• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.95-115
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• 2011

Food service is the major part of franchise business in Korea, accounting for 69.9% of the brands in the market. As the food service industry becomes mature, many franchisees have struggled to survive in the market. In general, consumers have higher levels of expectation toward service quality of franchised outlets compared that of (non-franchised) independent ones. They also tend to believe that franchisees deliver standardized service at the uniform food price, regardless of their locations. Such beliefs seem to be important reasons that consumers prefer franchised outlets to independent ones. Nevertheless, few studies examined the impact of qualify features of franchisees on customer satisfaction so far. To this end, this study examined the characteristics of various quality features of franchisees in the food service industry, regarding their relationship with customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The quality perception of heavy-users was also compared with that of light-users in order to find insights for developing differentiated marketing strategy for the two segments. Customer satisfaction has been understood as a one-dimensional construct while there are recent studies that insist two-dimensional nature of the construct. In this regard, Kano et al. (1984) suggested to categorize quality features of a product or service into five types, based on their relation to customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction: Must-be quality, Attractive quality, One-dimensional quality, Indifferent quality, and Reverse quality. According to the Kano model, customers are more dissatisfied when Must-be quality(M) are not fulfilled, but their satisfaction does not arise above neutral no matter how fully the quality fulfilled. In comparison, customers are more satisfied with a full provision of Attactive quality(A) but manage to accept its dysfunction. One-dimensional quality(O) results in satisfaction when fulfilled and dissatisfaction when not fulfilled. For Indifferent quality(I), its presence or absence influences neither customer satisfaction nor dissatisfaction. Lastly, Reverse quality(R) refers to the features whose high degree of achievement results in customer dissatisfaction rather than satisfaction. Meanwhile, the basic guidelines of the Kano model have a limitation in that the quality type of each feature is simply determined by calculating the mode statistics. In order to overcome such limitation, the relative importance of each feature on customer satisfaction (Better value; b) and dissatisfaction (Worse value; w) were calculated following the formulas below (Timko, 1993). The Better value indicates how much customer satisfaction is increased by providing the quality feature in question. In contrast, the Worse value indicates how much customer dissatisfaction is decreased by providing the quality feature. Better = (A + O)/(A+O+M+I) Worse = (O+M)/(A+O+M+I)(-1) An on-line survey was performed in order to understand the nature of quality features of franchisees in the food service industry by applying the Kano Model. A total of twenty quality features (refer to the Table 2) were identified as the result of literature review in franchise business and a pre-test with fifty college students in Seoul. The potential respondents of our main survey was limited to the customers who have visited more than two restaurants/stores of the same franchise brand. Survey invitation e-mails were sent out to the panels of a market research company and a total of 257 responses were used for analysis. Following the guidelines of Kano model, each of the twenty quality features was classified into one of the five types based on customers' responses to a set of questions: "(1) how do you feel if the following quality feature is fulfilled in the franchise restaurant that you visit," and "(2) how do you feel if the following quality feature is not fulfilled in the franchise restaurant that you visit." The analyses revealed that customers' dissatisfaction with franchisees is commonly associated with the poor level of cleanliness of the store (w=-0.872), kindness of the staffs(w=-0.890), conveniences such as parking lot and restroom(w=-0.669), and expertise of the staffs(w=-0.492). Such quality features were categorized as Must-be quality in this study. While standardization or uniformity across franchisees has been emphasized in franchise business, this study found that consumers are interested only in uniformity of price across franchisees(w=-0.608), but not interested in standardizations of menu items, interior designs, customer service procedures, and food tastes. Customers appeared to be more satisfied when the franchise brand has promotional events such as giveaways(b=0.767), good accessibility(b=0.699), customer loyalty programs(b=0.659), award winning history(b=0.641), and outlets in the overseas market(b=0.506). The results are summarized in a matrix form in Table 1. Better(b) and Worse(w) index indicate relative importance of each quality feature on customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction, respectively. Meanwhile, there were differences in perceiving the quality features between light users and heavy users of any specific franchise brand in the food service industry. Expertise of the staffs was labeled as Must-be quality for heavy users but Indifferent quality for light users. Light users seemed indifferent to overseas expansion of the brand and offering new menu items on a regular basis, while heavy users appeared to perceive them as Attractive quality. Such difference may come from their different levels of involvement when they eat out. The results are shown in Table 2. The findings of this study help practitioners understand the quality features they need to focus on to strengthen the competitive power in the food service market. Above all, removing the factors that cause customer dissatisfaction seems to be the most critical for franchisees. To retain loyal customers of the franchise brand, it is also recommended for franchisor to invest resources in the development of new menu items as well as training programs for the staffs. Lastly, if resources allow, promotional events, loyalty programs, overseas expansion, award-winning history can be considered as tools for attracting more customers to the business.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.12D no.6 s.102
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• pp.869-874
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• 2005

In the recent years there has been an increase of service competition in the activity of product selling, especially in the extension of warranty coverage and qualify. The variables in connection with the service competition are not crisp, and required the expertise of the production line. It thus becomes all the more necessary to use subtler tools as decision supports. These problems are typical not only of product companies but also of financial organizations, credit institutions, insurance, which need predictions of credibility for firms or persons in which they have any kind of interest. A suitable approach for minimizing the risk is to use a knowledge-based system. Most often expert systems are not standalone programs, but are embedded into a larger application. The aim of this paper is to discuss an approach for developing an embedded fuzzy expert system with respect to the product selling policy, especially to present the decision system of automobile selling activity around the extension of warranty coverage and quality. We use the MATLAB tools which integrates computation, visualization, and programming in an easy-to-use environment where problems and solutions are expressed in familiar mathematical notation. Also, we present the API functions embedding into the existing application.

• Journal of KIISE:Information Networking
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.722-737
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• 2002

As the number of multimedia applications increases, various protocols and architectures have been proposed to provide QoS(Quality of Service) guarantees in the Internet. Most of these techniques, though, bear inherent contradiction between the scalability and the capability of providing QoS guarantees. In this paper, we propose a protocol, named DQSP(Dynamic QoS Support Protocol), which provides the dynamic resource allocation and admission control for QoS guarantees in a scalable way. In DQSP, the core routers only maintain the per source-edge router resource allocation state information. Each of the source-edge routers maintains the usage information for the resources allocated to itself on each of the network links. Based on this information, the source edge routers perform admission control for the incoming flows. For the resource reservation and admission control, DQSP does not incur per flow signaling at the core network, and the amount of state information at the core routers depends on the scale of the topology instead of the number of user flows. Simulation results show that DQSP achieves efficient resource utilization without incurring the number of user flow related scalability problems as with IntServ, which is one of the representative architectures providing end-to-end QoS guarantees.

• Journal of Broadcast Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.179-187
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• 2008

In this paper, we proposed the qualify metric based on SVC and the subjective quality. The proposed quality metric is for a general purpose. It means we can use it for any video sequences regardless of its temporal and spatial characteristics. The Quality of Service(QoS) is one of the important issues in heterogeneous environment which has diverse restrictions such as limited network bandwidth and limited display resolution. Scalable Video Coding(SVC) is the efficient video coding skill in heterogeneous environment. Because SVC can be adapted to various quality bitstreams using three scalabilities(spatial, temporal, and SNR) from one bitstream which has full scalability. To maximize the QoS in this environment, we should consider the subjective quality which is the viewer response. And also we should consider temporal and spatial characteristics of video sequence because the subjective quality is affected by temporal and spatial characteristics of video sequence. To verify the efficiency of the proposed method, we perform subjective assessments. The experimental results show that the proposed method has high correlation with subjective quality. The proposed method can be a decision tool of SVC birstream extraction.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.1491-1497
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• 2006

The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship among inpatients' perceptions of foodservice quality, satisfaction and revisit intention. Questionnaires were hand-delivered to 350 inpatients and a total of 230 questionnaires were usable (response rate 65.7%), Statistical data analysis was completed using the SPSS Win 11.0 for descriptive analysis, independent t-test, $x^2$ test and k-means cluster analysis. The results of this study can be summarized as follows: The average score of overall importance of meal service in medical service was 4.25 out of 5.0, yet the score of overall quality of meal service and value had lower than importance score. A helpfulness to medical treatment (3.48), bringing customer happiness (3.18), overall satisfaction for foodservice (3.66), satisfaction based on expectation before discharge (3.53) and offering foodservice apt to hospital reputation (3.40) were measured as expressions of satisfaction. As a result of clustering analysis, two clusters were classified and named as affirmative opinion group and negative one. Expectation for four factors of foodservice quality between two groups had no significance. But affirmative opinion group had significantly higher score than negative one in perception and satisfaction. Affirmative customers' intention to revisit in the near future was evaluated as high in both considering general medical service (4.04) and reflecting meal service level (3.84).

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.141-168
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• 2001

Healthcare service organizations can apply the cost of quality(COQ) model as a method to evaluate a service quality improvement project such as Total Quality Management (TQM). COQ model has been used to quantify and evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of TQM project through estimation between cost and benefit in intervention for a quality Improvement to provide satisfied services for a customer, and to identify a non value added process. For estimating cost of quality, We used activities and activity costs based on Activity Based Costing(ABC) system. These procedures let the researchers know whether the process is value-added by each activity, and identify a process to require improvement in TQM project. Through the series of procedures, health care organizations are service organizations can identify a problem in their quality improvement programs, solve the problem, and improve their quality of care for their costumers with optimized cost. The study subject was a quality improvement program of the department of radiology department in a hospital with n bed sizes in Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The principal source of data for developing the COQ model was total cases of retaking shots for diagnoses during five months period from December of the 1998 to April of the 1999 in the department. First of the procedures, for estimating activity based cost of the department of diagnostic radiology, the researchers analyzed total department health insurance claims to identify activities and activity costs using one year period health insurance claims from September of the 1998 to August of the 1999. COQ model in this study applied Simpson & Multher's COQ(SM's COQ) model, and SM's COQ model divided cost of quality into failure cost with external and internal failure cost, and evaluation/prevention cost. The researchers identified contents for cost of quality, defined activities and activity costs for each content with the SM's COQ model, and finally made the formula for estimating activity costs relating to implementing service quality improvement program. The results from the formula for estimating cost of quality were following: 1. The reasons for retaking shots were largely classified into technique, appliances, patients, quality management, non-appliances, doctors, and unclassified. These classifications by reasons were allocated into each office doing re-taking shots. Therefore, total retaking shots categorized by reasons and offices, the researchers identified internal and external failure costs based on these categories. 2. The researchers have developed cost of quality (COQ) model, identified activities by content for cost of quality, assessed activity driving factors and activity contribution rate, and calculated total cost by each content for cost for quality, except for activity cost. 3. According to estimation of cost of quality for retaking shots in department of diagnostic radiology, the failure cost was ￦35,880, evaluation/preventive cost was ￦72,521, two times as much as failure cost. The proportion between internal failure cost and external failure cost in failure cost is similar. The study cannot identify trends on input cost and quality improving in cost of qualify over the time, because the study employs cross-sectional design. Even with this limitation, results of this study are much meaningful. This study shows possibility to evaluate value on the process of TQM subjects using activities and activity costs by ABC system, and this study can objectively evaluate quality improvement program through quantitative comparing input costs with marginal benefits in quality improvement.

• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.1-25
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• 2002

This study is for the purpose of understanding User Satisfaction of Accounting Information System more closely by means of perceiving relations between Internal Controls and Quality. That is, this study is to assess Internal Controls and Quality and to connect those with User Satisfaction. This thesis is for the substantial study on whether Information Quality, System Quality, and Service Quality influenced by Internal Controls of Accounting Information System have an effect on User Satisfaction, when Internal Controls of Accounting Information System is good, The following hypothesis was made to achieve this purpose. First, Internal Controls will have an positive influence on Quality. Second, Qualify will positively affect User Satisfaction. Third, Internal Controls will positively Influence User Satisfaction. Fourth, Internal Controls will have a positive effect on User Satisfaction through Quality For the survey sample, this study gathered data on someone engaged in companies or organizations which have computer offices, and groups were differentiated between general staff and someone in charge of the computer office, and each group had different questions. In general, 622 of questions were distributed and 200 of the final valid samples were used for the substantial analysis. As the result of the study, the relations between Internal Controls and Quality are statistically significant. The relations between Quality and User Satisfaction ire also statistically significant. But the relations between Internal Controls and User Satisfaction are not statistically significant. Path Analysis was implemented to analyze the hypothesis on whether Internal Controls have an influence on User Satisfaction through Quality. When the result of analysis with Lisrel 8.5 was examined, index numbers(GFI, AGFI, RMR) representing the suitability of the model were enough to be taken and it is showed that there is the suitability of the model. Internal Controls of Accounting Information System can't have an influence on User Satisfaction with Quality. As the above hypothesis was rejected, Through Path Analysis, this study examined the influence which relations between Internal Controls and Quality, factors of User Satisfaction, have on User Satisfaction, and is very meaningful in terms of the first trial. And on the point of time when there are little studies on the effect analyses between Internal Controls and Quality, this study would be the promoter for the future. The limitation on this study is to analyze only mutual effects between factors by choosing Internal Controls, Quality, and User Satisfaction as survey variables. The study which measure items with precision which are related to each variable and understand measurement factors clearly should be implemented.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.566-575
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• 2002

Low-titrate audio coding enables a number of Internet and mobile multimedia streaming service more efficiently. For the help of next-generation mobile telephone technologies and digital audio/video compression algorithm, we can enjoy the real-time multimedia contents on our mobile devices (cellular phone, PDA notebook, etc). But the limited available bandwidth of mobile communication network prohibits transmitting high-qualify AV contents. In addition, most bandwidth is assigned to transmit video contents. In this paper, we design a novel and simple method for reproducing high frequency components. The spectrum of high frequency components, which are lost by down-sampling, are modeled by the energy rate with low frequency band in Bark scale, and these values are multiplexed with conventional coded bitstream. At the decoder side, the high frequency components are reconstructed by duplicating with low frequency band spectrum at a rate of decoded energy rates. As a result of segmental SNR and MOS test, we convinced that our proposed method enhances the subjective sound quality only 10%∼20% additional bits. In addition, this proposed method can apply all kinds of frequency domain audio compression algorithms, such as MPEG-1/2, AAC, AC-3, and etc.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.11D no.1
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• pp.133-142
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• 2004

The next generation of web applications will need to be larger, more complex, and flexible Agent-oriented systems have great potential for these e-commerce applications. Agents can dynamically discover and compose e-services and mediate interactions. Development of software agents with CBD (Component Based Development) has proved to be successful in increasing speed to market of development Projects, lowering the development cost and providing better qualify. In this thesis, we propose a systemic development process for software agents using component and UML (Unified Modeling Language). We suggest a etA (e-business Agent) CBD reference architecture for layer the related components through identification and classification of general agent and e-business agent. We also propose the ebA-CBD process that is a guideline to consider the best features of existing agent oriented software engineering methodologies, while grounding agent-oriented concepts in the same underlying semantic framework used by UML. We first developed the agent components specification and modeled it with Goal, Role, Interaction, and Architecture Model. Based on this, we developed e-CPIMAS (e-Commerce Product Information Mailing Agent System) as a case study that provides the product information's mailing service according to proposed process formality. We finally describe how these concepts may assist in increasing the efficiency reusability, productivity and quality to develop the business application and e-business agent.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.197-206
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• 2014

This research intends to explore services, programs or policies for supporting married immigrant women to qualify themselves for being employed from the professional point of view on the assumption that their desire to get a job is high. To achieve this purpose, a delphi survey was conducted with a panel of 13 experts related to multi cultural family support in three sessions from December 20, 2013 to June 5, 2014. To analyze the collected data, descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, the mean, and standard deviation, were implemented, and Kendall's W for the internal reliability test on the survey instrument was carried out for statistical processing. The results are as follows : from the first session, services, programs, and policies in the level of married immigrant women themselves, children, parents in law and/or husband, organizations, and government were suggested. The highest item in average is systematization of levelwise Korean teaching program. The next higher items in average are daycare service during job training, parents in law and/or husband's consideration, parenting support services, program development of the organizations, linkage and integration system among the government ministries. As a result of the Kendall's W performed for the internal reliability test of the Delphi research, it has been concluded that the professionals' view on the supportive measures' important contents was statistically identical. According to the results of the Delphi research, systematization of levelwise Korean teaching program most required for the furtherance of the married immigrant women's entering the workforce, followed by provision of the services to draw family support, a grounding teaching of Korean corporate culture, and reconsideration of the policies.