Link formation in mobile and economic networks : model and empirical analysis

In this dissertation, we study three link formation problems in mobile and economic networks: (i) company matching for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) network in the high-technology (high-tech) industry, (ii) mobile application (app) matching for cross promotion network in mobile app markets, and (iii) online friendship formation in mobile social networks. Each problem can be modeled as link formation problem in a graph, where nodes represent independent entities (e.g., companies, apps, users) and edges represent interactions (e.g., transactions, promotions, friendships) among the nodes. First, we propose a new data-analytic approach to measure firms' dyadic business proximity to analyze M&A network in the high-tech industry. Specifically, our method analyzes the unstructured texts that describe firms' businesses using latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling, and constructs a novel business proximity measure based on the output. Using CrunchBase data including 24,382 high-tech companies and 1,689 M&A transactions, we empirically validate our business proximity measure in the context of industry intelligence and show the measure's effectiveness in an application of M&A network analysis. Based on the research, we build a cloud-based information system to facilitate competitive intelligence on the high-tech industry. Second, we analyze mobile app matching for cross promotion network in mobile app markets. Cross promotion (CP) is a new app promotion framework, in which a mobile app is promoted to the users of another app. Using IGAWorks data covering 1,011 CP campaigns, 325 apps, and 301,183 users, we evaluate the effectiveness of CP campaigns in comparison with existing ad channels such as mobile display ads. While CP campaigns, on average, are still suboptimal as compared with display ads, we find evidence that a careful matching of mobile apps can significantly improve the effectiveness of CP campaigns. Our empirical results show that app similarity, measured by LDA from apps' text descriptions, is a significant factor that increases the user engagement in CP campaigns. With this observation, we propose an app matching mechanism for the CP network to improve the ad effectiveness. Third, we study friendship network formation in a location-based social network. We build a structural model of social link creation that incorporates individual characteristics and pairwise user similarities. Specifically, we define four user proximity measures from biography, geography, mobility, and short messages (i.e., tweets). To construct proximity from unstructured text information, we build LDA topic models of user biography texts and tweets. Using Gowalla data with 385,306 users, three million locations, and 35 million check-in records, we empirically estimate the structural model to find evidence on the homophily effect in network formation.Computer Science

CHORUS Deliverable 2.1: State of the Art on Multimedia Search Engines

Based on the information provided by European projects and national initiatives related to multimedia search as well as domains experts that participated in the CHORUS Think-thanks and workshops, this document reports on the state of the art related to multimedia content search from, a technical, and socio-economic perspective. The technical perspective includes an up to date view on content based indexing and retrieval technologies, multimedia search in the context of mobile devices and peer-to-peer networks, and an overview of current evaluation and benchmark inititiatives to measure the performance of multimedia search engines. From a socio-economic perspective we inventorize the impact and legal consequences of these technical advances and point out future directions of research

User-Generated Data Network Effects and Market Competition Dynamics

This Article defines User-Generated Data (“UGD”) network effects, distinguishes them from the more familiar concept of traditional network effects, and explores their implications for market competition dynamics. It explains that UGD network effects produce various efficiencies for digital service providers (“data platforms”) by empowering their services’ optimization, personalization, and continuous diversification. In light of these efficiencies, competition dynamics in UGD-driven markets tend to be unstable and lead to the formation of dominant multi-industry conglomerates. These processes will enhance social welfare because they are natural and efficient. Conversely, countervailing UGD network effects also empower data platforms to detect and neutralize competitive threats, price discriminate among users, and manipulate users’ behaviors. The realization of these effects will result in inefficiencies, which will undermine social welfare. After a comprehensive analysis of conflicting economic forces, this Article sets the ground for informed policymaking. It suggests that emerging calls to aggravate antitrust enforcement and to “break up” Big Tech are ill-advised. Instead, this Article calls for policymakers to draw inspiration from traditional network industries’ public utility and open-access regulations

Beatriz Bettencourt Womenswear marketing plan : a fashion brand case study

A indústria de design de moda é caracterizada por várias propostas de marca, bem como diferentes abordagens para atender às exigências do mercado de moda. Por consequência, as marcas de moda têm vindo a implementar novas estratégias e táticas de marketing de modo a fortalecer o seu reconhecimento, impulsionar vendas e, consequentemente, aumentar o lucro. Assim, a presente dissertação tem como principal objetivo fornecer as devidas diretrizes para o planeamento de marketing de uma marca de moda específica, de modo a que as estratégias mencionadas anteriormente sejam aplicadas de forma mais coerente e personalizada. De fato, esta tese compreende um estudo de caso prático da marca de moda feminina Beatriz Bettencourt womenswear, que será materializado pela marca em futuras operações de marketing no ano de 2020. As principais contribuições deste estudo correspondem à identificação das ferramentas mais adequadas e eficazes para que esta marca de moda possa alcançar os seus objetivos de marketing desejados. O plano de marketing projetado neste estudo será efetivamente implementado e o seu desempenho será cuidadosamente gerido e monitorizado de modo a garantir o sucesso do mesmo.The fashion design industry is characterized by several brand proposals as well as different approaches to meet the fashion market requirements. Therefore, fashion brands have been implementing new marketing strategies and tactics in order to improve brand awareness, boost sales and, consequently, increase profit. Thus, this dissertation aims to provide effective guidelines of marketing planning for a specific fashion brand. The proposed marketing strategies are adapted to the particularities of the analyzed fashion brand and of its marketing environment. In fact, this study comprehends a practical case study of Beatriz Bettencourt womenswear, which will be materialized in the brand’s marketing operations for the coming year of 2020. The main contributions of this study correspond to the identification of the most adequate and effective tools for the fashion brand to achieve the defined marketing objectives. The brand will actually implement the developed marketing plan and the performance of its strategies will be carefully monitored and managed in order to insure the success of the proposed plan

FIRMS? MARKETING STRATEGIES AND CONSUMER RESPONSES IN PLATFORM-BASED E-COMMERCE MARKETS

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Decision Support Systems

Decision support systems (DSS) have evolved over the past four decades from theoretical concepts into real world computerized applications. DSS architecture contains three key components: knowledge base, computerized model, and user interface. DSS simulate cognitive decision-making functions of humans based on artificial intelligence methodologies (including expert systems, data mining, machine learning, connectionism, logistical reasoning, etc.) in order to perform decision support functions. The applications of DSS cover many domains, ranging from aviation monitoring, transportation safety, clinical diagnosis, weather forecast, business management to internet search strategy. By combining knowledge bases with inference rules, DSS are able to provide suggestions to end users to improve decisions and outcomes. This book is written as a textbook so that it can be used in formal courses examining decision support systems. It may be used by both undergraduate and graduate students from diverse computer-related fields. It will also be of value to established professionals as a text for self-study or for reference

E-COMMERCE

Preface ................................................ 7 Introduction ........................................... Chapter 1. KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PECULIARITIES IN E- 9 BUSINESS: ACTUALITY AND TENDENCIES ......... 12 Introduction............................................ 1.1. The importance of knowledge management to increase the 12 efficiency of the organisations activity in e-business ...... 15 1.2. Employee competency integrated assessment in e-business 1.2.1.Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting em- 19 ployee competency .......................................... 1.2.2. The identification of the factors affecting the employee 21 competency ................................................ 1.2.3. Concept complex competency assessment model of e- 26 business organisation ........................................ 1.3. Analysis of factors motivating human resources in e-busi- 33 ness .................................................. 1.3.1. Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting human 34 resources motivation ........................................ 1.3.2. Analysis of factors that influence the motivation of human 36 resources .................................................. 1.4. Evaluation system of factors affecting creativity in e-busi- 37 ness .................................................. 1.4.1. Theoretical evaluation aspects of factors affecting creativ- 41 ity ......................................................... 1.4.2. Identification of factors affecting creativity. Partial inte- 42 grated criterion (third stage) ................................ 48 1.4.3. Evaluation system of factors affecting creativity ........ 49 1.5. Knowledge appliance process in e-business organisation .. 1.5.1. The factors proceeding efficiency of knowledge appliance 53 process in e-business ........................................ 1.5.2. The selection of the method to evaluate efficiency of know- 56 ledge appliance process in e-business ......................... 59 Conclusions ........................................... 60 Self test questions ..................................... 63 References ............................................ Chapter 2. CONTENT MANAGEMENT IN VIRTUAL ORGANIZA 64 TIONS ............................................... 70 5 Table of Contents Introduction ........................................... 2.1. A systematical approach to automate content management 70 in a vitual ogranization ................................. 71 2.2. The concept of the content. Content Management ..... 73 2.3. The life cycle of the document ......................... 74 2.4. Document management in a virtual organization ........ 76 2.5. Content capture technology ............................ 77 2.6. Cloud technologies in business processes CMS .......... 83 Conclusion ............................................. 85 References ............................................ 86 Chapter 3. MARKETING COMMUNICATION IN DIGITAL AGE ... 87 Introduction ........................................... 87 3.1. The growing potential of the market ................... 88 3.2. Previous studies in e-business and e-marketing areas .... 91 3.3. The specifics of Internet marketing in B2B communication 92 3.4. E-marketing tools ..................................... 94 3.5. Social networks in marketing ........................... 98 6 3.6. Effectiveness evaluation theories ........................ 100 3.7. Website quality and efficiency evaluation ................ 101 3.8. Cases: resent research results .......................... 106 3.8.1. Online advertisements efficiency research .............. 106 3.8.2. Evaluation of Lithuanian e-shops ...................... 109 Conclusions ........................................... 110 Self test questions ..................................... 111 References ............................................ 111 Chapter 4. IMPROVING THE EFFICIENCY OF E-COMMERCE .. 116 Introduction ........................................... 116 4.1. Scientific research. E-commerce as the Internet technology 116 4.2. Promotion of e-business ............................... 120 4.3. A set of basic tools for e-business ...................... 121 4.4. Security in e-commerce ................................ 124 Conclusion ............................................ 133 Self-examination questions ............................. 133 References ............................................ 134 Chapter 5. ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SYSTEMS.................. 135 Introduction............................................ 135 5.1. The concept of electronic payments.National payment system in Russia ....................................... 136 5.2. Electronic payment systems based on «Client-Bank» and online banking ......................................... 143 5.3. Electronic payments via bank cards ..................... 151 Table of Contents 5 5.4. Electronic payments via digital cash .................... 160 5.5. Internet payment system based on virtual accounts ...... 164 Conclusion ............................................ 166 Self-examination questions ............................. 166 References ............................................ 167 Chapter 6. MANAGEMENT OF THE VIRTUAL ENTERPRISE .... 168 6.1. Virtual enterprise, electronic business, electronic commerce, model of management, manager .................... 168 6.2. Manager .............................................. 174 6.3. Channel ............................................... 175 6.4. Information environment. Knowledge ................... 175 6.5. Problem field .......................................... 176 Self-examination questions ............................. 178 References ............................................ 178 Chapter 7. INTERNET MARKETING ............................ 180 Introduction ........................................... 180 7.1. The concept and structure of the Internet Marketing .... 180 7.2. Market research on the Internet ........................ 182 7.3. Internet advertizing .................................... 187 7.3.1. The concept of Internet advertising .................... 187 7.3.2. Announcement of the search engines and search engine optimization. The concept and purpose of search engine optimization ................................................... 189 7.3.3. Search Engine Advertising ............................ 209 7.3.4. Participation in the rankings and registration in catalogs 215 7.3.5. Banner advertising ................................... 219 7.3.6. Link Exchange ....................................... 236 7.3.7. Profiling and personalization in online advertising........ 239 7.3.8. E-mail-advertising. Basic concepts and advantages e-mailadvertising ................................................. 242 7.3.9. Discussion lists ....................................... 248 7.3.10. Virus marketing. Concept and principles of virus marketing ........................................................ 251 7.3.11. Other methods of advertizing ........................ 258 7.3.12. Analysis of efficiency of Internet advertizing ........... 259 7.3.13. Methods of the collection of information, used for the analysis .................................................... 263 7.4. Marketing in social networks and blogs ................. 282 7.5. Partner programs ...................................... 287 7.6. The problem of return visitors and create a captive audience 292 7.6.1. Statement of the problem of creating a virtual community 292 7.6.2. Methods for creating a virtual community .............. 294 9 Table of Contents 7.7. Off-line support for online projects ...................... 297 Self-examination questions.............................. 298 References ............................................ 299 Chapter 8. REACHING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS THROUGH E-GOVERNMENT IN THE POST-2015 AGENDA ............................................. 301 Introduction ........................................... 310 8.1. E-government: definition, functions and stages .......... 302 8.2. E-government: global tendencies ....................... 304 8.3. Formation and development of e-government in Uzbekistan 308 Self-examination questions ............................. 314 References ............................................ 314The development of the universities’ ability to quickly respond to new demands of the labor market and to adapt, update, develop and introduce new areas of study to ensure demand for the graduates provides the participation in the international projects of the European program improving higher education «TEMPUS». The project TEMPUS — ECOMMIS («double-level training programs of e-commerce developing the information society in Russia, Ukraine and Israel») was launched in October 2011, and belongs to a class of joint projects to develop new courses and courses for bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The project consortium involves 12 universities from Germany, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Israel, Russia and Ukraine. The main objective of the project is to develop and implement new academic courses and areas of study, taking into account the current status and trends of economic development and the specific requirements of the labor market on the basis of cooperation between universities in different countries. The main feature and complexity of the project academic content of is that e-commerce as an academic concept is absolute new and it appeared just only in the last decade. It is a new interdisciplinary field of knowledge, which is located at the intersection of economics and computer science and it is not covered by the classical training courses in economics and computer science technology. The aspects of national and international law in connection with the growth of international trade, economic cooperation and the development of new Internet based technologies should be taken into account. For the project’s period of three years on the basis of international cooperation the following results were obtained: 11 Preface 1) The analysis and modernization of existing curricula in the field of e-commerce were carried out; 2) new training modules with the introduction of the European creditmodular system of accumulation and transfer transcripts units ( ECTS ) were developed; new modules and courses: e-commerce, electronic payment systems; Internet trading in the financial markets and the stockmarket systems; Information systems for financial analysis and investment; Information systems for business process modeling; corporate information systems and portals; Customer-oriented systems; Internet Marketing; electronic systems for document management; legal aspects of e-commerce; advanced course security for e-commerce were introduced; 3) two international online games to enhance practical skills in the field with online marketing and online trading were developed and conducted among university students; 4) skills training courses e-commerce for various social groups (students, housewives, pensioners, unemployed) were developed and tested; 5) business offices, e-commerce were established to strengthen cooperation between the universities in the labor market and to create the conditions of commercialization of the project results after the end of financial support from the TEMPUS Program. 6) textbooks on the topic of the project were developed and published. In May — July 2013. 62 teachers targeted universities in Israel, Russia and Ukraine received intensive training in the field of e-commerce in three European universities: FONTYS (NL), TU Berlin (DE), VGTU ( LT ). From October 2013 in target universities of Israel, Russia and Ukraine students’ training began on the courses developed in the framework of the new training courses and modules with using computer classes, equipped in accordance with the project plan with new hardware and software tools. The final stage of the project was intended to develop a five-year detailed plan for sustainable development of the results. Such plan that includes coordinated action to disseminate best practices, development of new joint courses for graduate and post-graduate students, scientificmethodical conferences, joint publications will support the further dynamics of the activities involved universities. Joint work on the implementation of the project ECOMMIS led to the emergence of sustainable professional relationships between organizations in the consortium as the training of new qualified professionals, as well as in the field of scientific and methodological developments. This is confirmed by the present collective monograph E-commerc

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Dynamic packaging

Das Erfolgsmodell von Online-Tourismusunternehmen wird von zwei Faktoren bestimmt: vom Kunden und von der Technologie. Der Kunde repräsentiert die Nachfrage des Marktes und somit den Push-Faktor, die Technologie den Anbietermarkt und den Push-Faktor. Gemeinsam entscheiden sie über den Erfolg eines E-Business. Das «Dynamic Packaging» kombiniert beide Faktoren zu einem Maßnahmenbündel. Das Ziel ist ein auf Kundenbedürfnisse zugeschnittenes Produkt, das sich die neusten IT-Technologien zunutze macht. Der erste Abschnitt dieser Arbeit liefert einen Überblick der Tourismusindustrie, die aufgrund der neu verfügbaren Informationstechnologien einen signifikanten Wandel vollzogen hat. Die Veränderungen werden im Folgenden bezogen auf die unterschiedlichen Anbieter von Reisedienstleistungen und -produkten diskutiert. Diese Vorgehensweise soll nicht nur das spezifische Umfeld veranschaulichen, in dem die Anbieter agieren, sondern auch die Herausforderungen, mit denen sie konfrontiert werden. Die Akteure, die in Betracht gezogen werden, sind Fluggesellschaften, Hoteliers, Kreuzfahrtgesellschaften und Autovermietungsgesellschaften. Der Übergang von der Offline- zur Online-Präsenz hatte primär eine Disintermediation zur Folge. Die wachsende Nachfrage nach einer besseren Organisation und Integration der Informationsfülle führte später dann jedoch wieder zu einer Reintermediation des Produktangebots.Die Online-Reisebüros, die den erkennbaren Trend der Reintermediation adoptiert haben, stellen eine neue Zustellmethode für das Tourismusprodukt dar. Ihr Erfolg ist jedoch von der Mitwirkung aller Anbieter abhängig. Touristische Unternehmen nutzen normalerweise eine weit gefächerte Auswahl an Distributionskanälen. Diese können jedoch nicht ad Infinitum vermehrt werden. Die Alternativen werden deshalb sorgfältig durch das Management ausgewertet mit dem Ziel, die tangiblen und intangiblen Vorteile zu maximieren und zugleich die Kosten zu minimieren. Die hier vollzogene Analyse bezieht drei Entscheidungsebenen mit ein: die operationale, die taktische und die strategische. Dabei werden drei verschiedene Distributionskanäle einander gegenüber gestellt: traditionelle Reisebüros, eigene Webseiten der Anbieter und Online-Reisebüros. Um die Diskussion von Online-Reisebüros als Distributionskanal auch im Hinblick auf mögliche Chancen und Risiken zu vervollständigen, wird abschließend eine Kosten-Nutzen-Analyse aus der Kundenperspektive präsentiert.The success model of the e-tourism company could be defined as driven forward by two dominating forces: customer and technology. The customer, who works as the market pull factor and the technology as the push factor, both determine the e-business’s success. Dynamic packaging reflects the combination of these two factors: delivery of a highly customized product based on advanced information technologies. First section of the thesis gives an overview of the current tourism industry which has been significantly changed due to the emerging information technologies. The changes occurred in the last years are discussed separately for the various suppliers of the travel product. This should better illustrate the specific environment in which they operate as well as the challenges they face. The players taken into consideration include airlines, hotels, cruise lines and car rental companies. The transition from the offline to the online environment contributed in the first stage to the disintermediation process. Later, the need for the organization and integration of the information initiated a return to the reintermediation of the travel products. Online travel agencies, due to the reintermediation, present a new delivery channel for the travel product. Their success depends on a high participation level of the various tourism players. The tourism companies most usually use a portfolio of distribution channels. However the channels cannot be ad infinitum added as they emerge. The alternative choices will be carefully evaluated by the management to maximize the tangible and intangible benefits as well as to minimize the costs. The conducted analysis takes into consideration three decisions areas: operational, tactical and strategic. Every conducted analysis includes the comparison of three different distribution channels: the traditional agency, the own suppliers’ web page and the online travel agency. Finally, the cost/benefit analysis will be presented from the customer’s perspective to ensure the comprehensive presentation of Online Travel Agencies (OTA) as a distribution channel, taking into consideration the possible threads and opportunities