• Title/Summary/Keyword: Survey Finding

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A Comparative Study of the Handicaps in and Satisfaction with the Ordinary Life before and after the Plastic Operation for Artificial Joint Replacement-Centering around Those Who suffer from Joint Diseases (인공관절 전치환 성형 수술 전후의 일상활동 장애정도 및 삶의 만족도 비교연구 - 관절 질환 환자를 중심으로 -)

  • Kang, Shin-Hwa
    • Journal of muscle and joint health
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    • v.3 no.1
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    • pp.37-49
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    • 1996
  • The joint diseases threaten modern people's healthy life. They bring about a long pain, an anasarca, loss of joint function or even deformation and rigidity of joint, limiting people's ordinary activities much. The chronic joint patients may be subject to some hypochondria caused by anxiety for their life, social isolation, financial problem and physical disability. Therefore, this population should continue to be duely taken care of by medical personnels. In particular, nurses should adequately help these people to recover and improve their health through suitable adaptations. With such basic conceptions in mind, this study was aimed at reviewing these patients' conditions in their ordinary life before and after a plastic operation for artificial joint replacement as well as their satisfaction with their life. For this purpose, those patients who underwent some plastic operations for artificial joint replacement at university hospitals in Seoul from January 2, 1993 to June 30, 1995 were selected as the population of this study. Among them, 87 people were randomly sampled to answer a questionnaire designed specially. For the surveying tools, Jette's (1980) scale was applied to address the sample people's inconveniences experienced and supports received in their ordinary life, while the scale of Wood, Wylie & Sheafer was used to measure their satisfaction with their life. The collected data were analyzed for percentiles, means, SD, t-test and Pearson's correlations. The results of survey can be summarized as follows ; As a result of t-test the frequencies of other people's support before and after the plastic operation, it was disclosed that those who underwent the operation were supported less frequently. In addition, as a result of t-testing their satisfaction with life before and after the operation, it was found that the operation increased their satisfaction with life significantly. Meanwhile, as a result of t-test inconveniences, frequencies of supports and life satisfaction before and after the plastic operation for artificial knee replacement, it was disclosed that only the inconveniences were significantly reduced after the operation. In contrast, the t-test the variables before and after the plastic operation for artificial hip replacement, it was found that only the frequencies of other people's supports were significant reduced after the operation. Furthermore, the differences 6 months, one year and two years after the plastic operation for artificial joint replacement were t-tested on the variables. As a result, it was disclosed that people's inconvenience, frequencies of supports and life satisfaction were not improved 6 months after the operation but their frequencies of supports decreased significantly one year after, while their inconveniences and life satisfaction were significantly improved two years after. As a result of analyzing the variables with Pearson's correlations, inconveniences and frequency of supports were negatively correlated significantly with the life satisfaction. In conclusion, the plastic operation for artificial joint replacement significantly improved people's living inconveniences, reduced their frequency of other people's support and enhanced their satisfaction with life. To break don the plastic operation for artificial knee replacement improved patients' inconveniences, while the plastic operation for artificial hip replacement not only improved patients' inconveniences but reduced the frequencies of other people's support also. Finally, the finding that the plastic operation for artificial joint replacement brought about the improvement two years after suggests that this period is needed for the patients to adapt themselves to the post-operation conditions.

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The Analysis of Future Promising Industries of Busan and Marine Policy in the Era of the Northern Sea Route (북극항로 시대에 대비한 부산지역의 미래성장 유망산업 및 정책 평가에 관한 연구)

  • Ryoo, Dong-Keun;Nam, Hyung-Sik
    • Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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    • v.30 no.1
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    • pp.175-194
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    • 2014
  • Because the thawing of the Arctic ocean is slowly accelerating due to global warming, recently exploring resources in Arctic ocean and transporting resources by using the North Pole route have been getting spotlight. Since the original route transported by the Suez Canal from Korea to Europe could be shorten about 8,000km in distance(decreased about 38% compared to the original route), which means shortening about 10 voyage dates, it is expected to bring huge logistics cost reduction. Once the North Pole route is commercialized successfully, it would be one of the most important variables that affects future of Busan port and guides for economic development of Busan. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze Busan port and the economic growth of Busan area by researching promising industry, based on the effect of freight transporting by the Northern sea route on the economy of Busan. For this study, questionnaire surveys and interviews were conducted for 64 people of experts in the shipping and port industry, relevant government, and academics. The survey finding shows that port logistics industry is a promising business in Busan in terms of its growth and competitiveness. It is necessary to develop feeder network facilities that prepare for commercialization of the Northern sea route as a short and medium term plan and provide professional manpower training in polar regions. Ship supply business would also play an important role. It is identified that revitalization of shipbuilding and ocean plant industry should be done in terms of Arctic business. With regard to the fishery industry it is found that modernization of fishery ship and development of fishery equipment used in polar areas should be carried out.

A Study on the Correspondence and the Autonomy between the Act on the Guarantee of Rights of and Support for Persons with Developmental Disabilities and the Similar Ordinances of the Local Governments (발달장애인 권리보장 및 지원에 관한 법률과 지방자치단체 유사조례 간의 연계성과 자치성에 관한 연구)

  • Jeon, Jihye;Lee, Sehee
    • 한국사회정책
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    • v.25 no.2
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    • pp.367-402
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    • 2018
  • This study analyzed the relationship between the act on the guarantee of rights of and support for persons with developmental disabilities(Act for PWDD) and the similar ordinance of the local governments based on this law and focused on the correspondence(the rate of reflection) and the autonomy(differentiation). As of October 2017, 63 local government regulations and Act for PWDD were analyzed in this study. The results of the analysis are as follows: First, the rate of reflection in the ordinance of Act for PWDD was different according to the clause. In the aspect of emphasizing welfare support, the agreement between local ordinance and rate was high. While the Act for PWDD emphasized the rights of persons with developmental disabilities, there was little information about their right in the ordinance of local governments. This is evidence that current ordinance is based on the protective point of view for people with developmental disabilities. In the future, policy measures will be needed to ensure that respect for decision-making by persons with developmental disabilities and rights guarantees are included in the bylaws. Second, there is a provision that the rate of ordinance reflection is 0%, which may be guaranteed by other laws in the area, so it does not mean the absence of related system in the region, but there is possibility of institutional blind spot. In the future, consideration should be given to the complementarity of other legal systems in the area with developmental disabilities, so that persons with developmental disabilities should not be placed in institutional blind spots. Third, the autonomy(differentiation) of local ordinance was examined from the contents aspect and the administrative aspect to help practical implementation. The differentiation between the ordinances vary. Emphasizing the responsibilities of the head of the organization, emphasizing the fact-finding survey, setting up the welfare committee, or adding local needs were included to the ordinance. Local governments considering the enactment of ordinances in the future should refer to these cases and establish enactable local ordinances that take advantage of the characteristics of local autonomy.

Priority Analysis of Cause Factors of Safety Valve Failure Mode Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP를 활용한 안전밸브(PSV) 고장모드의 Cause Factors 우선순위 분석)

  • Kim, Myung Chul;Lee, Mi Jeong;Lee, Dong Geon;Baek, Jong-Bae
    • Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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    • v.60 no.3
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    • pp.347-355
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    • 2022
  • The safety valve (PSV) is a safety device that automatically releases a spring when the pressure generated by various causes reaches the set pressure, and is restored to a normal state when the pressure falls below a certain level. Periodic inspection and monitoring of safety valves are essential so that they can operate normally in abnormal conditions such as pressure rise. However, as the current safety inspection is performed only at a set period, it is difficult to ensure the safety of normal operation. Therefore, evaluation items were developed by finding failure modes and causative factors of safety valves required for safety management. In addition, it is intended to provide decision-making information for securing safety by deriving the priority of items. To this end, a Delphi survey was conducted three times to derive evaluation factors that were judged to be important in relation to the Failure Mode Cause Factor (FMCFs) of the safety valve (PSV) targeting 15 experts. As a result, 6 failure modes of the safety valve and 22 evaluation factors of its sub-factors were selected. In order to analyze the priorities of the evaluation factors selected in this way, the hierarchical structure was schematized, and the hierarchical decision-making method (AHP) was applied to the priority calculation. As a result of the analysis, the failure mode priorities of FMCFs were 'Leakage' (0.226), 'Fail to open' (0.201), 'Fail to relieve req'd capacity' (0.152), 'Open above set pressure' (0.149), 'Spuriously' 'open' (0.146) and 'Stuck open' (0.127) were confirmed in the order. The lower priority of FMCFs is 'PSV component rupture' (0.109), 'Fail to PSV size calculation' (0.068), 'PSV Spring aging' (0.065), 'Erratic opening' (0.059), 'Damage caused by improper installation and handling' (0.058), 'Fail to spring' (0.053), etc. were checked in the order. It is expected that through efficient management of FMCFs that have been prioritized, it will be possible to identify vulnerabilities of safety valves and contribute to improving safety.

The Relationship Between Hospital Customers' Perceived Value, Attachment and Re-use Intention : Moderating Effect of Hospital Image (중소병원 이용고객의 지각된 가치, 애착, 재이용의도간 관계 연구)

  • Sin, Kyung-sook;An, Un-seok
    • Journal of Venture Innovation
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    • v.5 no.1
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    • pp.19-37
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    • 2022
  • The purpose of this study was to find out what could be the cause of increasing the re-use intention for the continuous management of customers in terms of finding a strategic plan for the survival of Medium Sized Hospital To this end, a hypothesis for the direct effect verifying the structural relationship, a hypothesis for the mediating effect of attachment, and a hypothesis for the moderating effect on the hospital image were presented. The survey analysis results for customers who experienced the services of 5 Medium Sized Hospital in Gyeonggi-do were as follows. First, The results of analysis of the effect of Medium Sized Hospital customers' perceived value on reuse intention are as follows. all sub-factors of perceived value did not have a significant effect on reuse intention. This is significant in that it shows that the change occurred due to the involvement of attachment. Second, the results of examining the mediating effect of attachment in the relationship between the perceived value of small and medium hospital customers and their intention to reuse are as follows. Attachment to doctor's competency significantly mediated the relationship between quality value and reuse intention, emotional value and reuse intention, and social value and reuse intention. Significantly mediated the relationship between the provinces and the relationship between the price value and the intention to reuse. Third, hospital image significantly adjusted the relationship between quality value and medical technology competency. Based on the above results, it is necessary to establish a strategy of value perceived by customers as a strategy to increase the reuse intention of small and medium hospital customers. Therefore, the strategic goal setting of this value should be 'promoting attachment', and since the hospital image adjusts the perceived value and attachment of small and medium hospital customers, it is an image strategy that allows customers to appreciate their attachment to doctors and medical technology more highly. will have to establish.

Empirical Analysis of Accelerator Investment Determinants Based on Business Model Innovation Framework (비즈니스 모델 혁신 프레임워크 기반의 액셀러레이터 투자결정요인 실증 분석)

  • Jung, Mun-Su;Kim, Eun-Hee
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.253-270
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    • 2023
  • Research on investment determinants of accelerators, which are attracting attention by greatly improving the survival rate of startups by providing professional incubation and investment to startups at the same time, is gradually expanding. However, previous studies do not have a theoretical basis in developing investment determinants in the early stages, and they use factors of angel investors or venture capital, which are similar investors, and are still in the stage of analyzing importance and priority through empirical research. Therefore, this study verified for the first time in Korea the discrimination and effectiveness of investment determinants using accelerator investment determinants developed based on the business model innovation framework in previous studies. To this end, we first set the criteria for success and failure of startup investment based on scale-up theory and conducted a survey of 22 investment experts from 14 accelerators in Korea, and secured valid data on a total of 97 startups, including 52 successful scale-up startups and 45 failed scale-up startups, were obtained and an independent sample t-test was conducted to verify the mean difference between these two groups by accelerator investment determinants. As a result of the analysis, it was confirmed that the investment determinants of accelerators based on business model innovation framework have considerable discrimination in finding successful startups and making investment decisions. In addition, as a result of analyzing manufacturing-related startups and service-related startups considering the characteristics of innovation by industry, manufacturing-related startups differed in business model, strategy, and dynamic capability factors, while service-related startups differed in dynamic capabilities. This study has great academic implications in that it verified the practical effectiveness of accelerator investment determinants derived based on business model innovation framework for the first time in Korea, and it has high practical value in that it can make effective investments by providing theoretical grounds and detailed information for investment decisions.

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The Effect of an Educational Program Based on the 5E Circular Learning Model for Changing Chemistry Teachers' Metamodeling Recognition (화학교사들의 메타모델링 인식 변화를 위한 5E 순환학습 모형 기반 교육프로그램의 효과)

  • Miyeon Seo;Juhye Park;Kihyang Kim;Seoung-Hey Paik
    • Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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    • v.68 no.5
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    • pp.259-273
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    • 2024
  • This study aimed to investigate changes in metamodeling recognition among chemistry teachers through a teacher educational program related to redox models and water electrolysis experiments. To this end, a science model education program was developed for 9 chemistry teachers and conducted over 10 lessons for a total of 40 hours. In addition, a pre- and post-survey was administered to determine teachers' metamodeling recognition in non-contextual and contextual situations. As a result of the study, through the science model education program, teachers showed educational effects in both non-contextual and contextual situations. In the case of non-contextual situations, the stages of scientific metamodeling knowledge development of chemistry teachers came out differently depending on the type of question. For example, the nature or purpose of the model, the modeling process, or the evaluation and improvement of the model improved from low to high, but there was no significant change because the perception of model change and diversity was already high in advance. In the case of contextual situations, the stage of scientific metamodeling knowledge development improved from objectivity to subjectivity in both the redox model theory class and the water electrolysis model experiment class. Therefore, through the 5E circular learning model-based education program, chemistry teachers' perception of metamodeling was clearly improved. However, the modeling activities of teachers in the water electrolysis model experiment class were different from the change in metamodeling perception. The types that teachers selected as additional experiments for modeling were analyzed in two ways. The first type is when they are interested in finding an ideal condition in which the ratio of hydrogen and oxygen gas is close to 2:1 through additional experiments. The second type is when additional experiments are designed with interest in why the experimental results are coming out like that. It was analyzed that the second type was the experiment necessary for modeling. In addition, modeling activities were analyzed into two types. The first was a type in which water molecules were directly decomposed in two electrodes to generate hydrogen and oxygen gas. This type was the case of regression to the textbook model regardless of the experimental results, and 6 chemistry teachers out of 8 were analyzed as this type. The second type was the type in which water reacted at the (+) electrode to generate other substances, and hydrogen ions reacted at the (-) electrode to generate hydrogen gas. Teachers who performed these modeling activities corresponded to the second type in additional experiments, and 2 chemistry teachers out of 8 corresponded to this. Therefore, it is necessary to provide an experience of activities corresponding to the second type of experiment and modeling through an educational program that provides an experience of directly modeling through experiments in order to develop modeling capabilities, unlike the development of metamodeling knowledge.

Research Framework for International Franchising (국제프랜차이징 연구요소 및 연구방향)

  • Kim, Ju-Young;Lim, Young-Kyun;Shim, Jae-Duck
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.61-118
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    • 2008
  • The purpose of this research is to construct research framework for international franchising based on existing literature and to identify research components in the framework. Franchise can be defined as management styles that allow franchisee use various management assets of franchisor in order to make or sell product or service. It can be divided into product distribution franchise that is designed to sell products and business format franchise that is designed for running it as business whatever its form is. International franchising can be defined as a way of internationalization of franchisor to foreign country by providing its business format or package to franchisee of host country. International franchising is growing fast for last four decades but academic research on this is quite limited. Especially in Korea, research about international franchising is carried out on by case study format with single case or empirical study format with survey based on domestic franchise theory. Therefore, this paper tries to review existing literature on international franchising research, providing research framework, and then stimulating new research on this field. International franchising research components include motives and environmental factors for decision of expanding to international franchising, entrance modes and development plan for international franchising, contracts and management strategy of international franchising, and various performance measures from different perspectives. First, motives of international franchising are fee collection from franchisee. Also it provides easier way to expanding to foreign country. The other motives including increase total sales volume, occupying better strategic position, getting quality resources, and improving efficiency. Environmental factors that facilitating international franchising encompasses economic condition, trend, and legal or political factors in host and/or home countries. In addition, control power and risk management capability of franchisor plays critical role in successful franchising contract. Final decision to enter foreign country via franchising is determined by numerous factors like history, size, growth, competitiveness, management system, bonding capability, industry characteristics of franchisor. After deciding to enter into foreign country, franchisor needs to set entrance modes of international franchising. Within contractual mode, there are master franchising and area developing franchising, licensing, direct franchising, and joint venture. Theories about entrance mode selection contain concepts of efficiency, knowledge-based approach, competence-based approach, agent theory, and governance cost. The next step after entrance decision is operation strategy. Operation strategy starts with selecting a target city and a target country for franchising. In order to finding, screening targets, franchisor needs to collect information about candidates. Critical information includes brand patent, commercial laws, regulations, market conditions, country risk, and industry analysis. After selecting a target city in target country, franchisor needs to select franchisee, in other word, partner. The first important criteria for selecting partners are financial credibility and capability, possession of real estate. And cultural similarity and knowledge about franchisor and/or home country are also recognized as critical criteria. The most important element in operating strategy is legal document between franchisor and franchisee with home and host countries. Terms and conditions in legal documents give objective information about characteristics of franchising agreement for academic research. Legal documents have definitions of terminology, territory and exclusivity, agreement of term, initial fee, continuing fees, clearing currency, and rights about sub-franchising. Also, legal documents could have terms about softer elements like training program and operation manual. And harder elements like law competent court and terms of expiration. Next element in operating strategy is about product and service. Especially for business format franchising, product/service deliverable, benefit communicators, system identifiers (architectural features), and format facilitators are listed for product/service strategic elements. Another important decision on product/service is standardization vs. customization. The rationale behind standardization is cost reduction, efficiency, consistency, image congruence, brand awareness, and competitiveness on price. Also standardization enables large scale R&D and innovative change in management style. Another element in operating strategy is control management. The simple way to control franchise contract is relying on legal terms, contractual control system. There are other control systems, administrative control system and ethical control system. Contractual control system is a coercive source of power, but franchisor usually doesn't want to use legal power since it doesn't help to build up positive relationship. Instead, self-regulation is widely used. Administrative control system uses control mechanism from ordinary work relationship. Its main component is supporting activities to franchisee and communication method. For example, franchisor provides advertising, training, manual, and delivery, then franchisee follows franchisor's direction. Another component is building franchisor's brand power. The last research element is performance factor of international franchising. Performance elements can be divided into franchisor's performance and franchisee's performance. The conceptual performance measures of franchisor are simple but not easy to obtain objectively. They are profit, sale, cost, experience, and brand power. The performance measures of franchisee are mostly about benefits of host country. They contain small business development, promotion of employment, introduction of new business model, and level up technology status. There are indirect benefits, like increase of tax, refinement of corporate citizenship, regional economic clustering, and improvement of international balance. In addition to those, host country gets socio-cultural change other than economic effects. It includes demographic change, social trend, customer value change, social communication, and social globalization. Sometimes it is called as westernization or McDonaldization of society. In addition, the paper reviews on theories that have been frequently applied to international franchising research, such as agent theory, resource-based view, transaction cost theory, organizational learning theory, and international expansion theories. Resource based theory is used in strategic decision based on resources, like decision about entrance and cooperation depending on resources of franchisee and franchisor. Transaction cost theory can be applied in determination of mutual trust or satisfaction of franchising players. Agent theory tries to explain strategic decision for reducing problem caused by utilizing agent, for example research on control system in franchising agreements. Organizational Learning theory is relatively new in franchising research. It assumes organization tries to maximize performance and learning of organization. In addition, Internalization theory advocates strategic decision of direct investment for removing inefficiency of market transaction and is applied in research on terms of contract. And oligopolistic competition theory is used to explain various entry modes for international expansion. Competency theory support strategic decision of utilizing key competitive advantage. Furthermore, research methodologies including qualitative and quantitative methodologies are suggested for more rigorous international franchising research. Quantitative research needs more real data other than survey data which is usually respondent's judgment. In order to verify theory more rigorously, research based on real data is essential. However, real quantitative data is quite hard to get. The qualitative research other than single case study is also highly recommended. Since international franchising has limited number of applications, scientific research based on grounded theory and ethnography study can be used. Scientific case study is differentiated with single case study on its data collection method and analysis method. The key concept is triangulation in measurement, logical coding and comparison. Finally, it provides overall research direction for international franchising after summarizing research trend in Korea. International franchising research in Korea has two different types, one is for studying Korean franchisor going overseas and the other is for Korean franchisee of foreign franchisor. Among research on Korean franchisor, two common patterns are observed. First of all, they usually deal with success story of one franchisor. The other common pattern is that they focus on same industry and country. Therefore, international franchise research needs to extend their focus to broader subjects with scientific research methodology as well as development of new theory.

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The Causes of Conflict and the Effect of Control Mechanisms on Conflict Resolution between Manufacturer and Supplier (제조-공급자간 갈등 원인과 거래조정 방식의 갈등관리 효과)

  • Rhee, Jin Hwa
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.17 no.4
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    • pp.55-80
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    • 2012
  • I. Introduction Developing the relationships between companies is very important issue to ensure a competitive advantage in today's business environment (Bleeke & Ernst 1991; Mohr & Spekman 1994; Powell 1990). Partnerships between companies are based on having same goals, pursuing mutual understanding, and having a professional level of interdependence. By having such a partnerships and cooperative efforts between companies, they will achieve efficiency and effectiveness of their business (Mohr and Spekman, 1994). However, it is difficult to expect these ideal results only in the B2B corporate transaction. According to agency theory which is the well-accepted theory in various fields of business strategy, organization, and marketing, the two independent companies have fundamentally different corporate purposes. Also there is a higher chance of developing opportunism and conflict due to natures of human(organization), such as self-interest, bounded rationality, risk aversion, and environment factor as imbalance of information (Eisenhardt 1989). That is, especially partnerships between principal(or buyer) and agent(or supplier) of companies within supply chain, the business contract itself will not provide competitive advantage. But managing partnership between companies is the key to success. Therefore, managing partnership between manufacturer and supplier, and finding causes of conflict are essential to improve B2B performance. In conclusion, based on prior researches and Agency theory, this study will clarify how business hazards cause conflicts on supply chain and then identify how developed conflicts have been managed by two control mechanisms. II. Research model III. Method In order to validate our research model, this study gathered questionnaires from small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs). In Korea, SMEs mean the firms whose employee is under 300 and capital is under 8 billion won(about 7.2 million dollar). We asked the manufacturer's perception about the relationship with the biggest supplier, and our key informants are denied to a person responsible for buying(ex)CEO, executives, managers of purchasing department, and so on). In detail, we contact by telephone to our initial sample(about 1,200 firms) and introduce our research motivation and send our questionnaires by e-mail, mail, and direct survey. Finally we received 361 data and eliminate 32 inappropriate questionnaires. We use 329 manufactures' data on analysis. The purpose of this study is to identify the anticipant role of business hazard (environmental dynamism, asset specificity) and investigate the moderating effect of control mechanism(formal control, social control) on conflict-performance relationship. To find out moderating effect of control methods, we need to compare the regression weight between low versus. high group(about level of exercised control methods). Therefore we choose the structural equation modeling method that is proper to do multi-group analysis. The data analysis is performed by AMOS 17.0 software, and model fits are good statically (CMIN/DF=1.982, p<.000, CFI=.936, IFI=.937, RMSEA=.056). IV. Result V. Discussion Results show that the higher environmental dynamism and asset specificity(on particular supplier) buyer(manufacturer) has, the more B2B conflict exists. And this conflict affect relationship quality and financial outcomes negatively. In addition, social control and formal control could weaken the negative effect of conflict on relationship quality significantly. However, unlikely to assure conflict resolution effect of control mechanisms on relationship quality, financial outcomes are changed by neither social control nor formal control. We could explain this results with the characteristics of our sample, SMEs(Small and Medium sized Enterprises). Financial outcomes of these SMEs(manufacturer or principal) are affected by their customer(usually major company) more easily than their supplier(or agent). And, in recent few years, most of companies have suffered from financial problems because of global economic recession. It means that it is hard to evaluate the contribution of supplier(agent). Therefore we also support the suggestion of Gladstein(1984), Poppo & Zenger(2002) that relational performance variable can capture the focal outcomes of relationship(exchange) better than financial performance variable. This study has some implications that it tests the sources of conflict and investigates the effect of resolution methods of B2B conflict empirically. And, especially, it finds out the significant moderating effect of formal control which past B2B management studies have ignored in Korea.

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An Analysis of the Moderating Effects of User Ability on the Acceptance of an Internet Shopping Mall (인터넷 쇼핑몰 수용에 있어 사용자 능력의 조절효과 분석)

  • Suh, Kun-Soo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.27-55
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    • 2008
  • Due to the increasing and intensifying competition in the Internet shopping market, it has been recognized as very important to develop an effective policy and strategy for acquiring loyal customers. For this reason, web site designers need to know if a new Internet shopping mall(ISM) will be accepted. Researchers have been working on identifying factors for explaining and predicting user acceptance of an ISM. Some studies, however, revealed inconsistent findings on the antecedents of user acceptance of a website. Lack of consideration for individual differences in user ability is believed to be one of the key reasons for the mixed findings. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and several studies have suggested that individual differences in ability plays an moderating role on the relationship between the antecedents and user acceptance. Despite the critical role of user ability, little research has examined the role of user ability in the Internet shopping mall context. The purpose of this study is to develop a user acceptance model that consider the moderating role of user ability in the context of Internet shopping. This study was initiated to see the ability of the technology acceptance model(TAM) to explain the acceptance of a specific ISM. According to TAM. which is one of the most influential models for explaining user acceptance of IT, an intention to use IT is determined by usefulness and ease of use. Given that interaction between user and website takes place through web interface, the decisions to accept and continue using an ISM depend on these beliefs. However, TAM neglects to consider the fact that many users would not stick to an ISM until they trust it although they may think it useful and easy to use. The importance of trust for user acceptance of ISM has been raised by the relational views. The relational view emphasizes the trust-building process between the user and ISM, and user's trust on the website is a major determinant of user acceptance. The proposed model extends and integrates the TAM and relational views on user acceptance of ISM by incorporating usefulness, ease of use, and trust. User acceptance is defined as a user's intention to reuse a specific ISM. And user ability is introduced into the model as moderating variable. Here, the user ability is defined as a degree of experiences, knowledge and skills regarding Internet shopping sites. The research model proposes that the ease of use, usefulness and trust of ISM are key determinants of user acceptance. In addition, this paper hypothesizes that the effects of the antecedents(i.e., ease of use, usefulness, and trust) on user acceptance may differ among users. In particular, this paper proposes a moderating effect of a user's ability on the relationship between antecedents with user's intention to reuse. The research model with eleven hypotheses was derived and tested through a survey that involved 470 university students. For each research variable, this paper used measurement items recognized for reliability and widely used in previous research. We slightly modified some items proper to the research context. The reliability and validity of the research variables were tested using the Crobnach's alpha and internal consistency reliability (ICR) values, standard factor loadings of the confirmative factor analysis, and average variance extracted (AVE) values. A LISREL method was used to test the suitability of the research model and its relating six hypotheses. Key findings of the results are summarized in the following. First, TAM's two constructs, ease of use and usefulness directly affect user acceptance. In addition, ease of use indirectly influences user acceptance by affecting trust. This implies that users tend to trust a shopping site and visit repeatedly when they perceive a specific ISM easy to use. Accordingly, designing a shopping site that allows users to navigate with heuristic and minimal clicks for finding information and products within the site is important for improving the site's trust and acceptance. Usefulness, however, was not found to influence trust. Second, among the three belief constructs(ease of use, usefulness, and trust), trust was empirically supported as the most important determinants of user acceptance. This implies that users require trustworthiness from an Internet shopping site to be repeat visitors of an ISM. Providing a sense of safety and eliminating the anxiety of online shoppers in relation to privacy, security, delivery, and product returns are critically important conditions for acquiring repeat visitors. Hence, in addition to usefulness and ease of use as in TAM, trust should be a fundamental determinants of user acceptance in the context of internet shopping. Third, the user's ability on using an Internet shopping site played a moderating role. For users with low ability, ease of use was found to be a more important factors in deciding to reuse the shopping mall, whereas usefulness and trust had more effects on users with high ability. Applying the EML theory to these findings, we can suggest that experienced and knowledgeable ISM users tend to elaborate on such usefulness aspects as efficient and effective shopping performance and trust factors as ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability of a shopping site before they become repeat visitors of the site. In contrast, novice users tend to rely on the low elaborating features, such as the perceived ease of use. The existence of moderating effects suggests the fact that different individuals evaluate an ISM from different perspectives. The expert users are more interested in the outcome of the visit(usefulness) and trustworthiness(trust) than those novice visitors. The latter evaluate the ISM in a more superficial manner focusing on the novelty of the site and on other instrumental beliefs(ease of use). This is consistent with the insights proposed by the Heuristic-Systematic model. According to the Heuristic-Systematic model. a users act on the principle of minimum effort. Thus, the user considers an ISM heuristically, focusing on those aspects that are easy to process and evaluate(ease of use). When the user has sufficient experience and skills, the user will change to systematic processing, where they will evaluate more complex aspects of the site(its usefulness and trustworthiness). This implies that an ISM has to provide a minimum level of ease of use to make it possible for a user to evaluate its usefulness and trustworthiness. Ease of use is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acceptance and use of an ISM. Overall, the empirical results generally support the proposed model and identify the moderating effect of the effects of user ability. More detailed interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed. The limitations of this study are also discussed to provide directions for future research.