• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.91-106
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• 2015

This study aims to analyze the effects of service quality offered by automotive Ro-Ro terminal operators on customer satisfaction and loyalty. The results of the research can be used to understand how to enhance the service level in order to manage competitiveness of the terminal operators, finally resulting in global competitiveness of the automobile industry of Korea in both exports and imports. We carried out a survey on two groups: shippers (customers) and providers (related terminal operators and stakeholders). To identify and classify the factors into groups, we conducted Exploratory Factors Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), which showed construct validity and convergent validity. We also calculated Cronbach's alpha for reliability. Five factor groups were identified: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy. We found that empathy is the most influential factor group among the five groups, and that the other groups too exhibited similar effects. Based on the results of the survey and analyses, we can conclude that empathy is most important in automotive Ro-Ro terminals. In particular, specialties, training, experiences, and loyalty of employees are crucial factors because automotive Ro-Ro terminals significantly rely on work forces, differently from other bulk terminals and container terminals. Flexible working hours and fringe benefits for work forces can increase empathy, finally resulting in productivity and efficiency. Next, well-designed work schedules are followed, based on visibility through logistics and SCM activities in automobile export and import processes with information and communication networks.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.55-78
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• 2006

In business-to-business setting, dyadic relationships between firms are of paramount interest. Recent developments in business practice strongly suggest that to understand these business relationships, greater attention must be directed to the embedded context within which dyadic business relationships take place. As a result, it is important to develop an understanding which is to move from dyadic business relationship to business networks. The purpose of the current study is (1) to identify types of network benefits: information acquisition, access to tangible resources, cooperative support from network members, (2) to model network benefit efforts on a customer orientation for customer firm, (3) to examine the relationship between network characteristics and network benefits. Adopting resource-based view and social capital theory, the conceptual model is proposed. In order to develop and test a model, this paper was empirically to examine how network characteristics can reinforce network benefits leading to focal firm's customer orientation using 123 firms. Through structural equation modeling, this research found that (1) density influences information acquisition, access to tangible resources, cooperative support from network members, (2) centrality increases information acquisition, access to tangible resources. We also find that information acquisition, access to tangible resources, cooperative support from network members enhances focal firm's customer orientation. Finally, We discuss several theoretical and practical implications, and suggest limitations for the research and future research issue.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.35-51
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• 2005

The wide spread of Internet and rapid development of e-commerce-related technology have brought sweeping changes on the traditional commercial transactions. Accordingly, many efforts to transform these transactions electronically under e-commerce environment have been carried out. As most transactions are usually made through negotiations, the function of automated negotiation is also required in the e-commerce environment. This paper aims to develop the method to generate and evaluate the multi-attribute negotiation proposals for automated negotiation systems. To this end the related articles are reviewed and the method dealing with e-negotiation strategy is suggested. In this method, the seller generates his or her own negotiation proposal and then evaluates the buyer's proposal based on SAW (Simple Additive Weighting Method), one of the MADM (Multi Attribute Decision Making) methods. To verify the suggested method, a case study is conducted in the order-based manufacturing environment.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.47-61
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• 2007

In SCM (supply chain management), companies are pursuing a new approach through which overall functions within the supply chain, ranging from material purchase to production, distribution, and sales are designed, planned, and managed in an integrated way. The core functions among them are production planning and distribution planning. As these problems are mutually related, they should be dealt with simultaneously in an integrated manner. SCM is large-scale and multi-stage problems. Also, its various kinds of internal or external factors can, at any time, dynamically bring a change to the existing plan or situation. Recently, many enterprises are moving toward an open architecture for integrating their activities with their suppliers, customers and other partners within the supply chain. Agent-based technology provides an effective approach in such environments. Multi-agent systems have been proven suitable to represent domains such as supply chain networks which involve interactions among manufacturing organization, their customers, suppliers, etc. with different individual goals and propriety information. In this paper, we propose a multi-agent system based on the genetic algorithm that make it possible to integrate the production and distribution planning on a real-time basis in SCM. The proposed genetic algorithm produced near optimal solution and we checked that there is a great difference in the results between integrated planning and non-integrated planning.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.321-333
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• 2013

As environmental sustainability becomes a key consideration in policy-making, more responsible consumption and utilization in daily life concern both health and quality of life. To address inequities in health in relation to environments, waste management has taken more progressive ways, and one of them is biomass-to-energy conversion that utilizes energy recovery from food waste. By extension, a food waste zero-emission system using fermentation and extinction technology gains much attention, so that this study is designed to examine residents' attitudes toward recycling food waste produced at home and toward food waste zero-emission system. Utilizing a survey questionnaire, this research collected data from 400 individual units of multifamily housing estates nationwide, and the data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings indicate that food waste generated at home was highly water-contained and produced in the stage of food preparation before cooking while respondents viewed that food waste collection and treatment needed to be improved. It's noted that respondents strongly supported the use of food waste as a energy source and would have the use of the food waste zero-emission system built in kitchen sink. Regression analysis showed that educational attainment of housewives, cooking style, and planning food purchase were statistically significant factors in the attitude of the responded residents toward recycling food waste while none of the factors were in the attitude toward the food waste zero-emission system.

• Proceedings of the Korean DIstribution Association Conference
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• 2007.08a
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• pp.3-26
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• 2007

Recently, both scholars and marketers have asserted the importance of boundary spanning behaviors, such as external representation, being vocal advocates to outsiders of the organization's image, goods, and services, internal influence, taking individual initiative in communications to the firm and co-workers to improve service delivery by the organization, co-workers, and oneself, and service delivery, serving customers in a conscientious, responsive, flexible, and courteous manner. However, there is lack of study dealing with bourdary spanning behaviors bewteen organizational dyads, in which boundary spanning behaviors are expected to have important roles. The objectives of this paper is to investigate these important concerns with prior research by developing a theoretical model predicting how distinct buyer's boundary spanning behaviors occur. To be concrete, this paper develops a seller characteristics-based model of the attitudinal antecedents of three conceptually distinct forms of boundary spanning behaviors, and tests the hypothesized differential effects of seller characteristics on the three forms of boundary spanning behaviors, and investigates the extent to which these relationships are mediated by relationship satisfaction and organizational commitment. For the purpose of empirical testing, 420 respondents of leading automobile dealers, dining franchisees, industrial material retailers in Korea were surveyed and the analysis utilizing structural equation model indicated that communication quality, fairness, and marketing program dynamism had positive effects on buyer's boundary spanning behaviors via relationship satisfaction and organizational commitment. In addition, boundary spanning behaviors occurred more in contractural and corporate distribution channel than in conventional distribution channel.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.113-121
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• 2016

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the impact of buyer-supplier cooperation on suppliers' trust on buyers and the moderating role of buyers' governance mechanism between the sharing activities and trust. Research design, data, and methodology - An integrated research model is designed to materialize the research hypotheses. First, the impact of buyer-supplier cooperation is empirically analyzed by looking into how the sharing activities, in the field of information, resource, and knowledge, of buyer with supplier will affect the trust of supplier on buyer. Second, the moderating effect of contract-based governance mechanism of buyer is empirically analyzed. Third, the influence of trust on innovation performance of suppler is empirically analyzed. Results - Our findings provide supporting evidence for some of our hypotheses. First, all of the sharing activities are significantly influential, but in different degree, to trust of supplier. Second, contract-based governance mechanism of buyer have a moderating effect on the relationship between sharing activities and trust, positively in resource-sharing activities, negatively in information-sharing activities, not significant in knowledge-sharing activities. Third, supplier's trust on buyer positively affects supplier's own innovation performance. Conclusions - The strategies applied in supply chain management have become important as the competition among firms has shifted from competition between individual firms to competition between supply chains. A customer's sharing activities with its supplier may contribute to an increase in innovation performance. The supplier's information-sharing activity with its customer could affect its information-sharing activities with its main supplier. Cooperative activity with a partner in the supply chain is cultivated and amassed into relationship knowledge, and this study shows that the cooperative relational knowledge related to information-sharing activities enables firms to participate in sharing activities with their main suppliers. Increasing evidence shows that sharing various activities between buyer and supplier improves trust and performance outcomes, and enables firms to maintain competitive advantage. From the perspective of knowledge theory, external knowledge is becoming more important in firms' innovation activities, because innovative knowledge is acquired primarily through interaction with another organization. In addition, relationship learning could be an important tool in absorbing the supplier's core technology, information, expertise, and core competencies, increasing relational value.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.145-176
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• 2010

In most service organization, salespeople are the most visible representatives of the company. Salespeople are exposed to greater ethical pressures than individuals in many other jobs. In this context, the salesperson's ethical behaviour can play a critical role in the formation and maintenance of long-term buyer-seller relationships. Moreover, it can even generate liability problems for salespeople's organizations through both intentional and inadvertent statements. The purpose of this research focuses on the analysis of the role of ethical sales behaviour, as perceived by customer, in developing and maintaining relationship between the salesperson and the customer. Thus this study examines the relationship among perceived ethical sales behaviour, customer satisfaction, customer trust, and customer loyalty. The results of empirical analysis can be summarized by the following: First, perceived ethical sales behaviour had a significant direct effect on customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer loyalty. Second, customer satisfaction had a positive effect customer trust and customer loyalty. Third, perceived ethical sales behaviour had a significant indirect effect on customer loyalty through customer satisfaction and customer trust. Therefore, These finding will spawn both academic and practitioner interest in the salesperson's ethical sales behaviour and serve as a foundation for further research in this important area.

• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.61-80
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• 2006

The Cambridge Technopole has been recognised as one of the leading clusters in the world, and as such it has been benchmarked by other countries and other regions within the UK. This paper aims to analyse the governance of regional policies in the UK, with particular reference to the relationships between stakeholders operating within the Cambridge Technopole. Major findings of the research are as follows: The central government in the UK has been playing important roles as a customer, regulator and supporter of knowledge sources; Regional innovation policies across central departments have been co-ordinated by the DTI, so that overlapping of policies can be prevented; The policies of individual departments relating to regional innovation are co-ordinated by Government Offices for the Region(GOs) in each region, so that departmental sectionalism can be avoided. At the regional level, the EEDA established in the eastern region of England to which the Cambridge Technopole belongs is in charge of implementing all innovation policies within the region in a consolidated way. Networking organisations such as Cambridge Networks (CN) facilitate knowledge exchange between stakeholders, contributing to the building of mutual trust and creating a high level of social capital essential for regional innovation; The system for commercialising university technology and knowledge has been well institutionalised.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.123-139
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• 2004

It is needed to transfer the technology actively which has already developed to improve a up-to-date technology and foster the technological innovation. The technology transfer also can bring about a commercial success. To promote the technology transfer, it is needed to develop a new technology valuation model for a specific technology from a objective point of view, as well as to equip an institution such as the technology transfer center. The technology valuation from a objective point of view is of importance as the basic information for the price negotiation between a technology-buyer and a technology-seller. This paper takes aim at investigating a new technology valuation model and developing a technology valuation system for promoting the technology transfer. A new technology valuation system is developed as a Web-enabling base. Using this users are able to estimate the value of a specific technology on a real time efficiently.