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Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

February 17, 2012

Speaker: Prof. Saeed Zolfaghari, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Ryerson University.

Title: Analytical Models for Profitability of Loyalty Reward Programs

Abstract: Loyalty programs, as a prevalent CRM strategy, aim to enhance customers' loyalty and thereby increase a firm's long-term profitability. Recent analytical and empirical studies demonstrate inconsistent findings on the efficacy of loyalty programs in fulfilling these goals. In this study, an analytical model is developed to analyze the effect of customers' valuation and their post-purchase satisfaction level on a loyalty program's profitability. The results reveal how customers' satisfaction plays a significant role in profitability of loyalty programs. We consider a profit-maximizing firm selling a good or service through two periods. Valuation is modelled as a deterministic parameter, as well as a stochastic variable with two arbitrary distributions. Depending on the customers' valuation distribution, the model results in either a linear or a nonlinear optimization problem. Optimization problems are solved analytically, in terms of t! he model parameters. The obtained solutions provide some useful insights into the effects of customers' satisfaction on the profitability of loyalty programs.