One of the alternative materials, which are used in denim fabric structure, is the dual-core yarns. The dual-core yarn is manufactured through the modified ring-spinning machine in order to benefit at the same time from the properties of two core components. In this study the influence of some production parameters such as twist level, wool draft and elastane draft on the properties of dual-core yarns containing wool/elastane is investigated.The results indicated that the twist level is significantly effective parameter for the unevenness, hairiness, tenacity and elongation values of dual-core yarns. In addition, wool draft is significantly effective parameter for hairiness and breaking elongation values. It was also observed that variation of elastane draft level affects tenacity and elongation values of dual-core yarns.

ВПЛИВ МАРКЕТИНГОВИХ ІНСТРУМЕНТІВ НА ВСТАНОВЛЕННЯ ФАКТОРІВ ДОВІРИ СПОЖИВАЧІВ ДО ПІДПРИЄМСТВ

The main purpose of article is to explore theoretical and methodological aspects of of factors that affect emergence of trust among clients and customers of by marketing tools. Within framework of study, a number of factors were identified that separately, in themselves, or in aggregate, affect creation of trust to enterprise. Among factors that have a positive effect on trust creation to company, article highlights following: authoritativeness, similarity, credibility, seniority, celebrity, friendly relations, frequency of location and actual demonstration. Also, during study, it was found out that above-mentioned factors of trust can be developed among consumers by marketing communication tools, depending on target audience. It has been determined that feature of influence on customers and clients of certain factors may facilitate sense of trust creation both to as a whole and to particular product or service. The article proposes use of trust-creating marketing as an alternative to traditional marketing because trust-based marketing model focuses on creating a large customer base of regular clients, creating a communication environment between them and enterprise, which in turn leads to sustainable and predictable profit of and get possibility to go out price competition. It is presented a schematic model that demonstrates a conceptual difference in application of traditional marketing methods and marketing methods based on of trust factors, which offers, at stage between desire to purchase product and its direct sale, to introduce three additional stages: consumer involvement in communication, development friendly relations between and enterprise and the formation of a trusting attitude towards by consumer. Also, study emphasizes, that another important component of trust-creating marketing development, opposite to norms of traditional marketing, is that after direct sale, communication with buyer does not stop, but on contrary becomes consistent and constant, which urges buyer to further interaction with company already as a regular customer.

Competition for Content in Distribution Markets With Locked-in Customers

We study competition for content rights in the presence of locked-in customers in the distribution market. The literature shows that when the content provider's revenue stems only from the lump-sum fee(s) collected from the distributors, the content provider never multihomes. We show that this result does not hold if the mass of locked-in customers in the distribution market is sufficiently high. When exclusivity occurs, the content provider sells high quality content to the larger distributor and low quality content to the smaller distributor (as long as the market split is not too asymmetric). Finally, we show that competition over content access can reduce the value of having a large customer base and therefore distributors do not necessarily benefit from a large customer base.

An examination of the possibilities and issues in the rural market

Because of its scope and large customer base, the Indian rural sector presents both domestic and international advertisers with numerous chances. Agriculture and the rural market are also, directly and indirectly, important to the Indian economy. Due to the overall expansion of the Indian economy and the consequent rise in the buying power of rural Indian households, rural marketplaces in India have recently assumed a significant role. The green movement and better infrastructure for rural residents are further reasons why a significant portion of industrialized and manufactured products are being consumed in rural areas. Marketing strategy has become a unique marketing method in this situation (Verma, 2013)

Analysing the consumer behaviour and the influence of brand loyalty in purchasing sportswear products

Brand loyalty is an important term that defines the relationship between customer and it is important for the retailers to have a large loyal customer base. Specifically, sportswear products seem to be one of the most convenient apparel product categories to develop loyalty for the consumers. In this study, it was aimed to analyse the profile of sportswear consumers and their loyalty towards the leading sportswear retailers in Turkey. For this aim, a survey was conducted among 190 participants aged between 18 and 40, and the socio-demographic characteristics of the consumers were explored. The results revealed that more than half of the participants (54.74%) identified themselves as loyal customers in terms of sportswear products. The loyal consumers stated that they would continue to buy from these brands in the future and recommend to others. Expressing the reason for loyalty, the majority of the participant related their loyalty to the satisfying products offered by this brand. However, the participants seem likely to switch to the other brands if the other brands offer attractive promotions.

How to Succeed with Cloud Services?

How can cloud providers be successful? Severe competition and low up-front commitments create enormous challenges for providers of consumer cloud services when attempting to develop a sustainable market position. Emergent trends like consumerization lead to high growth rates and extend the reach of these services far into the enterprise sphere. Using a freemium model, many providers focus on establishing a large customer base quickly but fail to generate revenue streams in the long run. Others charge consumers early but do not reach their growth targets. Based on a representative sample of 596 actual cloud service users, the study examines how consumer cloud services can become self-sustainable on the basis of the user base and revenue streams they generate. The authors identify two mechanisms that influence the success of consumer cloud services, dedication- and constraint-based mechanisms, and show how they drive different elements of success. They find that satisfaction impacts the success of cloud services in terms of user generation and continuance, while switching barriers need to be in place to generate revenues. The results indicate that focusing on a single success element can be misleading and insufficient to understand the success of cloud services. The key findings are used to derive recommendations for three generic strategies that cloud providers can apply to become successful in their competitive market environment.

QoS Based IPTV Over Mobile WiMAX Networks

Owing to the inherent nature, data packets in internet protocol television (IPTV) systems face two major challenges; loss and delay. On the other hand, there is a stringent constraint of minimum speed to make possible delivery of the right number of frames per second to deliver multimedia content in mobile environment. This implies that the inadequate connection speed and bandwidth available for large IPTV customer base can trim down the service quality delivered. In this paper, we have thoroughly investigated the impact of various factors which affect the key quality parameters in IPTV systems which employs worldwide interoperable microwave access WiMAX. Also, we have proposed to employ smart antenna for WiMAX network. Specifically, we have carried out a detailed study of the effect of the following parameters: (1) transmission power; (2) distance variation; (3) antenna gain; (4) channel bandwidth, and (5) mobility under six different categories of scenarios (1) variable distance between nodes; (2) various modulation techniques; (3) variable transmitted power; (4) variable coverage area; (5) different types of antennas, and (6) variable number of connection. The simulation results showed that WiMAX makes a great development in the proposed IPTV system, while ensuring that packet delay and jitter meet the requirements of video content streaming to access IPTV services anywhere and anytime under the effect of changing power ratings, modulation techniques, and distance through WiMAX coverage area. Therefore, the proposed system satisfies higher throughput rates and solves delay problems; as well as providing a stable and monotonic response for all discussed QoS parameters.

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for Financial Cooperatives in New Market Economy

A large banking institutions based in India initiated an IT solution that provide link to data redundancy towards large customer base. As per Reserve Bank of India Department of Banking Supervision, Central Office, Mumbai has guidelines on information security, Electronic Banking, Technology risk management, Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP). The banks must have prevention programme to reduce the likelihood that banks operation will be significantly affected by a pandemic event for which the banks need to setup disaster avoidance, disaster recovery committee at branch level. The main objective of this research paper is to observe whether the particular cooperative Bank has any effective Disaster Management System with reference to Disaster Avoidance, Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) and Business Continuity Plan (BCP) as per RBI guidelines and other international standards. This was pursued by conducting structured interview of branch head of the The Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune, Maharashtra, India. The researcher with the help of a questionnaire inquired from the branch head of The Vishweshwar Sahakari Bank Ltd., Pune and compared the responses with the desired state using GAP Analysis Worksheet. The study reflected that the selected Bank in this research, backup its data at a Remote offsite location, have a BCP/DRP Plan available with them on software but they do not apply Disaster Management System as per RBI - “Guidelines on information security, Electronic Banking, Technology risk management and cyber frauds” and other international standards. The study concludes by providing recommendations to the Indian Banks.

A modified fruit fly optimisation for classification of financial distress using FLANN

Current financial market has become proficient enough to cater to the needs of a large customer base. But, at the same time, the number of market catastrophes is on the rise leading to the increase in the demand of precise and potential classifier models. In this work, a hybrid model of clustering and neural network-based classifier has been proposed, i.e., FCM-FLANN-IFFO. Three financial credit risk datasets were applied in the experiment and the model is evaluated using 12 different performance metrics. This novel metaheuristic uses an improved version of fruit fly algorithm which is inspired by the foraging behaviour of the fruit flies to locate their food. The experimental results illustrates that proposed model outperforms other models. The proposed model provides brilliant results with 94.91% of classification accuracy.

A modified fruit fly optimisation for classification of financial distress using FLANN

Current financial market has become proficient enough to cater to the needs of a large customer base. But, at the same time, the number of market catastrophes is on the rise leading to the increase in the demand of precise and potential classifier models. In this work, a hybrid model of clustering and neural network-based classifier has been proposed, i.e., FCM-FLANN-IFFO. Three financial credit risk datasets were applied in the experiment and the model is evaluated using 12 different performance metrics. This novel metaheuristic uses an improved version of fruit fly algorithm which is inspired by the foraging behaviour of the fruit flies to locate their food. The experimental results illustrates that proposed model outperforms other models. The proposed model provides brilliant results with 94.91% of classification accuracy.

'Product Community: Strengthening Bond with Customers'

This paper is a step towards understanding the meaning of customer relationship management and the new wave of relationship building with the customers. Selling a product is no more about creating a good product only. It is now more about creating a sense of belongingness towards the product so that no matter how many new products are introduced in the market, still your customers do not switch their loyalty towards them. Here comes creating a long lasting relationship with the customers so that they keep buying your product. Now let us understand the meaning of CRM. Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to a philosophy and a set of strategies, programs, and systems that focuses on identifying and building loyalty with a retailer’s most valued customers. It aims at creating customer for life and tries to secure a share of mind and wallet of the customer thereby creating market share for the retailer. As a result CRM creates a base of loyal customers who patronize the product, manufacturer or a retailer frequently. Its’ main focus is on people and not on products and services. Now it has largely become technology driven because of large customer base and the facilities that computers provide. So with regards to this we can say that CRM is a process of collecting information about the customers and aligning and remodeling organization’s strategy to meet customer’s demand. It is sometimes also referred to as Relationship Marketing which is define as an “ongoing process of engaging in co-operative and collaborative activities and programmes with immediate and end user customers, to create or enhance mutual economic value at a reduced cost” as defined by Jagdish Seth and Parvatiyar.

Designing Freemium: Strategic Balancing Growth and Monetization

Freemium (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among technology start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large customer base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers both a perpetually free but limited version of its service, and a premium version with enhanced features that requires a fee. These firms often have a referral program where current customers get additional benefits (e.g., extra storage space for their files) for referring their friends to the firm’s products. While this strategy allows firms to acquire a large user base at low cost, it needs to be balanced against revenue generation possibilities. Firms need to know if and when customers would upgrade to premium service; how attractive should be the referral offer to current users that encourages them to bring in new customers but may dissuade them from upgrading. Since majority of freemium customers do not pay anything when they join, it is critical to know their value in the long run. Free customers have value for the firm if in the future either they or their referrals upgrade to premium service.We develop a model based on microfoundations and empirically test it to understand the dynamics of consumers’ plan choice, usage, upgrade, and referral behavior in the freemium setting using a novel panel data set from a leading cloud-based storage service. We develop and estimate a dynamic structural model that includes both discrete and continuous choices. Using counterfactual analysis, we provide guidelines to companies on how to design their freemium product and how to assess the value of their free customers to balance growth and profitability.