• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.95-102
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• 2017

Purpose - This study aims to develop diagnostic indices for managerial performance of agro-food distribution corporations. In particular, weights of diagnostic indices were estimated using the AHP method. Management diagnosis on agro-food distribution corporations is expected to increase their competitiveness in the domestic market as well as in international markets. Research design, data, and methodology - It develops weights or importance of the diagnostic indices based upon the survey of 21 experts in food distribution management. The survey was carried out using e-mail. Management diagnostic indices were developed based upon four BSC(Balanced Scorecard) perspectives of finance, learning/growth/leadership, customer, and internal process/technology. Results - Diagnostic indices on financial perspective consist on profitability, productivity, growth, stability and activity. Learning and leadership perspective indices consist of management will, CEO leadership, level of learning, innovation, and level of management information system. Customer perspective indices are branding, customer and channel management and internal process/technology indices consist of fourteen sub-indices representing technologies, efficiency, and dynamics. It was estimated that the weight of financial perspective index was 0.3, internal process/technology perspective index 0.248, customer category index 0.247, and learning, growth and leadership perspective index 0.205. This study also estimates weights of sub-indices for managerial diagnosis by four different perspectives. Estimated weight of profitability (0.085) is the greatest among financial perspective indices, followed by stability (0.072), growth (0.053), productivity (0.051), and activity (0.038). While estimated weights of leadership, capability, and information indices are 0.100, 0.061, and 0.044 respectively, weights of marketing, customer management, and quality and service indices are 0.104, 0.093, and 0.051, respectively. Among internal process/technology perspective, estimated weights of efficiency, technology, and innovation indices are 0.106, 0.088, and 0.054, respectively. Conclusions - The diagnostic indices for managerial performance of agro-food distribution corporations would be utilized by agro-food distribution corporations themselves, extension service institutions, and consultants. It is also expected that central and local governments use diagnostic indices developed in this study for the purpose of evaluating the effects of governmental support programs for agro-food distribution corporations. Futhermore researchers and consultants would modify diagnostic indices developed in this study, reflecting characteristics and situation of types of agro-food distribution corporations.

• Agribusiness and Information Management
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2017

Introduction: To analyze the impact of marketing losses on efficiency in transacting banana in Kurnool district of SRZ in Andhra Pradesh and to assess the opinions of the farmers on the constraints in transacting banana. Research back ground, Materials and Methods: The study relies exclusively on primary information obtained from the banana farmers of Kurnool District. Purposive sampling procedure was followed for the selection of the study area. Top two mandals in the district and top two villages in each mandal are selected in accordance with the area under cultivation of banana. Probability proportion to size was followed regarding the selection of sample farmers and accordingly 60 marginal, 37 small and 23 other farmers were selected and thereby, the total sample size was 120. Result and Discussion: Three marketing channels were identified in the marketing of banana in Kurnool district viz., Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Local-exporter ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Retailer ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-I), Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Wholesaler ${\rightarrow}$ Cart-vendor ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-II) and Producer ${\rightarrow}$ Juice-holder ${\rightarrow}$ Consumer (Channel-III). With the inclusion of marketing losses in the price spread analysis of banana in all the three channels, the marketing costs of all the intermediaries were increased and thereby, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of the agencies are on the decline. So, without inclusion of marketing losses, the farmer's share in consumer's rupee and Net Marketing Margins of all the agencies are overvalued. The higher the marketing losses, the more is the negative impact on farmer's net selling price, net marketing margins of the intermediaries and marketing efficiency. The sample farmers are facing major problems in marketing of banana like frequent price fluctuations, unorganized marketing and lack of transportation facilities on priority basis. Suggestions: It is suggested to educate the farmers regarding the optimum maturity index for harvest, use of mechanical harvesters, proper placement of fruits during storage and ripening, better packaging and cushioning technologies to absorb shocks during transportation, strengthening of storage facilities and transport facilities, encourage co-operative marketing etc., to promote marketing efficiency of banana in the study area.

• Journal of the Korean Geographical Society
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.506-525
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• 2007

Incision into bedrock channel is the primary control of landform evolution, but research into bedrock incision process stagnated for long time. Due to the scaling problem of the application of results from flume studies to bedrock channel, there is a strong need to simulate the bedrock incision process with more realistic models. As a part of investigation into controls of bedrock channel incision, three-dimensional changes of rock surface with abrasion was investigated with physical modelling. 18 rock plates were abraded with various sediment particle size and sediment load and abraded surfaces of the plates were scanned with high resolution 3-D scanner. To identify the spatial pattern of erosion of the rock plates, various methods were used. There was no synthetic or holistic method that showed all features of bedrock plate produced by abrasion, so each plate was analyzed using some available methods. Contour maps, shaded relief maps and profiles show that abrasion concentrated on the centre of plate (cross profile) and upstream and downstream edges (longitudinal profile) and eroded area extended inwards. It also found that the cracks and boundaries of forming materials easily eroded than other parts. Changing patterns of surface roughness were investigated with profiles, regression analysis and spectral analysis. Majority of plates showed decrease in small-scale roughness, but it depends on microstructures of the plates rather than general hardness or other factors. SEM inspection results supported this idea.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.71-78
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• 2016

Purpose - This paper is for the Analysis on the Hindrance Factors and Activation Scheme by the Type of Distribution Channel in Direct transaction of Agricultural Products. As the distribution structure of agricultural products has become changable, farmers seem to use the type of direct distribution in order to enhance the receiving price. This study aims to explore the hindrance factors and income variation rate in direct transaction of agricultural produces, specifically focusing on the 167 farmers. Research design, data, and methodology - To ascertain the hindrance factors exactly by the type of distribution channel, the managements were classified by four subcategories, that is high sales percentage with shopping malls, SNS, shopping malls and SNS, and off-line direct transaction. Results - As a result of the hypothesis test, hinderance factors in online direct deal activation were found to be in the order of the difficulty in continuous content production, the difficulty in shopping mall operation and maintenance, and the difficulty in card commission problems, and in the order of the difficulties in continuous content production, the difficulty in continuous content production, the difficulty in shopping mall operation and maintenance, and the difficulty in branding for the SNS group. Thus, it can be seen that the difficulty in continuous content production, shopping mall operation and maintenance were found to be the biggest obstacles. In addition, hindering factors in online direct deal activation were found to be in the order of the difficulty in credit card settlement, the difficulty in publicity, and the difficulty in dealing with unsold goods. The group with high sales rate in shopping mall was found to be increased by 23.9% in the gross income compared to the previous year, the group with high SNS sales ratio increased by 56.5%, the group with direct offline transaction increased by 37.1%, among which the group with the highest increase rate of SNS sales ratio was found to be the highest from the rate of increase/decrease of the income, which was statistically significant. Conclusions - It can be suggested that government and local government may provide agricultural management with supporting plan which in turn can activate direct transaction in any possible ways.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.148-154
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• 2009

With respect to the durability of large scale ($150cm^2$) membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), degradation phenomena at cathode is monitored and analyzed according to the position on the cathode surface. After constant current mode operation of large scale MEA for 500 hr, the MEA is divided into three parts along the cathode channel; (close to) inlet, middle, and (close to) outlet. The performance of each MEA is tested and it is revealed that the MEA from the cathode outlet of large MEA shows the worst performance. This is due to the catalyst degradation and GDL delamination caused by flooding at cathode outlet of large MEA during the 500 hr operation. Particularly on the catalyst degradation, the loss of electrochemically active surface area (ECSA) of catalyst gets worse along the cathode channel from inlet to outlet, of which the reason is believed to be loss of catalysts by dissolution and migration rather than their agglomeration. The extent of loss in the performance and catalyst degradation has strong relation to the cathode flooding and it is required to develop proper water management techniques and separator channel design to control the flooding.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.65-74
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• 2020

Continuous and accurate instrument of river water usage is needed for sustainable river water management. Although the instrument methods applicable to each point of use of river water are different, more precise direct instrument methods are required at the point of major open channel. Users of river water should select appropriate direct instrument methods to measure usage, but there is a lack of standards and verification research. In this study, the H-Q rating curve method, ultrasonic method, and microwave method were applied directly to the test basin in the upper basin of Mangyeong river, and the accuracy of measurement data was evaluated by comparing absolute error between discharge data calculated by instrument method. When comparing the calculated discharge of point units, the ultrasonic method showed the best results of the actual measurement. Through continuous instrument, the sum of the daily and monthly units was compared, and the ultrasonic and microwave methods were shown to be highly accurate. Based on the results of this study, it is hoped that the appropriate direct measurement method can be selected according to the importance of the river water use facility, considering that the ultrasonic method and the microwave method are relatively costly compared to the water level-flow relationship method.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.189-200
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• 2021

To improve the water quality of agricultural reservoirs, constructed wetlands are applied in many places. These are technologies that establish ecosystems and important design factors include water depth distribution, inflow and outflow, water flow distribution, hydraulic residence time, water quality treatment efficiency, aspect ratio, and the distribution of open water and covered water surfaces. For high efficiency during the operation of a constructed wetland, the design needs to be optimized and this requires consideration of the different types and length of the intake dam as well as the type and connection of wetland cells. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate and suggest factors that needs to be considered during the design and for efficient operation measures through field surveys of 23 constructed wetlands that have been established and operated in agricultural reservoirs. Results of the field investigation shows that several sites were being operated improperly due to the malfunctioning or failure of the water level sensors, sedimentation in the intake dam, and clogging of the mechanical sluice frames. In addition, it was found that as the length of the inlet channel increases, the ecological disconnection between the intake dam upstream and the wetland outlet downstream also increases and was identified as a problem. Most of the wetlands are composed of 2 to 5 cells which can result to poor hydraulic efficiency and difficulty in management if they are too large. Moreover, it was found that the flow through a small wetland can be inadequate when there are too many cells due to excessive amounts of headloss.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.53-77
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• 2013

As advertising and promotions are categorized as operating expenses, managers tend to reduce marketing budget to improve their short term profitability. Gauging the value and accountability of marketing spending is therefore considered as a major research priority in marketing. To respond this call, recent studies have documented that financial market reacts positively to a firm's marketing activity or marketing related outcomes such as brand equity and customer satisfaction. However, prior studies focus on the relation of marketing variable and financial market variables. This study suggests a channel about how marketing activity increases firm valuation. Specifically, we propose that a firm's marketing activity increases the level of the firm's product market information and thereby the dispersion in financial analysts' earnings forecasts decreases. With less uncertainty about the firm's future prospect, the firm's managers and shareholders have less information asymmetry, which reduces the firm's cost of capital and thereby increases the valuation of the firm. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to examine how informational benefits can mediate the effect of marketing activity on firm value. To test whether marketing activity contributes to increase in firm value by mitigating information asymmetry, this study employs a longitudinal data which contains 12,824 firm-year observations with 2,337 distinct firms from 1981 to 2006. Firm value is measured by Tobin's Q and one-year-ahead buy-and-hold abnormal return (BHAR). Following prior literature, dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts is used as a proxy for the information gap between management and shareholders. For model specification, to identify mediating effect, the three-step regression approach is adopted. All models are estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to test the statistical significance of the mediating effect. The analysis shows that marketing intensity has a significant negative relationship with dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts. After including the mediator variable about analyst dispersion, the effect of marketing intensity on firm value drops from 1.199 (p < .01) to 1.130 (p < .01) in Tobin's Q model and the same effect drops from .192 (p < .01) to .188 (p < .01) in BHAR model. The results suggest that analysts' forecast dispersion partially accounts for the positive effect of marketing on firm valuation. Additionally, the same analysis was conducted with an alternative dependent variable (forecast accuracy) and a marketing metric (advertising intensity). The analysis supports the robustness of the main results. In sum, the results provide empirical evidence that marketing activity can increase shareholder value by mitigating problem of information asymmetry in the capital market. The findings have important implications for managers. First, managers should be cognizant of the role of marketing activity in providing information to the financial market as well as to the consumer market. Thus, managers should take into account investors' reaction when they design marketing communication messages for reducing the cost of capital. Second, this study shows a channel on how marketing creates shareholder value and highlights the accountability of marketing. In addition to the direct impact of marketing on firm value, an indirect channel by reducing information asymmetry should be considered. Potentially, marketing managers can justify their spending from the perspective of increasing long-term shareholder value.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.143-160
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• 2023

This study applied the stream physical habitat assessment system to obtain basic information for river restoration and watershed management in high-gradient and mid-gradient streams in the Naeseongcheon basin. The total length of high-gradient and mid-gradient streams in the Naeseongcheon basin is about 273 km, and as a result of the assessment, it was analyzed that suboptimal reach was about 8.2 km, normal reach was 180.3 km, and marginal reach was 84.7 km. In addition, the physical habitat quality of high-gradient streams was analyzed to be normal condition with an average of 106 points (53%), and in particular, the score of channel/hydraulic category, which is the most important for the habitat of aquatic animals, was analyzed to be normal, close to the limit, with an average of 54 points (45%). The physical habitat quality of mid-gradient streams was found to be in normal condition with an average of 90 points (45%), and the score of channel/hydraulic category was in marginal condition with an average of 39 points (32%). Overall, among 165 reaches of high-gradient and mid-gradient streams in the Naeseongcheon basin, 4 reaches (3%) were evaluated as suboptimal, 119 reaches (72%) were normal, and 42 reaches (25%) were considered marginal. These results showed that the physical habitat of Naeseongcheon was significantly disturbed. Disturbance of stream physical habitat in the Naeseongcheon basin occured due to farmland around stream, urbanization, reservoir construction, and river maintenance.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.101 no.3
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• pp.333-343
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• 2012

In-stream large wood (LW) has a critical impact on the geomorphic characteristics relevant to ecosystem management and disaster prevention, yet relatively little is known about variations in its dynamics and subsequent export on the watershed-scale perspective in Korea. Here we review variations in the dynamics and subsequent export of LW as a function of stream size, which is appropriate for Korean mountain streams. In upstream channels with narrow bankfull widths and low stream discharges, a massive amount of LW, resulting from forest dynamics and hillslope processes, may persist for several decades on valley floor. These pieces, however, are eventually transported during infrequent debris flows from small tributaries, as well as peak hydrology in main-stem channels. During the transport, these pieces suffer fragmentation caused by frictions with boulders, and stream bank and bed. Although infrequent, these events can be dominant processes in the export of significant amounts of LW from upstream channel networks. In downstream channels with wide bankfull widths and high stream discharges, LW is dominantly recruited by forest dynamics and bank erosion only at locations where the channel is adjacent to mature riparian forests. With the LW pieces that are supplied from the upstream, these pieces are continuously transported downstream during rainfall events. This leads to further fragmentation of the LW pieces, which increases their transportability. With decreasing stream-bed slope, these floated LW pieces, however, can be stored and form logjams at various depositional sites, which were developed by interaction between channel forms and floodplains. These pieces may decay for decades and be subsequently transported as particulate or dissolved organic materials, resulting in the limitation of LW fluvial export from the systems. However, in Korea, such depositional sites were developed in the extremely limited streams with a large dimension and no flood history for decades, and thus it does not be expected that the reduction of LW export amount, which can be caused by the long-term storage. Our review presents a generalized view of LW processing and is relevant to ecosystem management and disaster prevention for Korean mountain streams.