Tzoulis, I., Andreopoulou Z., Koliouska C., Tsekouropoulos, G. and Samathrakis, V. 2014. Database Management Systems in Wood Entrepreneurship and Marketing. International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology. Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 190-202.
Database Management Systems in Wood Entrepreneurship and Marketing Ioakeim Tzoulis1, Zaharoula Andreopoulou1, Christiana Koliouska1, Georgios Tsekouropoulos2 and Vagis Samathrakis2
1
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, P.O. Box 247, 54124, Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail:
[email protected] E-mail:
[email protected] E-mail:
[email protected] 2 Alexander Technological Educational Institution of Thessaloniki P.O. Box 141, 57400, Thessaloniki, Greece E-mail:
[email protected] E-mail:
[email protected] *Corresponding author
Abstract: Within the present trends in the current society, wood entrepreneurship sector gains growing attention, worldwide. This paper describes the development of a database about wood and its products and its management system, presenting significant and useful timber species. The detail wood characteristics plus the origin of timber are factors that differentiate treatment and performance, and determine final use. Data were based on previous scientific research and publications and the records link European and Tropical wood, their uses and characteristics. It incorporates a user-friendly interface for its management including various common wood entrepreneurship functions in active button type to facilitate business activities even for non-experienced users.These interactive elements are designed using macro commands. A database can become a useful reference tool in marketing appropriate for wood enterprises, as registered wood properties and origin formulate value characteristics and should be acknowledged by wood entrepreneurs in marketing.
Keywords: database, database management system, marketing, entrepreneurship, wood, wood products, interface
1 Introduction Innovations and changes in products and technologies have resulted in new type of business, modern ways to bring buyers and sellers together and new ways of creating and using marketing information (Baldwin and Clark, 2000). A major feature of the global economy during this time has been the liberalization of emerging economies and their integration into the worldwide economy (Aulakh and Kotabe, 2008; Kiss et al., 2012, Vatis, 2013). Therefore, the adoption of new technologic solutions and innovative managerial practices are needed, which will offer flexibility, immediate feedback and short decision-making capacity (Andreopoulou et al., 2012). Advances in information and communication technologies have been identified as enablers of entrepreneurship (Reuber and Fischer, 2011). The emergence of the term entrepreneurship in many cases describes a series of activities that a trader does, from the foundation up to the company’s management (Cunningham and Lischeron, 1991). At a first stage, the meaning of entrepreneurship can be defined as an attempt to convert the initiative into result with the ultimate aim of producing an economic profit (Cunningham and Lischeron, 1991). It has to be pointed out that the entrepreneurship, based on social and economic studies, is characterized as a complete process and
not as a measurable economic value. Therefore, entrepreneurship is a dynamic process, in which individuals constantly spot economic opportunities and exploit them through the development, the production and the selling of goods and services. Under these circumstances, all the innovative ideas change into economic opportunities, a fact that is the cornerstone of entrepreneurship (Global Entepreneurship Monitor, 2009). At a second stage, according to the Harvard Business School, entrepreneurship is a process of creating, or the conception of an opportunity and the pursuit of its exploitation, regardless of the control or the possession of the means of its implementation (Timmons and Spinelli, 2007). Characteristically, P. Drucker stated that “entrepreneurship is neither science nor art. It is the practicum in which knowledge is the means for achieving its purpose. It is an attitude rather than a personality trait” (Drucker, 2003). Concerning the role of entrepreneurship, several academics and politicians agree that entrepreneurship is a crucial factor for the development and the prosperity of the society, as the entrepreneurs create opening jobs and lead to innovation and acceleration of structural changes in economy (Tsekouropoulos et all, 2012). It contributes indirectly to productivity by introducing new competition. Entrepreneurship is the catalyst for the economic growth and the national competitiveness (Kelley et al. 2010) In recent years, businesses have oriented towards a customer-centric marketing. Many entrepreneurs have accepted the marketing concept by using segmentation techniques, specifying marketing strategies, and establishing dedicated marketing departments either staff or line (Leeflang 2011). It includes both direct response marketing and indirect marketing elements, and uses a range of technologies to help connect businesses to their customers (Tsekouropoulos et al, 2013). Marketing is considered as a core activity (Basahel & Irani, 2009). Business Marketing as a research domain can be conceived of comprising several interrelated or nested layers (Chandler and Vargo, 2011; Moeller et al., 2009; Moeller 2013). Thus, the purpose of marketing is to know and understand the customer and his needs that well, so that the product or the service meets his needs and the selling of the product service follows as a natural consequence (Kotler, 2000). To achieve the objective of customer satisfaction, it is observed that businesses today have got the advantage of occupying powerful technologies of understanding and interacting with the customer (Rust et al. 2010). Using the innovative technology tools and services, such as databases and Internet provides the businesses with the opportunity and the ability to promote their products and services to more customers around the world (Andreopoulou et al. 2009). The approach to these customers and the encouragement of their trust towards the company can be achieved through the quality, the comfort in the markets, the competitiveness of the prices, and of course the offer of the right products and services (Tsekouropoulos, 2009, Tsekouropoulos et al. 2013). As it regards the results of a study of Vatis et.al. (2013), concerning the current functions of marketing used by companies of food and drinks, the majority of businesses use advertisement as a method of promotion. The advertising is still the most widespread and effective means of promotion used by a business, in order to showcase its products and services Assimakopoulos et al. (2010) in their research on business intelligence systems for virtual enterprises summarize that the modern business environment requires fast, efficient and reliable management of vast amounts of information and diverse data. Modern marketing techniques demand the use of a digital environment in relation to the development of the supply chain with the corresponding new partners, geographical expansion e.t.c. (Tsekouropoulos et.al., 2012a, Tsekouropoulos et al., 2012b). Companies, in order to compete, should be shifted from the pushing of individual products, to building long-term relationships with customers, always keeping the focus on the customer (Tsekouropoulos et al, 2013).
1.1.
Database management and enterprises
Innovative digital tools and services, offer huge opportunities for all to progress and benefit and new prospects exist for economic growth, better service delivery, social and cultural advances (Andreopoulou, 2013). Within that concept, a database can be a valuable asset and act as a tool for achieving the marketing objectives of an enterprise as it can bring together all the necessary marketing information (Tzoulis et.al., 2013). Data Base Management Systems (DBMS) have recently emerged as a standard part of any business while sales and marketing would be impractical without quality database systems (Lloyd, 2007). A database is defined as a collection of organized data that serves multiple applications with enhanced functions as the organization of data in a database results in program data independence, data redundancy, enhanced data consistency, improved data sharing, increased productivity, better data accessibility and responsiveness and reduced program maintenance (Elmasri & Navathe, 2004). It is highly acknowledged that organizations depend on the amount of their information (Andreopoulou, 2009) whereas data properly stored in databases can be
accessed and retrieved effortlessly and quickly, and they can be processed in various ways from end-users (Andreopoulou, 2007). The total approach of data entry in a database has two further advantages, such as reduction in duplicate record and creation data accuracy because of automatic data update (Mc Fadden et al., 1999). Each user can access and use the same data for different purposes at the same time (Andreopoulou et.al, 2012). The essential feature of database technology is that it provides an internal representation (model) of the external world of interest (Jeffery, 2008). Two of the most important concepts in a relational model are entities and relationships (Fleming and von Halle 1989). An entity is a real-world object or concept. The relational model represents a database as a collection of relations (Elmasri and Navathe 1994). A relation is an association among two or more entities. According to Fleming and von Halle (1989), there are three steps to design a relational database: logical data modeling (LDM), translation of the logical data model to a relational database, and tuning of the relational database. Fleming and von Halle (1989) recommended a comprehensive LDM including 12 phases. It starts from identifying major entities and ends with analyzing for stability and growth. Elmasri and Navathe (1994) divided a medium or large database application system into eight phases, starting from system definition and ending with DBMS monitoring and maintenance. So, a temporal database maintains past, present and future data (Tansel, 2009).Database Management Systems (DBMS) is a necessity for any database system towards proper file organization. DBMS provides a practical approach to relational database systems, with an emphasis on practical topics such as indexing methods, SQL, and database design (Ramakrishnan and Gehrke, 2000). Thus, a database becomes an effective tool for management, as data are characterized by logical structure especially when a powerful DBMS is used (Andreopoulou et.al., 2012).. DBMSs also offer multi-processor support, support for parallel queries and clustering. The data stored in a DBMS package can be accessed by multiple users and by multiple application programs like SQL Server, Oracle and Ms-Access. To facilitate the effective dialogue of end-users with the database a powerful, full-functioned DBMS is used with automated common action facilities, that is a GUI (graphical user interface) with the ‘point and click’ method that is easier to use, initiates tasks for users relying on buttons and are further translated by the software into commands (O’ Brien, 2001, Andreopoulou and Κokkinakis, 2009).
1.2.
Wood entrepreuneship
Wood entrepreunership gains an increasing interest, globally given the current trends in the modern society in wood and wood products.Wood is the raw material for different industrial products of primary processing such as poles, sawn timber, veneer, plywood, particleboard, fiber boards, pulpwood, etc., which are materials to create other products such as secondary treatment furniture and paper (Tzoulis et.al., 2013) The number of wood products is large and are said to be matching with those products derived from petroleum. With the development of economy and the improvement of people’s living standard, wood enterprises have been developed rapidly in recent years. Moreover, the wood trade helps shape observed forest change, by relating forest stock change to net trade of wood products by localizing the origin of wood consumed in a given nation. For many nations, traded wood products have a relevant impact on the course of ongoing forest transitions. Wood products trade can influence forest change and place various nations within this framework (Kastner et.al., 2011). Additionally, wood tracking mechanisms are further complex by the composition of individual wood products and shipments of timber, which in general contains an extensive range of logs and processed products, with different species and sizes (Tzoulis and Andreopoulou, 2013). Wood is produced by national forests but it is also imported from various countries and continents. European and tropical timber is of a great importance for local wood market in Greece due to their characteristics, features and qualities. Wood has a lot of advantages as a material but also disadvantages. Some of the advantages are: easy treatment, renewable material, easiness to find, beautiful aesthetics (variety of colors, textures and drawing), high mechanical strength in relation to its weight, insulator (sound, heat), cellulose source, non-polluting the environment and relatively low-cost. Some of the disadvantages is the fact that it is a hygroscopic material and its dimensions vary with the recruitment or the loss of moisture, its an anisotropic material and presents instability in the structure and properties, affected by microorganisms (altered, rot), burns easily, its production is influenced by environment and heredity (Voulgaridis, 2008). The construction of wood, its chemical composition, the content in extracts and whether errors appear or not, determine the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of wood as well as its behavior in the exploitation and use in natural or processed form. The particular structure and origin that characterizes each wood type, differentiates its usage and behavior, and determines, to a large extent, its final use in wood products (Voulgaridis, 2008). Wood properties and origin
constitute quality characteristics that must be acknowledged by wood entrepreneurs (Voulgaridis, 2008). European Union (EU) member states should seek to harmonize the forest industry data system and establish a single economic value of forests and consistently linked the forest balance with wooden land, timber, forestry economic activities in the cash flow accounts and wood supply and use in the natural and monetary values. In EU is the data system of forest industry, but each European country is necessary assess its suitability and to adapted to situation which is in the country. This paper describes the development of a database about wood and its products and the respective database management system to be used as a tool in wood entrepreneurship and marketing. A pilot version of the database, titled “WooDB” is described, presenting the most significant and useful timber species. Scientific records linking to European and Tropical wood, their uses and characteristics have been used in combination with a user-friendly interface for its management including various common wood entrepreneurship functions in button type.
2 Methodology The pilot phase of the database “WooDB” includes records from European and Tropical woods, but it is expandable to include all kinds of timber, Greek and non-greek species. The data of timber originally recorded in the “WooDB” come from references, scientific literature review (Nair, 1998; Traboulay 1998; Voulgaridis 2008). WooDB was designed in order to store data for wood in two-dimensional tables consisting of rows and columns. The data are organized in several tables with fewer fields. The tables have been designed to follow the principles of the first two normal norms, which means that there are no repeated data groups and fields only depend on the primary key. WooDB was designed and developed with Ms Access software. During the development of this database, a friendly interface was designed. The interface includes various forms with interactive buttons that have been designed for inexperienced users in computing. All the screens in the interface are designed to incorporate interactive buttons in both in Greek and English language. WooDB includes data for timber species of European and Tropical regions in the form of tables, queries and forms, and comparison of them. Macros used in the DB were mainly macro for the opening of the form, the addition of records and to delete records and mainly macros to automate menu and the works of the system (Prague, 1999). WooDB supports the storing of this information and their effective management with the help of available integrated tools. One of these useful tools is the creation of queries. By creating queries, users can recover a subset of information from the original database tables that meet certain criteria, already set. The query result is a data table, which contains just the necessary information according to the used criteria.
3 Results Research resulted in the retrieve of 117 wood species. In the WooDB, five tables have been created named as: "Continent", "Individual timber codes', 'Name and style', 'Uses', 'Encoding uses'. These tables have been linked with common areas, creating “relationships”. The relationships of the 5 tables are presented in Figure 1.
Figure 1 Relations between the Tables in the WooDB Figure 2 shows the table "Continent", with the origin of timber also where the continents on which the timber species are registered have been recorded.
Figure 2 The database Table “Continents”
Figure 3 presents the development of the database table 'Name and features "with European and tropical wood species (scientific name, common name, color) of the available data recorded.
Figure 3 The database Table “names and characteristics”
The data management in the WooDB can be achieved with interactive buttons that activate successive interface screens. Users select through interactive buttons until they obtain the data of his interest. Figure 4 shows the initial interface screen which automatically enters the user in the WooDB.
Figure 4 The introductory interface screen of the Database When the user enters the WooDB, he can choose among 3 options with 3 interactive keys buttons, leading to respective interface screens. With these interactive buttons, the user of the WooDB is able to access to the information derived from queries in the WooDB about: a) "European timber species," b) "Tropical timber species" and c) advanced to the interface screen containing many interactive buttons that trigger questions that have already been designed to answer common questions that users do on the timber species.
Figure 5 Main Selection Screen Furthermore, by selecting the interactive key “questions / queries”, the users are headed to the interface screen that includes a plurality of prepared questions for the WooDB to be selected according to the needs of the user (Figure 6). These questions are typical user queries, but through the main window of the database, more queries can be developed.
Figure 6 Interface screen with interactive buttons to select queries from the database When the user selects the active button "questions", he is taken to the table that includes several questions about the uses and the wood species that appear in the form of interactive buttons (Figure 6). In Figure 7, is described the total of the ready queries of the database.
Figure 7 screen of the Database with all the queries In Figure 8, the results of the query "Tropical timber species for musical instruments' is presented.
Figure 8 Query results to present “tropical wood for musical instruments”
4 Conclusions Advances in new technology tools and practices have been identified as enablers of entrepreneurship. Databases can become a valuable asset for achieving the marketing objectives of any enterprise. The databasedevelopment and function that was describedin that paper, named WooDB, can function as a reference and marketing tool in pilot version, for European and tropical timber species, based on detailed scientific records that describe the specific characteristics of these species. It also combines a user-friendly interface for database management that includes common wood entrepreneurship functions in a user-friendly button type. All over the world, modern life-style depends highly on wood and wood products; hence, wood entrepreneurship sector has gained much attention. Wood entrepreuners have to acknowledge wood properties and timber origin, such as European or tropical timber, as they constitute quality characteristics that must be accredited in marketing. Wood entrepreneurs can use WooDB as a key reference tool, aiming to organize their tasks, to increase overall business and marketing efficiency. Despite the fact that the application is in pilot form, all the available current data in international references are registered. There are plenty of data (forms, tables) that help in drawing conclusions from computer-illiterate users because the management of the database is succeeded by selecting interactive
buttons in successive interface screens. Besides in the DBMS that was developed, an experienced user can enter the WooDB and create additional questions in query forms, and additional buttons or use other tools aiming to modify its own applications. WooDB may be extended to develop a wider database, which will include most types of timber globally to exploit in scientific, academic, bibliographic and commercial sectors. The DBMS and interface that was designed in a user-friendly type, it is bilingual and it can be further extended in other languages, as to be multinational.
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