University of Mannheim

About: University of Mannheim is a education organization based out in Mannheim, Germany. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Politics. The organization has 4448 authors who have published 12918 publications receiving 446557 citations. The organization is also known as: Uni Mannheim & UMA.

How (not) to sell nuclear weapons

Abstract: We consider situations where a sale affects the ensuing interaction between potential buyers. These situations are modeled by assuming that an agent who does not acquire the object for sale incurs an identity-dependent externality. We construct a revenue-maximizing auction for the seller. We observe that: 1) outside options and participation constraints are endogenous. 2) The seller extracts surplus also from agents who do not obtain the auctioned object. 3) The seller is better-off by not selling at all (while obtaining some payments) if externalities are much larger than valuations.

Robotic Process Automation

Abstract: A foundational question for many BISE (Business & Information Systems Engineering) authors and readers is “What should be automated and what should be done by humans?” This question is not new. However, developments in data science, machine learning, and artificial intelligence force us to revisit this question continuously. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one of these developments. RPA is an umbrella term for tools that operate on the user interface of other computer systems in the way a human would do. RPA aims to replace people by automation done in an “outside-in’’ manner. This differs from the classical “inside-out” approach to improve information systems. Unlike traditional workflow technology, the information system remains unchanged. Gartner defines Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as follows: “RPA tools perform [if, then, else] statements on structured data, typically using a combination of user interface interactions, or by connecting to APIs to drive client servers, mainframes or HTML code. An RPA tool operates by mapping a process in the RPA tool language for the software robot to follow, with runtime allocated to execute the script by a control dashboard.” [9]. Hence, RPA tools aim to reduce the burden of repetitive, simple tasks on employees.

RDF2Vec: RDF Graph Embeddings for Data Mining

Abstract: Linked Open Data has been recognized as a valuable source for background information in data mining. However, most data mining tools require features in propositional form, i.e., a vector of nominal or numerical features associated with an instance, while Linked Open Data sources are graphs by nature. In this paper, we present RDF2Vec, an approach that uses language modeling approaches for unsupervised feature extraction from sequences of words, and adapts them to RDF graphs. We generate sequences by leveraging local information from graph sub-structures, harvested by Weisfeiler-Lehman Subtree RDF Graph Kernels and graph walks, and learn latent numerical representations of entities in RDF graphs. Our evaluation shows that such vector representations outperform existing techniques for the propositionalization of RDF graphs on a variety of different predictive machine learning tasks, and that feature vector representations of general knowledge graphs such as DBpedia and Wikidata can be easily reused for different tasks.

The Role of Cognition and Affect in the Formation of Customer Satisfaction: A Dynamic Perspective

Abstract: Despite the strong recognition that customer satisfaction should be viewed from a dynamic perspective, little is known about how the satisfaction judgment develops over time. Therefore, this study provides a dynamic analysis of the simultaneous influence of cognition and affect in the satisfaction formation process. The results of an experimental study based on a real consumption experience indicate that the impact of cognition on the satisfaction evaluation increases and the influence of affect decreases over time. Moreover, these effects are attenuated with inconsistent performance experiences. Finally, the study shows that the variance in customer satisfaction jointly explained by cognition and affect increases as experience accumulates.