Kalervo Järvelin, Peter Ingwersen and Timo Niemi
This article presents a novel user‐oriented interface for generalised informetric analysis and demonstrates how informetric calculations can easily and declaratively be specified…
Abstract
This article presents a novel user‐oriented interface for generalised informetric analysis and demonstrates how informetric calculations can easily and declaratively be specified through advanced data modelling techniques. The interface is declarative and at a high level. Therefore it is easy to use, flexible and extensible. It enables end users to perform basic informetric ad hoc calculations easily and often with much less effort than in contemporary online retrieval systems. It also provides several fruitful generalisations of typical informetric measurements like impact factors. These are based on substituting traditional foci of analysis, for instance journals, by other object types, such as authors, organisations or countries. In the interface, bibliographic data are modelled as complex objects (non‐first normal form relations) and terminological and citation networks involving transitive relationships are modelled as binary relations for deductive processing. The interface is flexible, because it makes it easy to switch focus between various object types for informetric calculations, e.g. from authors to institutions. Moreover, it is demonstrated that all informetric data can easily be broken down by criteria that foster advanced analysis, e.g. by years or content‐bearing attributes. Such modelling allows flexible data aggregation along many dimensions. These salient features emerge from the query interface‘s general data restructuring and aggregation capabilities combined with transitive processing capabilities. The features are illustrated by means of sample queries and results in the article.
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Turkka Näppilä, Katja Moilanen and Timo Niemi
The purpose of this paper is to introduce an expressive query language, called relational XML query language (RXQL), capable of dealing with heterogeneous Extensible Markup…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce an expressive query language, called relational XML query language (RXQL), capable of dealing with heterogeneous Extensible Markup Language (XML) documents in data‐centric applications. In RXQL, data harmonization (i.e. the removal of heterogeneous factors from XML data) is integrated with typical data‐centric features (e.g. grouping, ordering, and aggregation).
Design/methodology/approach
RXQL is based on the XML relation representation, developed in the authors' previous work. This is a novel approach to unambiguously represent semistructured data relationally, which makes it possible in RXQL to manipulate XML data in a tuple‐oriented way, while XML data are typically manipulated in a path‐oriented way.
Findings
The user is able to describe the result of an RXQL query straightforwardly based on non‐XML syntax. The analysis of this description, through the mechanism developed in this paper, affords the automatic construction of the query result. This feature increases significantly the declarativeness of RXQL compared to the path‐oriented XML languages where the user needs to control the construction of the result extensively.
Practical implications
The authors' formal specification of the construction of the query result can be considered as an abstract implementation of RXQL.
Originality/value
RXQL is a declarative query language capable of integrating data harmonization seamlessly with other data‐centric features in the manipulation of heterogeneous XML data. So far, these kinds of XML query languages have been missing. Obviously, the expressive power of RXQL can be achieved by computationally complete XML languages, such as XQuery. However, these are not actual query languages, and the query formulation in them usually presupposes programming skills that are beyond the ordinary end‐user.
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Catherine Johnson, Timo Kaski, Yvonne Karsten, Ari Alamäki and Suvi Stack
This paper aims to focus on how salespeople use emotions to build connections and facilitate value proposition co-creation (VPCC) in B2B complex services sales.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to focus on how salespeople use emotions to build connections and facilitate value proposition co-creation (VPCC) in B2B complex services sales.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses video recordings of authentic B2B sales meetings in a two-part qualitative study.
Findings
This paper proposes a set of salesperson emotional behaviors that influence the co-creation of value propositions with customers. This paper uncovers five salesperson emotional behavior archetypes influencing VPCC.
Research limitations/implications
This study advances the value proposition literature by linking salespeople’s emotional behaviors with micro-level activities in the collaborative crafting of value propositions. The unique methodology may encourage researchers to apply video recordings in future studies.
Practical implications
The study provides managerial guidelines for improved selling competence and sales team organization.
Originality/value
This study’s findings represent a new insight into the actual manifestations of salesperson emotional behaviors that are commonly discussed but rarely observed directly.
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Teemu Rantanen, Thomas Chalmers McLaughlin and Timo Toikko
– The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine young people’s attitudes toward social welfare and their perceptions of who is responsible for providing social welfare benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
Social welfare attitudes were examined related to three themes: government responsibility, trust in society, and individual responsibility. A sample of 725 students from 12 high and vocational schools in south Finland was used for analysis.
Findings
The data suggest that young people have a high regard for the importance of the government’s role as a social support and a mechanism of social welfare for all citizens. In addition, the results show that women highlight government responsibility more than men, and that men highlight the individual’s own responsibility for social issues. According to the results, there is a weak relationship between cultural values and social welfare attitudes. Collective values relate positively to an emphasis on trust in government and government responsibility for social problems, and relate negatively to an emphasis on individuals’ personal responsibility.
Originality/value
The study shows that the main principles of the welfare state are still accepted by the Finnish youth, although recent speculations about the future of welfare states.
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This article compares consumption differences between population groups in the fields of the traditional and new information and entertainment. The interest is to estimate to what…
Abstract
Purpose
This article compares consumption differences between population groups in the fields of the traditional and new information and entertainment. The interest is to estimate to what extent traditional information and entertainment expenditure and expenditure on the new information technology display similar structural characteristics.
Design/methodology/approach
The data used is the Finnish Expenditure Survey data from 1998 (N=4359) and 2001‐2002 (N=5495) provided by the Statistics Finland. The information and entertainment consumption is studied by using purchasing costs of books and magazines, television license and pay channel costs, video rentals, and operating costs of phone and internet services. The differences by population groups are analysed according to the respondent's level of education and income, type of household, respondent's age and gender, and place of residence.
Findings
The findings indicate that the differences concerning books and magazines and especially phone and internet services have increased in the 21st century.
Research limitations/implications
The conclusions presented in this article are connected with circumstances during and after the product consolidation in Finland. In this regard it should be stated that the empirical analysis was restricted to the use of variables including different operating costs and to a short time frame in one European country.
Practical implications
The findings indicate that consumption disparities display the same structural characteristics in the realms of both traditional information technology (books and magazines) and new information technology (phone and internet services). Despite the fact that new technology is apparently available to everyone, growing disparities are displayed by both education and income.
Originality/value
This paper compares the traditional and digital divides in Finland to display the structural similarities and differences.