• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.71-90
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• 2020

Recently, the global insurance industry is rapidly developing digital transformation through the use of artificial intelligence technologies such as machine learning, natural language processing, and deep learning. As a result, more and more foreign insurers have achieved the success of artificial intelligence technology-based InsurTech and platform business, and Ping An Insurance Group Ltd., China's largest private company, is leading China's global fourth industrial revolution with remarkable achievements in InsurTech and Digital Platform as a result of its constant innovation, using 'finance and technology' and 'finance and ecosystem' as keywords for companies. In response, this study analyzed the InsurTech and platform business activities of Ping An Insurance Group Ltd. through the ser-M analysis model to provide strategic implications for revitalizing AI technology-based businesses of domestic insurers. The ser-M analysis model has been studied so that the vision and leadership of the CEO, the historical environment of the enterprise, the utilization of various resources, and the unique mechanism relationships can be interpreted in an integrated manner as a frame that can be interpreted in terms of the subject, environment, resource and mechanism. As a result of the case analysis, Ping An Insurance Group Ltd. has achieved cost reduction and customer service development by digitally innovating its entire business area such as sales, underwriting, claims, and loan service by utilizing core artificial intelligence technologies such as facial, voice, and facial expression recognition. In addition, "online data in China" and "the vast offline data and insights accumulated by the company" were combined with new technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data analysis to build a digital platform that integrates financial services and digital service businesses. Ping An Insurance Group Ltd. challenged constant innovation, and as of 2019, sales reached $155 billion, ranking seventh among all companies in the Global 2000 rankings selected by Forbes Magazine. Analyzing the background of the success of Ping An Insurance Group Ltd. from the perspective of ser-M, founder Mammingz quickly captured the development of digital technology, market competition and changes in population structure in the era of the fourth industrial revolution, and established a new vision and displayed an agile leadership of digital technology-focused. Based on the strong leadership led by the founder in response to environmental changes, the company has successfully led InsurTech and Platform Business through innovation of internal resources such as investment in artificial intelligence technology, securing excellent professionals, and strengthening big data capabilities, combining external absorption capabilities, and strategic alliances among various industries. Through this success story analysis of Ping An Insurance Group Ltd., the following implications can be given to domestic insurance companies that are preparing for digital transformation. First, CEOs of domestic companies also need to recognize the paradigm shift in industry due to the change in digital technology and quickly arm themselves with digital technology-oriented leadership to spearhead the digital transformation of enterprises. Second, the Korean government should urgently overhaul related laws and systems to further promote the use of data between different industries and provide drastic support such as deregulation, tax benefits and platform provision to help the domestic insurance industry secure global competitiveness. Third, Korean companies also need to make bolder investments in the development of artificial intelligence technology so that systematic securing of internal and external data, training of technical personnel, and patent applications can be expanded, and digital platforms should be quickly established so that diverse customer experiences can be integrated through learned artificial intelligence technology. Finally, since there may be limitations to generalization through a single case of an overseas insurance company, I hope that in the future, more extensive research will be conducted on various management strategies related to artificial intelligence technology by analyzing cases of multiple industries or multiple companies or conducting empirical research.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.43 no.5
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• pp.40-54
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• 2015

Tashkent Seoul Park was completed in June, 2014, following the signing of a sisterhood relationship between Seoul City and Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan in July, 2010. An open competition for the design of the park was held and, based on the design, the park was completed in June and open to the public in September, 2014. Tashkent Seoul Park is more than a public park in Tashkent. The focus was on making it a starting point for offering a new model for traditional parks of Korea built abroad. Korean gardens and parks built in overseas cities are not only a landscape space but also serve as an ambassador that promotes the culture of Korea to foreigners who are unfamiliar with Korean culture. Therefore, Tashkent Seoul Park was designed to reflect the beauty and uniqueness of Korean traditional landscaping to promote the image of Korea and Seoul. As such, the design and plan was focused on the best measures to make known Korean culture through a design that sets itself apart from the landscape of Uzbekistan. To date, Korean parks or Seoul parks that have been built overseas have focused on the re-enactment of gardens and parks during the Josun Dynasty era. But with the Tashkent Park, the process of the 170,000 people from Goryeo was also reflected onto the design so that the culture and sensibilities of old Goryeo could be felt as well. Korean traditional garden design elements for the representation of the Korean identity are taken from the pilot study. This design element includes not only that of Goryeo, but also the Josun Dynasty era to allow local people to experience a general Korean traditional garden. The traditional beauty and lyricism of Korea was presented to Central Asia through the park in Tashkent so that the citizens could feel the simple yet down-to-earth beauty of Korean aesthetics. As such, the spatial experience of story-telling in Seoul Park evolves from two points of view. First, it is a spatial experience from the perspective of the Goryeo period and of foreigners. It is a continuum of a landscape experience where one can trace the sentiments of Korea and a hometown in Korea by passing through lyrical and multi-faceted spatial structures. Second, it is an experience that evolves from the viewpoint of an outsider, including the Tashkent citizens. It allows visitors to read the various methods and attitudes in an unfamiliar landscape and terrain. Through a story-telling that is reminiscent of the Silk Road through which trade with East Asia took place, visitors can interact with Korean culture in the Korean Garden and throughout the process they can feel the very Korean sentiments. This park presents the latest example of a 'Korean Garden' formed overseas and thus presents a clue to understanding the representation pattern of the Korean aspects of Korean Gardens through a study on the design strategies.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.153-172
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• 1990

The present paper investigates the potential value of strategic antitrust policy in an oligopolistic international market. The market is characterized by a non-cooperative Cournot-Nash equilibrium and by asymmetry in costs among firms in the world market. The model is useful for two reasons. First, it is important in the context of policy-making to examine the conditions under which it may be beneficial to relax antitrust law to enhance competitiveness. Second, the explicit derivation of the level of cost-saving required for a gain in total domestic surplus provides an empirical rule for excluding industries that do not satisfy the requirements for a socially beneficial antitrust exemption. Results of the analysis include a criterion that tells how the cost-saving and concentration effects of a merger offset each other. The criterion is derived from fairly general assumptions on demand functions and is simple enough to be applied as a part of the merger guidelines. Another interesting policy implication of our analysis is that promoting mergers would not be a beneficial strategy in a net importing industry where cost-saving opportunities are thin. Cost-saving domestic mergers are more likely to increase national welfare in exporting industries. The best candidate industries for application of strategic antitrust policy are those with the following characteristics: (i) a large potential for efficiency enhancement; (ii) high market concentration at the world but not the domestic level; (iii) a high ratio of exports to imports. Recently, many policymakers and economists in Korea have also come to believe that the appropriate antitrust policy in an era of increased foreign competition may actually be to encourage rather than to prohibit domestic mergers. The Industry Development Act of 1986 and the proposed bill for Mergers and Conversions in the Financial Industry of 1990 reflect this changing perspective on antitrust policy. Antitrust laws may burden domestic firms in the sense that they have a more constrained strategy set. Expenditures to avoid antitrust attacks could also increase costs for domestic firms. But there is no clear evidence that the impact of antitrust policy is significant enough to harm the competitiveness of domestic firms. As a matter of fact, it is necessary for domestic financial institutions to become large in scale in this era of globalization. However, the absence of empirical evidence for efficiency enhancement from mergers suggests caution in the relaxation of antitrust standards.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.129-139
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• 2013

This paper is targeted on proposing ameliorating alternative to performance assessment method of GSEM through evaluating the current one, which is initiated by SMBA to induce fair competition among 5 GSEM across the country and accommodate the quality improvement of entrepreneurship education since 2005 after beginning the SMBA support, from the perspective of BSC(Balanced Scorecard) tool. Ultimately, it complements the policy defects of SMBA over GSEM, in particular, in the process of performance assessment and management. This paper carries out two studies as follow. First, throughout reviewing the previous studies relating to BSC applications to non-profit organization, it set out the direction of introducing BSC in assessing performance of GSEM in order to enhance its effectiveness. Second, it evaluate the rationality of performance assessing tools apllied to GSEM by SMBA on the basis of BSC application over non-profit organization, especially in education institution. Research results shows the following implications. First, the current evaluation system over GSEM is just merely assessment itself and not much contributions for the post performance management. Second, The annual evaluation just remains to check up whether the policy goals are met or not. Third, the current evaluation puts much emphasis just on financial inputs and hardware infra, not considering human resources and utilization of government policy and institution. Fourth, the policy goals are unilaterally focused on entrepreneurs. Fifth, the current evaluation systems do not contain any indexes relating to learning and growth perspectives for concerning sustainable and independent growing up. However, lack of empirical testing require this paper to need the further study in the future.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2012

This study is focused on traditional market's competitiveness in Korea. Ever since the Korean retail industry had been opened to the big conglomerates, the traditional markets have faced very serious competition from various types of distribution channels. In particular, this study has been conducted to find another way to help the Korean traditional market from the perspective of college students who are consumers of the future. This study examines the relationships among store choice attributions, consumption emotion, consumer's value, and relationship quality from the perspective of college students. In order to verify the relationship, and moderating and mediating effects, data were collected from 126 college students in Whasung, Gyeonggi Province to test the theoretical model and its hypotheses. The results of this study are as follows: First, service (= .263, p < .01) and advertising (= .188, p < .05) are significantly positively related to relationship quality. However, store atmosphere (= .176, p = .052) is not statistically significantly related to relationship quality. The result that students have stereotypes about the atmosphere of traditional markets and are therefore excluded from their store choice attributions can be expected. Second, college students selected service division (= .230, p < .05) as the most important factor among the traditional market's store choice attributions. This result reflected that enhancing service strategy would strengthen the traditional market against discount stores. The process of product selection by customers in discount stores is based on the concept of self-service. However, traditional market traders can make various contacts with their customers. If traditional market traders can enhance various service factors just like in the process of product selection, it will effect strong competitive advantages. Third, it is also revealed that consumer's value exhibit complete mediation effect in the relationships between service and advertising. These results showed that traditional markets must be considered for consumer value. Because previous studies showed that values refer to "enduring belief that … specific mode of conduct or end-stat of existence … personally or socially preferable to an opposite of converse mode of conduct or end-state of existence" (Rokeach, 1973; George and Jones, 1996). Furthermore, Schwartz (1994) defined values as desirable trans-situational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or other social entity. As conceptions of desirable end-states of existence or modes of conduct, values help people choose, evaluate, and give meaning to their experiences (Rokeach, 1973). Efforts (e.g. promote the consumers value) of the traditional market traders will improve the preferences for the traditional market of consumers and college students. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1751-1760
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• 2015

Mucin2 (MUC2), an important regulatory factor in the immune system, plays an important role in the host defense system against bacterial translocation. Probiotics known to regulate MUC2 gene expression have been widely studied, but the interactions among probiotic, pathogens, and mucin gene are still not fully understood. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of MUC2 in blocking effects of probiotics on meningitic E. coli-induced pathogenicities. In this study, live combined probiotic tablets containing living Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus were used. MUC2 expression was knocked down in Caco-2 cells by RNA interference. 5-Aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Aza-CdR), which enhances mucin-promoted probiotic effects through inducing production of Sadenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe), was used to up-regulate MUC2 expression in Caco-2 cells. The adhesion to and invasion of meningitic E. coli were detected by competition assays. Our studies showed that probiotic agents could block E. coli-caused intestinal colonization, bacteremia, and meningitis in a neonatal sepsis and meningitis rat model. MUC2 gene expression in the neonatal rats given probiotic agents was obviously higher than that of the infected and uninfected control groups without probiotic treatment. The prohibitive effects of probiotic agents on MUC2-knockdown Caco-2 cells infected with E44 were significantly reduced compared with nontransfected Caco-2 cells. Moreover, the results also showed that 5-Aza-CdR, a drug enhancing the production of SAMe that is a protective agent of probiotics, was able to significantly suppress adhesion and invasion of E44 to Caco-2 cells by upregulation of MUC2 expression. Taken together, our data suggest that probiotic agents can efficiently block meningitic E. coli-induced pathogenicities in a manner dependent on MUC2.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.19-28
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• 2012

Rapidly growing sales amount and the number of discount stores caused many side effects and sensitive issues in Korea. Because these severe competition due to more expensive cost just like excessive increase in advertising and location selection, and these caused completely ruined small merchants as well as passed on to the consumer. This Study focused on competitiveness of discount store in Korea to the perspective of college students, as explored the relationships between marketing communication and store loyalty. And, examined for two moderating effect, 1) consumers' value separated by hedonic value and utilitarian value between marketing communication and store loyalty, and 2) consumers' value separated by hedonic value and utilitarian value between marketing communication and consumption emotion. Finally, this study examined for mediating effect of consumption emotion between marketing communication and store loyalty. In order to verify the relationship, moderating and mediating effects, data were collected from 130 college students in Whasung, Gyeonggi Province to test theoretical model and its hypotheses. Findings are as followed : First, analysis showed that factors such as advertisement(β =.221, p<.05), publicity(β =.513, p<.01), sales promotion(β =.234, p<.01), word of mouth(β =.627, p<.01) and physical environment(β =.339, p<.01) for marketing communication in the discount store have statistically significant positive effect on store loyalty. But the result of regression analysis for which factors are more impact in marketing communication between store loyalty showed that word of mouth(β =.53, p<.01) is only statistically significant. Second, publicity(β =-.895, p<.05), the sub-dimension of marketing communication shows only statistically significant negative moderating effect on store loyalty. But, the results of the moderating effect of value between marketing communication and consumption emotion verified that utilitarian value show statistically significant, specifically advertisement(β =.294, p<.01), physical environment(β =.418, p<.01), sales promotion(β =.245, p<.01), word of mouth(β =.414, p<.01) and publicity(β =1.137, p<.05), respectively. And hedonic value show statistically significant, specifically advertisement(β =.286, p<.01), physical environment (β =.418, p<.01), sales promotion(β =.236, p<.01) and word of mouth(β =.420, p<.01), respectively. But publicity(β =.145, p=.119) is not statistically significant. Finally, the results verified mediating effect for consumption emotion between all factors for marketing communication and store loyalty showed that factors such as advertisement, publicity, word of mouth and physical environment for marketing communication except sales promotion were statistically significant fully mediated in advertisement, and partially mediated in publicity, word of mouth and physical environment. This testified that the consumption emotion had the most important factor to enhance store loyalty to the perspective of College students. These results can provide important implications and invaluable tips for planning marketing strategies and gaining access to new potential customers. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.

• Cartoon and Animation Studies
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• s.6
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• pp.152-171
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• 2002

This study analyses the avatar service, which is recognized as an alternative strategy of animation industry. The research questions of this study are following: (1) How have the avatar services been developed and what are the present dominant types? (2) Which structural characteristics of e-business environment are needed for the success of avatar services? (3) What is the economic characteristics of avatar business model? To solve these research questions, the basic conditions and the structural characteristics of avatar services have been investigated. In the first place, two forms of avatar service are classified. One is the internet service site whole primary service is to provide chatting service based on avatar service. The other is the portal site in which many kinds of products and services are presented as bundles to meet the needs of internet users. So avatar service is one of bundles which those portal sites are providing with. In this study, the big five internet service sites are selected based on the profits they earned through the sales of avatar service. The result of analysis is that the pricing strategy of those big five sites is very different from those of traditional off-line markets. The pricing mechanism are based on the value which internet users endow with the avatar items, not based on the costs of making the products. Avatar is the representative informative goods. The informative goods have the original cost structures, constant fixed costs and zero marginal costs, so the providers of avatar services make much of the subjective values of consumers. The sayclub, which is the most successful avatar service site and earn the average sales of 3 billing won a month, takes the aggressive strategy of pricing avatar items at highest price in the industry. The avatar service providers which make lots of profits are planning of making differentiate the services, introducing well-known brand items and star-named items. Nevertheless, the fact that the members of the sayclub are not decreasing means that the network effect of the site is so strongly manifest. Moreover, the costs the members have paid for the avatar items are so big not as to switch from one site to the other site, it can be very costly. These switching costs are endemic in high-technology industries and digital contents industries. It can be so large that switching suppliers is virtually unthinkable, a situation known as 'lock-in'. When switching costs are substantial, competition can be intense to attract new customers, since, one they are locked in, they can be a substantial source of profit. The consumers of avatar items have switching costs if they subscribe for the new avatar service site. The switching costs can be subscription costs as well as the costs of giving up the items they already paid for. One common example of switching costs involves specialized supplies, as with inkjet printer cartridges. In this example, the switching cost is the purchase of a new printer. The market is competitive ex ante, but since cartridges are incompatible, it is monopolized dx post. So the providers of printer/cartridges set pricing printer so cheap and cartridges expensive. On the contrary, since the avatar service can be successful with the strong network effect, the providers of avatar services have to compete aggressively for new customers. So they allow the subscription at a low price(almost marginal cost) in the early market. The network effect can be maximized when the members are sufficiently growing. The providers which have the monopoly power with sufficient subscribers. begin to raise the prices over the lifetime of the product and make profits.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.235-259
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• 2014

New product or new technology developments are directly linked to a firm's survival and thus their performance and improvement are gaining attention in the midst of rapidly changing business environment and aggravating competition. However, despite SMEs' significance in the national economy, they are limited in terms of size and resources in possession, so the government provides a variety of supports as a policy. According to a study on the organizational life cycle, a firm's limits and difficulties differ by growth stage, so the supports need to be tailored. Based on the data from 2,575 firms that responded to the "2011 SMEs Technological Statistics," how technological capability level and deviation in the R&D process affect the R&D sales performance was studied. The result of analysis revealed that the technological capability has a positive impact on the R&D sales performance. It was also learned that the relationship between deviation in the technological capability and R&D sales performance was moderated by the government support. For the hypothesis that the government support would have a different moderating effect by growth stage for the impact the technology level has on the R&D sales performance, the empirical analysis showed a different meaningful moderating effect for each growth stage. The theoretical implications of the study are that, instead of a simple relation of dynamics that does not take the growth stages into account, it suggested a more realistic causal relationship model that reflects the complex environment the SMEs are in and that the need for measuring and using the deviation in technological capability as a research variable has been justified. The practical implications are that the government policy for supports can be tailored to a growth stage and that the guidelines have been suggested to effectively use the government funding by encouraging the SMEs in a different growth stage to adapt to the customized policy.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.41-67
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• 1991

Local autonomy of Korea's lower-level local council has been reinstated following elections last March for the first time in thirty years. Last June, we had elections for the upper-level local council. Mayors, governors, and administrative chiefs of cities, provinces and other local government bodies are slated for elections in the first half of next year. The impacts of local autonomy are taking effect in not only the political sphere, but also the administrative and economic spheres. In fact, it seems that some modification of all economic policy making and administration is inevitable. Since the initiation of local autonomy, in order to make the economy work more efficiently, it has become quite important to examine the impact of local autonomy on the national economy. The areas of local autonomy include independent legislative power, administrative power, organizational power, and most important of all, the independent public financial power of the local governments. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of local autonomy on the national economy and ways of enhancing the role of local public finance to facilitate settlement and development of the local autonomy system. Local autonomy will contribute to the continuous growth of our economy, allow balanced development, and generate greater efficiency. However, local autonomy can also incur economic costs causing at times short-term price instability, inefficient resource allocation, through tax competition and tax exporting, and insolvency of local government due to abusive fiscal operation. To reduce these side effects, different alternatives must be considered. Local autonomy systems generally provide more efficient resource allocation than centralization. But in the model used in Chapter 3 of this paper, the relative efficiencies of both local autonomy and centralization are determined by comparing the elasticity of substitution between national public goods and local public goods. If the elasticity of substitution is bigger than one, centralization provides a more efficient resource allocation. The development of local autonomy could be attained through democratization of the local public finance system including the following three propositions. I) The independence of public financial power of local governments should be established over central government. Furthermore, a democratically operated scheme of intergovernmental fiscal coordination is especially necessary. 2) In the operation of local finance, direct democracy is needed to induce the voluntary participation of local residents. The residents can take part in planning both the local budget and the development of the community. To attain this goal, all the results of local finance operations should be made public. 3) Among economic ill-effects of the local autonomy system, the most serious one is the possibility of insolvency of local governments. Therefore, measures to limit abusive spending by the local governments should be introduced, such as the fiscal restraints system adopted in the United States.