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Conventional studies mainly classify a term’s appearance in the retrieved documents as either relevant or irrelevant for application. The purpose of this paper is to differentiate the term’s appearances in the retrieved documents in more detailed situations to generate relevance information and demonstrate the applicability of the derived information in combination with current methods of query expansion.

A method was designed first to utilize the derived information owing to term appearance differentiation within a conventional query expansion approach that has been proven as an effective technology in the enhancement of information retrieval. Then, an information retrieval system was developed to demonstrate the realization and sustain the study of the method. Formal tests were conducted to examine the distinguishing capability of the proposed information utilized in the method.

The experimental results show that substantial differences in performances can be achieved between the proposed method and the conventional query expansion method alone.

Since the proposed information resides at the bottom of the information hierarchy of relevance feedback, any technology regarding the application of relevance feedback information could consider the utilization of this piece of information.

The importance of the study is the disclosure of the applicability of the proposed information beyond current usage of term appearances in relevant/irrelevant documents and the initiation of a query expansion technology in the application of this information.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a new approach for solving the expansion term problem.

This study develops an expansion term weighting function derived from the valuable concepts used by previous approaches. These concepts include probability measurement, adjustment according to situations, and summation of weights. Formal tests have been conducted to compare the proposed weighting function with the baseline ranking model and other weighting functions.

The results reveal stable performance by the proposed expansion term weighting function. It proves more effective than the baseline ranking model and outperforms other weighting functions.

The paper finds that testing additional data sets and potential applications to real working situations is required before the generalisability and superiority of the proposed expansion term weighting function can be asserted.

Stable performance and an acceptable level of effectiveness for the proposed expansion term weighting function indicate the potential for further study and development of this approach. This would add to the current methods studied by the information retrieval community for culling information from documents.

Appearance has two meanings. On the one hand, appearance is about the physical qualities of a person being of certain height, weight, complexion and having a particular hair, eye and skin colour as well as choice and style of dress and attire. On the other hand, appearance has a social dimension, as those physical qualities of a person are interpreted, rated and judged, and attributed varied meanings and values across different settings. Appearances can influence the experiences of individuals in the workplace in both positive and negative ways: Positive, when they are mobilised as a resource that increases the influence and advantage of individuals on others; and negative, when individuals are discriminated or disadvantaged on the basis of their appearance. Drawing on a Bourdieusian conceptual repertoire, this chapter delves into this duality of appearance and frames appearance both as a resource (a form of carnal capital) and a source of symbolic violence. As appearance is an aspect of an individual's self-identity in the workplace, this chapter explores appearance and intersectionality across gender, ethnicity, class and sexual orientation at work. Appearance is examined as a cross cutting category of diversity as both privilege (carnal capital) and disadvantage (symbolic violence).

The purpose of this paper is to investigate trends in the use of research methodologies and publications in manufacturing strategy (MS) literature across geographical regions and suggests possible future research opportunities.

This literature review is based on a sample of 512 subject-relevant journal articles and uses content analysis as the primary method for data analysis. The paper investigates developments in the use of research methodologies – in terms of research design, data collection methods, country of data collection, sample size, respondent type, statistical techniques used and time horizon of studies; and publication trends in terms of authorship type, authorship collaboration, most prolific authors, top journals, most prolific universities, and citation analysis.

Research in MS has substantially changed from conceptual quantitative to empirical quantitative designs. NA and Europe show a declining research interest. However, other regions of the world are consistently showing higher interest. Significant opportunities and synergies exist for collaborative research among regions.

Though the literature review is limited in its selection of articles and journals it sketches a picture that may surrogate the whole research community in MS.

Trends in publications and use of research methodologies provide directions for designing research projects relevant to various geographical regions. This will help develop a holistic understanding of MS that is meaningful for managers of today’s organizations.

This paper provides broader and deeper review of the MS literature. Complex patterns in data are revealed using cross-tabulations and advanced cross-tabulations that have not been performed in previous content-analysis–based literature reviews in MS. These patterns will help position future research studies.

Purpose – This paper aims to discuss the importance and value to librarians of keeping up with new trends and terms occurring in the scholarly literature before they become commonplace. The paper makes several arguments as to why doing so helps librarians remain relevant to patrons in an increasingly challenging library environment. Also suggested are ways that librarians can create web services that leverage the knowledge they gain about the new terms with which they have gained some expertise. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contains a discussion of the author's own experience in developing the free online web service ResearchRaven, and notes the rise of certain new terms (e.g. epigenetics) in the health sciences. The new terms' appearance in calls for papers for meetings, in calls for papers for publication and in grant funding announcements signaled that the increasing use of single words or short phrases in such venues offers opportunities for librarians to develop expertise in the subject area – and to develop web applications growing out of such expertise. Findings – This paper provides empirical insights into reasons why librarians need to keep to keep up with the rise and incidence of new scholarly terms and coinages, long before they appear in the scholarly literature and in such databases as PubMed. The paper also details how librarians can use the e‐mail alerts and RSS feeds of ResearchRaven to keep informed, and suggests avenues for developing comparable web services to showcase their own libraries and existing services (e.g. institutional repositories). Originality/value – This paper fulfills a need to encourage librarians to track the use of new terms in the health sciences and in scholarship generally, to gain familiarity with such terms, to follow with erudition and acumen the rise of nascent fields and the interactions among many disciplines, to spot opportunities to develop web services and applications to serve those new communities, and to convey to existing disciplines news of developments that might be of interest to them, thereby rendering their libraries ever more innovative in practice while at the same time adding value for patrons.

The purpose of this study is to draw on an inductive approach in exploring how the post-90s generation relates themselves with the others when browsing fashion images on social media. More specifically, this work explores how young fashion readers perceive the phenomenon of bloggers' self-modeling as a means of self-expression.

Eight focus groups were conducted for 64 Hong Kong young fashion readers. Respondents were asked about their opinion on the fashion blogs, their preference toward bloggers' self-modeling phenomenon, and how they compare themselves with the self-modeling fashion bloggers.

Results indicate that a tendency of social comparison occurred as readers indicated preference toward fashion bloggers who perform as self-modeling image producers, this supports the notion of social comparison that human nature tends to compare with others similar to themselves. This finding also suggests the critical awareness of young fashion readers, in which an ideal beauty is perceived as a successful result from a calculated visual creation, namely “the creative self”.

This study focus on a Hong Kong setting with Instagram as the key communication platform; future research would be benefited from a wider scope of study from an international perspective.

This paper provides practical insight for fashion brands' strategic planners on how the fashion blogging works as a new genre of fashion communication. By understanding the fashion readers' preference, strategic planners could develop appropriate marketing communication strategy in response to the new trend of readers engaging in visual creative production for fashion.

This study reveals a new perspective in interpreting social comparison behavior for the fashion readers in the digital culture, whereas the targeted comparison attribute changed from ideal beauty to the creative self. This finding contributes to the discourse of academic theories in social media, social comparison and fashion communication.

The commercial importance of services has been realised in recent times and the importance of research to understand service brands and their meaning for consumers is a growing priority. This study focuses on consumer based perceptions of brand associations of a service brand, attitudes toward and intention to use the branded service via qualitative and quantitative methods. The results indicate a number of key dimensions that are important for consumers of services such as core service, experience with brand, self‐image congruency, feelings, servicescape and interpersonal service, publicity, advertising, price and brand. However, in this study country of origin and word of mouth were not significant. Largely, the findings indicated that service brand associations influence brand attitude and attitude and associations influence intention to use a service brand.

Academic authors tend to define terms that meet their own needs. Knowledge Management (KM) is a term that comes to mind and is examined in this study. Lexicographical research identified KM terms used by authors from 1996 to 2006 in academic outlets to define KM. Data were collected based on strict criteria which included that definitions should be unique instances. From 2006 onwards, these authors could not identify new unique instances of definitions with repetitive usage of such definition instances. Analysis revealed that KM is directly defined by People (Person and Organisation), Processes (Codify, Share, Leverage, and Process) and Contextualised Content (Information). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The aim of this paper is to add to the body of knowledge in the KM discipline and supply KM practitioners and scholars with insight into what is commonly regarded to be KM so as to reignite the debate on what one could consider as KM. The lexicon used by KM scholars was evaluated though the application of lexicographical research methods as extended though Knowledge Discovery and Text Analysis methods.

By simplifying term relationships through the application of lexicographical research methods, as extended though Knowledge Discovery and Text Analysis methods, it was found that KM is directly defined by People (Person and Organisation), Processes (Codify, Share, Leverage, Process) and Contextualised Content (Information). One would therefore be able to indicate that KM, from an academic point of view, refers to people processing contextualised content.

In total, 42 definitions were identified spanning a period of 11 years. This represented the first use of KM through the estimated apex of terms used. From 2006 onwards definitions were used in repetition, and all definitions that were considered to repeat were therefore subsequently excluded as not being unique instances. All definitions listed are by no means complete and exhaustive. The definitions are viewed outside the scope and context in which they were originally formulated and then used to review the key concepts in the definitions themselves.

When the authors refer to the aforementioned discussion of KM content as well as the presentation of the method followed in this paper, the authors may have a few implications for future research in KM. First the research validates ideas presented by the OECD in 2005 pertaining to KM. It also validates that through the evolution of KM, the authors ended with a description of KM that may be seen as a standardised description. If the authors as academics and practitioners, for example, refer to KM as the same construct and/or idea, it has the potential to speculatively, distinguish between what KM may or may not be.

By simplifying the term used to define KM, by focusing on the most common definitions, the paper assist in refocusing KM by reconsidering the dimensions that is the most common in how it has been defined over time. This would hopefully assist in reigniting discussions about KM and how it may be used to the benefit of an organisation.

The purpose of this article is to provide insights into the innovation trajectory, and knowledge pipelines of mature industry multinational enterprises (MNEs). The ability to innovate constantly amidst a turbulent and competitive environment is often the key force behind MNE survival and dominance.

This study conducts an in-depth longitudinal study of the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, a global manufacturing company in the tire and rubber industry. The findings are based on USPTO patent and trademark data from 1975-2005.

The analysis reveals three crucial trends: the major role of continuous investment in innovation in the firm’s survival and turnaround; the evolution of the firm’s innovation network from a headquarters-centric model toward more geographical dispersal; and the changing mix of innovation from traditional “hard” science-based research toward a greater emphasis on “softer” competencies in design and trademarks. This third trend, in particular, opens up important new avenues for research on MNE innovation practices.

This study integrates historical analysis of a single firm in the context of its changing industry environment. The historical analysis is enriched by a detailed longitudinal quantitative analysis using a variegated dataset of patents and trademarks to investigate innovation.