The study carried out a survey with employees of hospitals located in Daejeon, Chungnam, and Chungbuk from Sep. 12 to Sep. 30, 2005 in order to derive primary elements that affect the improvement of hospital's competitiveness. The study investigated and analyzed the employees' recognition on the change of competitive environment caused by the change of medical environment. The study also analyzed the elements that affect the hospital's competitiveness and the competitive strategies of the hospitals. The conclusion of this study can be summarized as follows. 1. Summary 1) Most of the employees responded that there is a rival in the competitive environment and the competitive is intense. Especially when the employees are married, live in urban areas, have an education level of university graduate or are managers, they tend to think the competitive is very intense. Also, they said that the competitive is based upon the quality of medical service. They mentioned the element that has the biggest effect on the competitiveness is the element of medical consumer and they recognized that the medical services in university and general hospitals have more competitiveness than the one-department hospitals. 2) It was investigated that the medical technique service has the most effect on the hospital's competitiveness. Also, the external service of medical techniques also has a large effect on the hospital's competitiveness. 3) When they were asked for the factors that affect the patients' decision on selecting a hospital, most of them responded "capability and technique of the medical staffs." Also, they said that "sufficient explanation from doctors" and "special center and clinic" are the factors that have big effects on the patients' decision. 4) In the SWOT analysis, most of them responded that the strength is the hospital's characteristics and the weakness is insufficient and obsolete equipment. They said the opportunity is the demands for professional medical service and the risk is the intense competitive among the hospitals. 5) In the SWOT strategy, they emphasized the strategy that uses the opportunity and the strength and the strategy that uses the opportunity while overcoming the weakness. 6) As for the basic competition strategy, most of them thought of the strategy of professionalizing the medical service most importantly. Next, they focused on the strategy of distinct service and the strategy of lower prime cost. 2. Conclusion 1) Because service competition between hospitals is happening seriously, need competitiveness security through right awareness transfer and satisfaction upgrade about medical consumer. 2) For medical technique service upgrade that equip Hospital's competitiveness but affects most, must solidify the countermeasure because professionalizing the medical service and newest medical technique induction should be achieved first, and compose task force for the external service of medical techniques improvement. 3) To improve SWOT of hospital, opportunity and the strength strategy choice that rescue hospital's characteristics heightening professionalizing the medical service level is fancied. 4) As for the basic competition strategy, will have to try in phase triangular position of hospital which is trusted medical level upgrade and excellent manpower security and finance independence through upgrade. The study was only done with hospitals in Daejeon, Chungnam and Chungbuk. Also, it is a study from the side of suppliers of medical service so there are limitations. However, the significance of the study is to present the basic data for improvement of hospital's competitiveness by examining the importance of medical techniques and external service of medical techniques that are the main effects on the improvement of hospital's competitiveness.

This study was carried out to analyze the present condition of high-price medical technologies in South Korea and to compare it with OECD countries. This study included 10 high-price medical equipments and used medical equipment registry data of Health Insurance Review Agency. The major findings of this study are as follows; Firstly, The number and growth of high-price medical equipments in South Korea is much higher than those in other OECD countries. There are many of high-price medical equipments even in clinics. Secondly, the percentage of old poor-quality medical equipments is very high, especially in clinics. This is because of high-price of medical equipments. The results of this study implicated that there is high possibility of inappropriate use of high-price medical technologies. This may result in the increase of health expenditure; therefore, there should be a kind of regulation policy to control amount and quality of medical equipment.

This study applied Data Envelopment Analysis to a set of Korean Public Corporation Medical Centers and Japanese Municipal Hospitals to compare their relative human resource efficiencies. Based on the data provided on the inputs and outputs, the analysis showed Japanese municipal hospitals were relatively efficient than Korean hospitals. The result of analysing BCC model shows 5 hospitals in Japan and 7 in Korea with an efficiency rating of less than 1 as considered relatively inefficient. For the inefficient hospitals the manner in which inefficient hospitals may be made efficient were indicated by the managerial strategies based on dual variables. A subsequent analysis of Wilcoxon rank-sum test revealed that the medical revenue per medical expense, labor cost per value added revenue were statistically significant between efficient and inefficient Korean hospitals and medical revenue per medical expense, labor cost per value added revenue, bed occupancy rate, average length of stay, rate of personnel expenses per medical revenue were statistically significant between efficient and inefficient Japanese hospitals.

The purpose of this study was to provide basic materials needed to enhance quality of organizational life by identifying the improvements of labor union management in the perspective of general hospital organization management. The subjects of this study were 428 employees in 8 Hospitals in Metro Capital including Seoul. Materials were collected from administrators, nurses and medical technicians in target hospitals from November 10 to November 30, 2006 through survey questionnaires. The main results of this study were as follows: 1. The commitment level of the subjects according to their characteristics was higher in older employees than the younger ones, large family to support than small family to support and those who had higher positions in labor union. 2. The commitment level of the subjects according to the Job and role related variables were higher those who had higher satisfaction level to their job, role conflict in all hospitals. 3. The commitment level of the subjects according to union related variables, variables jointly controlled by union and employer was statistically significant positive correlation. 4. The results of multiple regression analysis shows that formal and informal socialization, satisfaction with the labor union's were all found as important antecedents of labor union commitment. 5. The results of AMOS shows that structure characteristics of hospital, Job and manager satisfaction, socialization were statistically significant labor union satisfaction. The satisfaction level of labor union was statistically significant labor union commitment To summarize study results, the level of commitment in labor union depends on job satisfaction, managers' attitudes, union satisfaction factors, their colleagues attitudes toward union. Therefore hospital managers should have democratic and flexible attitudes toward labor union. Additionally, as formal and informal socialization is important determinant in union commitment, hospital managers should have countermeasures to enhance the colleague attitude and job satisfaction level of hospital employees. Moreover, as managerial factors of the principal of hospital influence union commitment directly, the attitudes of hospital managers toward union and transparency of hospital management should be improved.

The purpose of this study is to reform the productive industrial relations in hospital. Because the industrial relations of hospital is antagonistic each other and this problem cause a low productivity. In Korea, hospitals maintain their ownership structure, strategy is controlled by government, short process of management, and culture of grade. The executive of hospital doesn't gain the confidence of union. This circumstances is related with the antagonistic industrial relations. This research is to analyze hospital management system through experiential and literature study, and is to present a reform strategies for cooperative industrial relations of improving productivity in hospital. As a results, if the hospital manager hopes to improve productivity, they should introduce expert management system rather than ownership and management system. And it is need to execute the hospital initiative strategy rather than to depend on the government. Moreover, the hospital can achieve productive industrial relations as a middle-long term visions in management process and horizontal organization culture. Although this study is limited by literature research, it will contribute to settle productive industrial relations in hospital and to accomplish the additional study.