• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.617-638
• /
• 2016

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose useful suggestions by analyzing difference of financial performance between "Excellent Quality Competitiveness Enterprise(EQCE)" awarding companies and all the manufacturing companies during the period 2003-2014 and by testing the moderating effects of performance year. Methods: This paper perform the longitudinal study during the period 2003-2014. The collected data through list of National Quality Award and financial report of CRETOP were analyzed using independent-sample t-test, paired-sample t-test, one way ANOVA and empirical analysis. Results: The results of this study are as follows; EQCE showed higher growth rate than all the companies until 2008, but profitability, stability, and activity are not significantly different between the both. Therefore EQCE have partial influences on growth rate among several financial performance measures until 2008. Since 2009 there are no differences. The effects of EQCE on financial performance are different by the year. Conclusion: EQCE award system was a meaningful promotion method to enhance good financial performance through encouraging quality management for the manufacturing companies until 2008, But since 2009 it is expected to lose its role as a promoting tool for quality management and performance excellence. Therefore new way of thinking for EQCE, as a national quality award system, is necessary; changing awarding system, award criteria, or etc.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.31-37
• /
• 2005

One of the major obstacles confronted in promoting the rainwater harvesting is the concerns of acid rain and heavy metals. Although there are many data concerning the quality of rainwater precipitation for the study of acid rain, the study on the quality of stored rainwater has been limited. In this study, we monitored the quality of stored rainwater at Galmoe middle school, where a rainwater harvesting system is installed and in use for more than two years. We measured water quality parameters such as pH, Electro Conductivity(EC), Dissolved Oxygen(DO), and some metals (aluminium (Al), chromium(Cr), manganese(Mn), zinc(Zn), copper(Cu), arsenic(As), cadmium(Cd), lead(Pb)). The monitoring period was during one year from September 9th 2003 to August 5th 2004. It was observed that the average pH of stored rainwater is neutral. DO is similar to tap water and EC is lower than tap water. Metal Concentrations are within the concentration specified in Drinking Water Quality Standard. Overall, the stored rainwater quality is good enough for sundry use and there's no threat of acid rain and air pollution, if the rainwater harvesting system is well designed and maintained.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.6 no.3 s.21
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2006

The object of this study is to examine the managerial characteristics of the Korean building projects. The study in this paperproposes to investigate the factors that affect process quality not only in the construction phase but also in all three phases (design, construction, and operation) of the whole life cycle of a building project. A questionnaire survey is conducted to investigate the differences in the perceptions of graduate students, professors, designers and practitioners with regard to process quality in building projects. Analyzing these factors helps in revising and improving the Korean existing quality control system and programs. The findings indicate that cooperation of designer's professionals, level of management leadership in promoting quality, ability to operate the facility within design limits are important factors. Theparticipation percentage of "quality" treated in any course/seminar shows only 45%. It is recommended that college programs include courses that treat the administrative aspects involved in the building project and that continuing education programs rover quality training.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
• /
• v.58 no.3
• /
• pp.200-207
• /
• 2014

This study aimed to assess the quality of outpatient antibiotic consumption in Korea compared with other countries. We used the National Health Insurance claims data for outpatient services in March, June, September, and December in 2012 and calculated nine indicator values based on the 12 European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption (ESAC) drug-specific quality indicators. Indicator values in this study reflect the yearly use of antibiotic expressed in defined daily doses for 1,000 inhabitants per day (DID) and the use of main subclasses of antibiotics expressed in DID and as percentage of the total antibiotic use. Korea showed lower quality in the consumption of total antibiotics (J01), especially in the use of Cephalosporins (J01D) expressed in DID. Korea also showed low quality with regard to the use of narrow/broad spectrum antibiotics. The percentage of the use of narrow-spectrum Penicillins (J01CE) was lowest in Korea. The quality on the use of the third- and fourth-generation cephalosporin (J01(DD+DE)) was the fourth lowest among 26 countries. High rates of antibiotic resistance and payment system based on fee-for-service might have influenced on the high consumption of the broad spectrum antibiotics in Korea. It needs to further investigate the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics to identify the target of strategies promoting quality use of antibiotics in Korea.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2019

Purpose : It is widely accepted that addressing multiple symptoms together is the preferred approach in assessment and intervention and results in reduced negative patient outcomes. Yet, there are few studies examining symptom clusters and their impacts on quality of life longitudinally in patients after heart valve surgery. Methods: A total of 101 patients were recruited from a tertiary hospital and were administered questionnaires (at 3, 6, and 10 weeks after the surgery) assessing participants' characteristics, cardiac symptoms, and quality of life. Factor analysis was used to identify symptom clusters. Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to predict quality of life. Results: Participants were predominantly 70-years old or more with a mean age of 64.34. The two symptom clusters at 3 weeks after the surgery with education, gender, and occupation accounted for 76.3% of variance in quality of life. Conclusion: Symptom clusters containing various physical and psychological symptoms in patients after the surgery affected quality of life, and the relationship was significant at 3 weeks after the surgery. Because symptom clusters were identified in all three recovery periods, nurses need to acknowledge these clusters, rather than each symptom separately, and to utilize these in providing care and education and in promoting quality of life in these patients.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.356-370
• /
• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: School food service has played an important role in promoting the health and physical condition of students by providing students with a balanced and nutritious diet. Therefore, boosting the quality of school food service and improving the students' satisfaction is critical. For this purpose, this study examined the structural causal relationship among the quality of school food service factors, emotional responses, and satisfaction in China. SUBJECTS/METHODS: This study was conducted with 4th-6th-grade students from 6 junior high schools in Henan province of China, with 590 questionnaire responses (87.3%) collected and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The school food service quality factors (including menu management, dietary education, facilities management, price and food distribution management, and personal hygiene during meals) must be enhanced to boost the students' satisfaction. In addition, the study used questionnaire survey data to validate the full mediation of students' emotional responses between school food service quality factors and student satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Students' emotions also play an important role in influencing the quality of school food service, all of which affect the emotional responses of students. Therefore, students' positive emotions are an important indicator for improving the quality of school food service. A national support policy is necessary for the ongoing maintenance and development of various programs that drive students' satisfaction and promote the adoption of education guidelines for school food service in China.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
• /
• v.12 no.1
• /
• pp.161-169
• /
• 2024

Purpose : This study investigated the correlation between social support and older people's quality of life. Methods : We conducted a questionnaire survey with 350 older participants and analyzed 320 completed surveys. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 25.0 for Windows. The general characteristics of the participants and quality of life subdomains were analyzed using descriptive statistics and frequency analyses. Furthermore, the differences between the subdomains of social support and quality of life were analyzed using independent t-tests and a one-way ANOVA. Post-hoc tests were performed using the Scheffé test. A significance level of α=.05 was used to verify statistical significance. Results : Upon examining the sub-domain level of social support and considering general characteristics, it was found that older age correlates with increased dependency among patients with associated diseases (p<.05). Similarly, an investigation into participants' quality of life at the subdomain level, considering general characteristics, revealed higher correspondence to lower quality of life (p<.05). Differences emerged between social support and quality of life among older individuals, with a negative correlation observed between the two (p<.05). Conclusion : This study suggests the importance of actively supporting older people with chronic diseases who experience emotional and psychological instability. It advocates for promoting the use of various services, including visiting medical services, convalescent care, and assistance, to meet their needs effectively.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.35-45
• /
• 2011

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to propose and to test a predictive model that could explain the workers' quality of life. Methods: Data were collected using self-report questionnaires from 901 workers in Daejeon, Korea. The questionnaires included nine measured variables (safety culture, self-efficacy, activity of occupational health provider, knowledge in occupational health, age, health promotion behavior, workplace environment, health level, and quality of life), as revised PRECEDE model has suggested. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS/WIN 15 and AMOS 6.01 version. Results: Based on the constructed model, behavior, environment, and health were found to have significant direct effect on quality of life. Indirect factors were perceived biological, predisposing, reinforcing, and enabling. The proposed model was concise and extensive in predicting quality of life of the participants. The final modified model yielded GFI=.85, AGFI=.89, NFI=.79, and RMSEA=.11 and exhibited good fit indices. Conclusion: Findings of this study may contribute to development of effective nursing interventions for promoting quality of life in workers.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
• /
• v.43 no.1
• /
• pp.11-30
• /
• 2015

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to lay groundwork for future research on the outcomes of national quality awards for secondary-care healthcare organizations. Methods: For this study, a secondary-care hospital was selected through a convenience sampling method and all of its organizational members participated in complete enumeration survey using 109 survey questions derived from the MBNQA criteria for healthcare through structural equation modeling (SEM) Results: As a result, Leadership was shown to drive Foundation and Direction, which affect System that creates Results with 12 hypotheses supported out of 18 hypotheses established. Conclusion: The findings of this study will provide valuable implications to the top management of secondary-care hospitals for self-examining quality management and promoting sustainable competitiveness.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.23 no.5
• /
• pp.434-445
• /
• 2011

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the impact of the symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance, depression on the quality of life (QOL) among breast cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. Methods: One hundred and thirteen patients were recruited from five hospitals in Korea. The instruments used in this study were the fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance, pain and the quality of life scale for patients with breast cancer. The influence of the symptom cluster on patients' QOL was analyzed by using multiple regression. Results: Most patients reported a moderate level of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbance and depression. Eighty percent of patients reported three of the four symptoms. Among the four symptoms, there was no correlation between pain and sleep disturbance. Quality of life was negative correlated with the four symptoms in the cluster. Symptom cluster of pain, fatigue, and depression accounted for 51.2% of variance in QOL. Conclusion: The findings supported that there is a symptom cluster that negatively influences quality of life and needs to be addressed as we are caring for patients and are promoting quality of life.