Marketing in Higher Education: Postgraduate Programs in Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly

The Departments of Higher Education that have incorporated postgraduate courses in their curriculum must acquire provision and adaptability mechanisms so that the courses can correspond to the current and future needs of their students. Important factors, such as many disadvantages that the extremely competitive postgraduate courses abroad face, compared to the postgraduate courses in Greece, lead the potential students to choose the Greek ones. This research paper aims to find the right methodology for the postgraduate courses to attract more students. Specifically the research will be conducted through questionnaires, using Likert method and SPSS system for the processing of data. Our goal is to collect primary data from active postgraduate students of the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly. The results of the research will serve as useful tools for the administrative members of both Higher Education Universities and Technological Education Institutes, as well for the teachers, since they can showcase the Greek postgraduate courses in comparison to the ones abroad.

Social Customer Relationship Management

Social Customer Relationships Management (CRM) is a current business trend providing new channels of two-way communication with customers through social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Social CRM enables companies to interact in an easy and contemporary way directly with customers as well as to track customer interactions and their social influence. In this paper we examine the importance of CRM, e-CRM and Social CRM for businesses. We provide perspectives on objectives and types of CRM, the working cycle of CRM, the stages of a CRM Strategy and technology tools that are used in CRM. Social CRM is in particularly analyzed, since this new trend requires active engagement by customers and other stakeholders. The engagement process is essential to successful Social CRM and to successful social business practices. Finally, we describe experiences from three family businesses that introduced Social CRM as a result of a project carried out as an assignment in the ‘Social Media Networking’ module of the MSc course in ‘Web Intelligence’ at the Department of Informatics of Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki. The assignment of the groups was to create a Social CRM Strategy in collaboration with a company. This study is a follow-up of the outcome of the projects carried out in the autumn semester 2014 and 2015. The results show that all three companies consider that Social CRM is an excellent tool for obtaining real time valuable data about customers and a cheap way to reach them.

First report of Paysandisia archon on Phoenix theophrasti

In March 2012 Paysandisia archon, Lepidoptera: Castniidae, a palm tree pest, was found for the first time in the endemic palm species of Crete Phoenix theophrasti. The infestation was detected in the premises of the Technological Educational Institute in Heraklion, Crete. Information on its biology, morphology and distribution is given.

Social Customer Relationship Management: A Case Study

Social Customer Relationships Management (CRM) is a current business trend providing new channels of two-way communication with customers through social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter etc. Social CRM enables companies to interact in an easy and contemporary way directly with customers as well as to track customer interactions and their social influence. In this paper we examine the importance of CRM, e-CRM and Social CRM for businesses. We provide perspectives on objectives and types of CRM, the working cycle of CRM, the stages of a CRM Strategy and technology tools that are used in CRM. Social CRM is in particularly analyzed, since this new trend requires active engagement by customers and other stakeholders. The engagement process is essential to successful Social CRM and to successful social business practices. Finally, we describe experiences from three family businesses that introduced Social CRM as a result of a project carried out as an assignment in the ‘Social Media Networking’ module of the MSc course in ‘Web Intelligence’ at the Department of Informatics of Alexander Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki. The assignment of the groups was to create a Social CRM Strategy in collaboration with a company. This study is a follow-up of the outcome of the projects carried out in the autumn semester 2014 and 2015. The results show that all three companies consider that Social CRM is an excellent tool for obtaining real time valuable data about customers and a cheap way to reach them.

First record of the mycophagous ladybird Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata on greenhouse cucumber plants in Crete (Greece)

In July 2014, in an organic greenhouse cucumber crop at the Farm of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, at Heraklion, larvae and adults of Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata (L.) (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) were observed feeding on hyphae of Podosphaera xanthii (Braun & Shishkoff) (Erysiphales: Erysiphacae), that had covered the cucumber leaves. The most common genus worldwide of mycophagous tribe Halyziini (Mulsant) is Psyllobora, which is known for its potential in the biological control of powdery mildew.

Effect of Salt Stress on Three Green Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Cultivars

Agriculture is increasingly forced to utilize marginal waters to meet its increasing demands, which in turn increases the risks of soil salinization and yield reduction in the arid and semi-arid areas of the Mediterranean basin. Given that the bean is an extremely salt sensitive species, the purpose of the present work was to study the effect of 0 and 75 mM sodium chloride (NaCl) on leaf characteristics, growth, pod yield and ion accumulation of three green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) cultivars (‘Corallo Nano’, ‘Romano Bush Plaja’ and ‘Starazagorski’), widely used in Greece. Plants were grown in a greenhouse of Technological Educational Institute of Peloponnese in Messinia, Southern Greece, from April to June 2014, in hydroponics. The experimental design was the factorial completely randomized one with five replications; each replication consisted of the three plants grown on the same rockwool slab. The results of the majority of growth and yield parameters determined showed the superiority of ‘Corallo’ over ‘Romano’ whereas ‘Starazagorski’ tolerance was found to be intermediate. ‘Corallo’ tolerated NaCl salinity better due to its capacity for Na retention in the roots and maintaining appropriate K/Na and Ca/Na ratios, limiting the accumulation of toxic ions into actively growing shoots. The salt sensitivity of ‘Romano’ was related to its higher concentration of Na in the leaves and lower in the roots, to the greater decrease of the leaf number and leaf water content, as well as to the specific leaf area increase compared to the other two cultivars under saline conditions.