• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.151-171
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• 2014

Firms today have sought management effectiveness and efficiency utilizing information technologies (IT). Numerous firms are outsourcing specific information systems functions to cope with their short of information resources or IT experts, or to reduce their capital cost. Recently, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) as a new type of information system has become one of the powerful outsourcing alternatives. SaaS is software deployed as a hosted and accessed over the internet. It is regarded as the idea of on-demand, pay-per-use, and utility computing and is now being applied to support the core competencies of clients in areas ranging from the individual productivity area to the vertical industry and e-commerce area. In this study, therefore, we seek to quantify the value that SaaS has on business performance by examining the relationships among firm strategies, SaaS technology maturity, and business performance of SaaS providers. We begin by drawing from prior literature on SaaS, technology maturity and firm strategy. SaaS technology maturity is classified into three different phases such as application service providing (ASP), Web-native application, and Web-service application. Firm strategies are manipulated by the low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy. Finally, we considered customer acquisition as a business performance. In this sense, specific objectives of this study are as follows. First, we examine the relationships between customer acquisition performance and both low-cost strategy and differentiation strategy of SaaS providers. Secondly, we investigate the mediating and moderating effects of SaaS technology maturity on those relationships. For this purpose, study collects data from the SaaS providers, and their line of applications registered in the database in CNK (Commerce net Korea) in Korea using a questionnaire method by the professional research institution. The unit of analysis in this study is the SBUs (strategic business unit) in the software provider. A total of 199 SBUs is used for analyzing and testing our hypotheses. With regards to the measurement of firm strategy, we take three measurement items for differentiation strategy such as the application uniqueness (referring an application aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target industry), supply channel diversification (regarding whether SaaS vendor had diversified supply chain) as well as the number of specialized expertise and take two items for low cost strategy like subscription fee and initial set-up fee. We employ a hierarchical regression analysis technique for testing moderation effects of SaaS technology maturity and follow the Baron and Kenny's procedure for determining if firm strategies affect customer acquisition through technology maturity. Empirical results revealed that, firstly, when differentiation strategy is applied to attain business performance like customer acquisition, the effects of the strategy is moderated by the technology maturity level of SaaS providers. In other words, securing higher level of SaaS technology maturity is essential for higher business performance. For instance, given that firms implement application uniqueness or a distribution channel diversification as a differentiation strategy, they can acquire more customers when their level of SaaS technology maturity is higher rather than lower. Secondly, results indicate that pursuing differentiation strategy or low cost strategy effectively works for SaaS providers' obtaining customer, which means that continuously differentiating their service from others or making their service fee (subscription fee or initial set-up fee) lower are helpful for their business success in terms of acquiring their customers. Lastly, results show that the level of SaaS technology maturity mediates the relationships between low cost strategy and customer acquisition. That is, based on our research design, customers usually perceive the real value of the low subscription fee or initial set-up fee only through the SaaS service provide by vender and, in turn, this will affect their decision making whether subscribe or not.

• Korean journal of communication and information
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• v.81
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• pp.75-121
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• 2017

Maeul Community Media is community media practice that media education combine with community activism based on the region. Maeul Community Media appeared with Seoul city's supporting policy in 2012 and is now enlarging on a national scale beyond Seoul. This study is aimed at understanding and investigating Maeul Community Media activists' practice process by using a grouned theory approach. In-depth interviews were carried out of study participants who worked on as activists based on visual and radio field since 2012. By open coding based on grounded theory, 16 categories and 59 subcategories were discovered. The outcome of axial coding showed the centeral phenomena that can be called 'sustainable desire for Maeul Community Media act'. On the condition of the instability of public support and the absence of a village channel, the strategic practices were discovered, which are diversification of participants recruitment and modes of participation, invention of space-media, seeking multilateral distribution methodologies and the collective action plans of networks to stabilize the management and to empower Maeul Community Media networks. As a result, Maeul Community Media and civil society were networked by discovering and agenda-setting pending issues. And we could find that the desire and expectation for the role as a village's public sphere were enlarging.

• Korean Journal of Digital Imaging in Medicine
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.43-47
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• 2014

Sens of insecutity of the public and professionals about harmful effects of radiation is increasing in an accident at the Chernobyl and Fkushima nuclear power plant.Anxiety was amplified to lack of information about radiation majority of people. To target the middle and high school in the region of Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do, to investigate the radiation recognition of the next generation, it is intended to present a model of education for the safe use of radiation. The High School of the six metropolitan cities, city, town through the questionnaire and needs to be educational experience of radiation and use knowledge level of radiation, experience in daily life, understanding of man-made radiation and natural radiation, information channel on radiation, the radiation Distribute the total 800 parts of, to recover the 629 unit, was analyzed for 155 females 474 males. Many people 75.36% of the people, to 24.64% female subjects of this investigation, was constant, respectively from 13 to 18 years age. It is a large number and 30.37% of the respondents as "normal" level of knowledge of radiation, for the type of radiation, most knew. You have answer for risk experience of the medical radiation was higher, touching a lot of information via the broadcast medium in general, and the accuracy is low. I thought we wanted to be educated three or more twice a year, as an educator,about 71.37% and radiation-related understanding of knowledge and background in accordance with the diversification of information channels, the regional differences between urban and rural areas. But I considered the difference age (grade) for each is displayed, intended for junior high school students, the target surface and use the occurrence of radiation, high school students, the need for education about risk and application of radiation through this study.

• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.289-299
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to confirm the effect of mindfulness education on perceived stress, mindfulness, psychological well-being, and brain waves. The study used a repeated-measures design to examine 42 female university students currently enrolled in mindfulness courses. Subjects participated in the mindfulness course once a week for eight weeks, 50 minutes per session. The main outcome variables, such as perceived stress, mindfulness, and psychological well-being, were measured with a structured questionnaire and brain waves were measured with an electroencephalograph. The same variables were then measured after the completion of the eight-week course. The results demonstrate that perceived stress significantly decreased from 1.85±0.39 to 1.66±0.39 points (t=3.44, p=.001), while, on the other hand, mindfulness increased from 3.10±0.26 points to 3.19±0.32 points (t =-2.78, p=.008). There was also a significant difference in the level of autonomy, a subcategory of psychological well-being (t=-2.70, p=.010). In addition, EEG indicated significant changes in the frequencies of Theta channel 19 and Rapid Alpha channels 7 and 10. These results suggest that further studies are needed to elucidate the effects of mindfulness education through the modification of mindfulness course plans, diversification of teaching methods, and improvement in the educational environment.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.141-154
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• 2016

Mobile application is growing explosively with the advent of a new technology: smartphones. Mobile application is a new marketing channel and performs as a start-up platform. This study examines the effect of mobile application on the off-line market. Despite the continuous declining demand for taxi service, paradoxically, the supply of taxi service has increased. The taxi industry can be categorized into general taxi and call taxi. General taxi is accidental and inefficient because it has to search for its own passenger. As call taxi takes the request of a passenger, it is more efficient than general taxi. However, the current defective passenger-taxi driver matching system and insufficient taxi driver management hinder the development of the call taxi market. Differences in differences (DID) is an econometrical methodology that examines whether or not an event has meaningful influence. This research uses DID to investigate the effect of the Kakao taxi application on the call taxi industry. Furthermore, it examines the effect of major companies' reckless diversification, which is considered unethical behavior. The passengers of call taxi data from August 2014 to July 2015 and those of designated driving service data of the same period were collected as the control group.

• Journal of Mushroom
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.122-127
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• 2024

This study was conducted to evaluate the market potential of 'Hwanggeumsantari', a new oyster mushroom variety developed in Gyeonggi Province in 2019, and to derive effective market entry strategies. To objectively assess the marketability of 'Hwanggeumsantari' from various perspectives, a panel of 50 consumers was formed, and surveys and interviews were conducted. Additionally, two Focus Group Interviews were held with distributors in the agri-food sector. The results showed that potential consumers were positive about the color and texture of 'Hwanggeumsantari', but expressed relatively less satisfaction with its shelf life and aroma. Distributors, through tow Focus Group Interviews, evaluated that the product had sufficient market competitiveness, but called for efforts to improve cultivation techniques and enhance price competitiveness. Based on the results of market evaluations by consumers and distributors, a SWOT analysis was conducted. The main strengths identified were its outstanding color and texture, while the main weakness was its freshness issue. Meanwhile, the growing demand for healthy foods and various online sales channels could provide market entry opportunities for 'Hwanggeumsantari', but high sensitivity to price in the case of premium pricing could pose a threat. Consequently, a market entry strategy for 'Hwanggeumsantari' was proposed using a 4P mix approach based on the SWOT analysis results. The product strategy emphasized premium positioning, small packaging, and the development of packaging technology to maintain freshness. The price strategy proposed premium pricing and the operation of incentive programs. The distribution strategy suggested channel diversification, direct stores, or direct sales, while the promotion strategy emphasized storytelling and collaboration with influencers.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.17-26
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• 2010

Recently concerns have been raised due to the unbalanced supply of crops: the price of crops has been unstable and at one point the price went up so high that the word Agflation(agriculture+ inflation) was coined. Korea, in particular, is a small-sized country and needs to secure the stable supply of crops by investing in the produce importation at a national level. Investment in foreign produce importation is becoming more important as a measure for sufficient supply of crops, limited supply of domestic crops, weakened farming conditions worldwide, as well as recent changes in the use of crops due to the development of bio-fuels, influence of carbon emission on crops, the price increase in crops, and influx of foreign hot money. However, there are many problems with investing in foreign produce importation: lack of support from the government; lack of farming information and technology; difficulty in securing the capital; no immediate pay-off from the investment and insufficient management. Although foreign produce is originally more price-competitive than domestic produce, it loses its competiveness in the process of importation (due to high tariffs) and poor distribution system, which makes it difficult to sell in Korea. Therefore, investment in foreign produce importation is being questioned for feasibility; to make it possible, foreign produce must maintain the price-competitiveness. Especially, harvest of agricultural products depends on natural and geographical conditions of each country and those products have indigenous properties, so distribution system according to import and export of agricultural products should be treated more carefully than that of other industries. Distribution costs are differentiated into each item and include cost of sorting and wrapping, cost of wrapping materials, cost of domestic transport, cost of international transport and cost of clearing customs for import and export. So transporting and storing agricultural products generates considerable costs compared with other products. Also, due to upgrade of dietary life, needs for stability, taste and visible quality toward food including agricultural products are being raised and wrong way of storage causes decomposition of food and loss of freshness, making the storage more difficult than that in room temperature, so storage and transport in distribution of agricultural products needs specialty. In addition, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. However, existing distribution system of agricultural products is exposed to various problems including problems in distribution channel, making distribution and strategy for distribution and those problems are as follows. First, in case of investment in overseas agricultural industry, stable supply of the products is difficult because areas of production are dispersed widely and influenced by outer factors due to including overseas distribution channels. Also, at the aspect of quality, standardization of products is difficult, distribution system is quite complicated and unreasonable due to long distribution channels according to international trade and financial and institutional support is not enough. Especially, there are quite a lot of ineffective factors including multi level distribution process, dramatic gap between production cost and customer's cost, lack of physical distribution facilities and difficulties in storage and transport due to lack of wrapping containers. Besides, because import and export of agricultural products has been manages under the company's own distribution according to transaction contract between manufacturers and exporting company, efficiency is low due to excessive investment in fixed costs and lack of specialty in dealing with agricultural products causes fall of value of products, showing the limit to lose price-competitiveness. Especially, because lack of specialty in distribution and circulation such as storage and wrapping does not solve limit factors in distance, the distribution and circulation has been limited to a form of import and export within short-distant region. Therefore, need for distribution out-sourcing which can satisfy specialty in managing distribution and circulation and it is needed to establish more effective distribution system. Second, among tangible and intangible services which promote the efficiency of the whole distribution, a function building distribution environment which includes distribution information, system for standard and inspection, distribution finance, system for diversification of risks, education and training, distribution administration and tax system is wanted. In general, such a function building distribution environment is difficult to be changed and supplement innovatively because its effect compared with investment does not appear immediately despite of its necessity. Especially, in case of distribution of agricultural products, as a function of collecting and distributing is performed individually through various channels, the importance of distribution information and standardization is getting more focus due to the problem of repetition of work and lack of specialty. Also, efficient management of distribution is quite difficult due to lack of professionals in distribution, so support to professional education is needed. Third, though effort to keep self-sufficiency ratio of staple food, rice is regarded as important at the government level, level of dependency on overseas of others crops is high. Therefore, plan for stable securing food resources aside from staple food is also necessary. Especially, governmental organizations of agricultural products distribution in Korea are production-centered and have unreasonable structure whose function at the aspect of distribution and consumption is quite insufficient. And development of new distribution channels which can deal with changes in distribution environment and they do not achieve actual results of strategy for distribution due to non-positive strategy for price distribution. That is, it implies the possibility that base for supply will become vulnerable because it does not mediate appropriate interests on total distribution channels such as manufacturers, wholesale dealers and vendors by emphasizing consumer protection excessively in the distribution of agricultural products. Therefore, this study examined fundamental concept and actual situation for our investment to overseas agriculture, drew necessities, considerations, problems, etc. of overseas agricultural investment and suggested improvements at the level of distribution for price competitiveness of agricultural products cultivated in overseas under five aspects; government's indirect support, distribution's modernization and distribution information function's strengthening, government's political support for distribution facility, transportation route, load and unloading works' improvement, price competitiveness' securing, professional manpower's cultivation by education and training, etc. Here are some suggestions for foreign produce importation. First, the government should conduct a survey on the current distribution channels and analyze the situation to establish a measure for long-term development plans. By providing each agricultural area with a guideline for planning appropriate production of crops, the government can help farmers be ready for importation, and prevent them from producing same crops all at the same time. Government can sign an MOU with the foreign government and promote the importation so that the development of agricultural resources can be stable and steady. Second, the government can establish a strategy for an effective distribution system by providing farmers and agriculture-related workers with the distribution information such as price, production, demand, market structure and location, feature of each crop, and etc. In order for such distribution system to become feasible, the government needs to reconstruct the current distribution system, designate a public organization for providing distribution information and set the criteria for level of produce quality, trade units, and package units. Third, the government should provide financial support and a policy to seek an efficient distribution channel for foreign produce to be delivered fresh: the government should expand distribution facilities (for selecting, packaging, storing, and processing) and transportation vehicles while modernizing old facilities. There should be another policy to improve the efficiency of unloading, and to lower the cost of distribution. Fourth, it is necessary to enact a new law covering exceptional cases for importing produce in order to maintain the price competitiveness; currently the high tariffs is keeping the imported produce from being distributed domestically. However, the new adjustment should be made carefully within the WTO regulations since it can create a problem from giving preferential tariffs. The government can also simplify the distribution channels in order to reduce the cost in the distribution process. Fifth, the government should educate distributors to raise the efficiency and to modernize the distribution system. It is necessary to develop human resources by educating people regarding the foreign agricultural environment, the produce quality, management skills, and by introducing some successful cases in advanced countries.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.77-110
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• 2017

Recently, the diversification and individualization of consumption patterns through the web and mobile devices based on the Internet have been rapid. As this happens, the efficient operation of the offline store, which is a traditional distribution channel, has become more important. In order to raise both the sales and profits of stores, stores need to supply and sell the most attractive products to consumers in a timely manner. However, there is a lack of research on which SKUs, out of many products, can increase sales probability and reduce inventory costs. In particular, if a company sells products through multiple in-store stores across multiple locations, it would be helpful to increase sales and profitability of stores if SKUs appealing to customers are recommended. In this study, the recommender system (recommender system such as collaborative filtering and hybrid filtering), which has been used for personalization recommendation, is suggested by SKU recommendation method of a store unit of a distribution company that handles a homogeneous brand through a plurality of sales stores by country and region. We calculated the similarity of each store by using the purchase data of each store's handling items, filtering the collaboration according to the sales history of each store by each SKU, and finally recommending the individual SKU to the store. In addition, the store is classified into four clusters through PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and cluster analysis (Clustering) using the store profile data. The recommendation system is implemented by the hybrid filtering method that applies the collaborative filtering in each cluster and measured the performance of both methods based on actual sales data. Most of the existing recommendation systems have been studied by recommending items such as movies and music to the users. In practice, industrial applications have also become popular. In the meantime, there has been little research on recommending SKUs for each store by applying these recommendation systems, which have been mainly dealt with in the field of personalization services, to the store units of distributors handling similar brands. If the recommendation method of the existing recommendation methodology was 'the individual field', this study expanded the scope of the store beyond the individual domain through a plurality of sales stores by country and region and dealt with the store unit of the distribution company handling the same brand SKU while suggesting a recommendation method. In addition, if the existing recommendation system is limited to online, it is recommended to apply the data mining technique to develop an algorithm suitable for expanding to the store area rather than expanding the utilization range offline and analyzing based on the existing individual. The significance of the results of this study is that the personalization recommendation algorithm is applied to a plurality of sales outlets handling the same brand. A meaningful result is derived and a concrete methodology that can be constructed and used as a system for actual companies is proposed. It is also meaningful that this is the first attempt to expand the research area of the academic field related to the existing recommendation system, which was focused on the personalization domain, to a sales store of a company handling the same brand. From 05 to 03 in 2014, the number of stores' sales volume of the top 100 SKUs are limited to 52 SKUs by collaborative filtering and the hybrid filtering method SKU recommended. We compared the performance of the two recommendation methods by totaling the sales results. The reason for comparing the two recommendation methods is that the recommendation method of this study is defined as the reference model in which offline collaborative filtering is applied to demonstrate higher performance than the existing recommendation method. The results of this model are compared with the Hybrid filtering method, which is a model that reflects the characteristics of the offline store view. The proposed method showed a higher performance than the existing recommendation method. The proposed method was proved by using actual sales data of large Korean apparel companies. In this study, we propose a method to extend the recommendation system of the individual level to the group level and to efficiently approach it. In addition to the theoretical framework, which is of great value.