• Title/Summary/Keyword: Competitive Advantages

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A Case Study on the Information System Outsourcing based on the Utility Computing Concept (유틸리티 컴퓨팅(Utility Computing) 개념에 입각한 정보시스템 아웃소싱 사례에 대한 연구)

  • Hong, Hyun-Gi
    • Information Systems Review
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    • v.7 no.2
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    • pp.213-228
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    • 2005
  • Due to the rapid progress of IT utilization, many firms have been perplexed how to increase the productivity and efficiency of the Information System and also to reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of IS Organization. This paper employs the lens of the competitive advantages through Information System Outsourcing (ISO) arrangement. And also the concept of the "Utility Computing" of IBM-VNS. The Information Outsourcing System(ISO) is the fully or partly endorsed IT Outsourcing method, that supplies IT infrastructure, application system and system maintenance service, as well for the company networks. Many companies have implemented their own Information System. But some of the projects were not successfully carried out. We found many reasons for such a unsatisfaction with the quality of the new Information system. In this paper we select the "HanGlas Group" as the Case Study for Information System Outsourcing to overcome such difficulties. Through this Case Study we will learn the positive and negative aspects of ISO based on Utility Computing.

Analysing the Influence of Technology on the Business Performance of Rattan Processing SME's in South Kalimantan

  • Wiratmadja, Iwan Inrawan;Govindaraju, Rajesri;Setiawati, Evy
    • Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.104-108
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    • 2011
  • Technology is one of the major competitive advantages for small and medium enterprises (SME), especially ones operating in the manufacturing sector. Increasing technological capabilities is the basis for SME's business performance improvement. The main problem of SME's is a limitation in the areas of production facilities, technology, and human resources. Some of these constraints cause a decline in business performance and competitiveness of SME's. In this case analysis of technology components has to be carried out to determine the effect of technology on SME's business performance improvement. This study aims to measure the components of technology and to analyze the influence of each technology component on business performance of rattan processing SME's in South Kalimantan. The assessment is carried out on the technoware, humanware, inforware, and orgaware components using the technometric method (UNESCAP). Business performance is measured through a combination of financial and non-financial aspects deducted from financial and marketing figures. Analysis of the influence of technology components on business performance of SME's is done using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) with Partial Least Square software (PLS). Data is collected through interviews and questionnaires from 21 rattan processing SME's in South Kalimantan that produce rattan furnitures. The results show that the value of the contribution of technology (TCC) to the performance of rattan processing SME's in South Kalimantan is still quite low. Analysis of the results shows a direct influence of technoware and humanware on business performance, while orgaware influences business performance indirectly through humanware.

The Effectiveness of Virtual R&D Teams in SMEs: Experiences of Malaysian SMEs

  • Ale Ebrahim, Nader;Abdul Rashid, Salwa Hanim;Ahmed, Shamsuddin;Taha, Zahari
    • Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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    • v.10 no.2
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    • pp.109-114
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    • 2011
  • The number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those involved with research and development (R&D) programs and employed virtual teams to create the greatest competitive advantage from limited labor are increasing. Global and localized virtual R&D teams are believed to have high potential for the growth of SMEs. Due to the fast-growing complexity of new products coupled with new emerging opportunities of virtual teams, a collaborative approach is believed to be the future trend. This research explores the effectiveness of virtuality in SMEs' virtual R&D teams. Online questionnaires were emailed to Malaysian manufacturing SMEs and 74 usable questionnaires were received, representing a 20.8 percent return rate. In order to avoid biases which may result from pre-suggested answers, a series of open-ended questions were retrieved from the experts. This study was focused on analyzing an open-ended question, whereby four main themes were extracted from the experts' recommendations regarding the effectiveness of virtual teams for the growth and performance of SMEs. The findings of this study would be useful to product design managers of SMEs in order to realize the key advantages and significance of virtual R&D teams during the new product development (NPD) process. This is turn, leads to increased effectiveness in new product development's procedure.

Increasing the Triacylglycerol Content in Dunaliella tertiolecta through Isolation of Starch-Deficient Mutants

  • Sirikhachornkit, Anchalee;Vuttipongchaikij, Supachai;Suttangkakul, Anongpat;Yokthongwattana, Kittisak;Juntawong, Piyada;Pokethitiyook, Prayad;Kangvansaichol, Kunn;Meetam, Metha
    • Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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    • v.26 no.5
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    • pp.854-866
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    • 2016
  • The production cost of biodiesel from microalgae is still not competitive, compared with that of petroleum fuels. The genetic improvement of microalgal strains to increase triacylglycerol (TAG) accumulation is one way to reduce production costs. One of the most promising approaches is the isolation of starch-deficient mutants, which have been reported to successfully increase TAG yields. To date, such a stable mutant is not available in an oleaginous marine microalga, despite several advantages of using marine species for biodiesel production. Algae in the genus Dunaliella are known to tolerate high salt concentration and other environmental stresses. In addition, the cultivation processes for large-scale outdoor commercialization have been well established for this genus. In this study, Dunaliella tertiolecta was used to screen for starch-deficient mutants, using an iodine vapor-staining method. Four out of 20,016 UV-mutagenized strains showed a substantial reduction of starch content. A significantly higher TAG content, up to 3-fold of the wild-type level, was observed in three of the mutants upon induction by nitrogen depletion. The carotenoid production and growth characteristics of these mutants, under both normal and oxidative stress conditions, were not compromised, suggesting that these processes are not necessarily affected by starch deficiency. The results from this work open up new possibilities for exploring Dunaliella for biodiesel production.

The Impact of Environmental Regulation on Korea and Japan's Exports of Renewable Energy and Energy Saving Industry (환경규제가 재생에너지 및 에너지절감산업의 수출에 미치는 영향 : 한국과 일본의 비교연구)

  • Shim, Kieun;Jeong, Kyounghwa
    • Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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    • v.18 no.1
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    • pp.75-103
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    • 2009
  • The hypothesis suggested by Porter and van der Linde claims that innovating firms operate in a dynamic competitive situation which allows global diffusion of environmental-friendly technologies. Therefore, countries that are subjects to more stringent environmental regulations may become net exporters of environmental technologies. In the context of Porter hypothesis, this study investigates the impact of importing countries' environmental regulation on Korea and Japan's export flows of technologies for renewable energies and energy efficiency by estimating the gravity equation. The estimation result shows that : (1) our results are consistent with the Porter hypothesis where environmental regulation represents a significant source of comparative advantages, (2) Korea's export flows of technologies for renewable energies and energy efficiency with respect to the importing countries' environmental regulation are more sensitive than Japan's, and (3) the adverse relationship between export flows and importers' environmental stringency in developing countries does not hold in the renewable energies and energy efficiency related sector.

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Practice and Research Development of Technology Innovation in China

  • Wang, Zong-Jun;Wang, Xin-Xin;Wu, Yu-Qiong;Zhao, Yun-Long;Yang, Ping
    • Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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    • 2006.11a
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    • pp.15-41
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    • 2006
  • The increasing popularity of the concept of technology innovation has been driven by greater international competition in a rapidly globalizing economy. Both countries and enterprises are placing more and more emphasis on it in order to gain competitive advantages. This article gives a general introduction about the research and application of technology innovation in China. At the national level, one obvious fact is that the total R&D expenditure increased rapidly during the year 2001 to year 2005 and reached Y 245 billions, and China made 2,452 international patent applications in 2005 and became the world's 10th largest user of the Patent Cooperation Treaty. At the industry and enterprise level, much progress has also been made in China. This article uses the high-tech industry as an example to introduce the industry and enterprise technology innovation respectively. Corresponding to the practice, scholars also did a great amount of research work related to technology innovation. This article sums up all the work done from the macroscopic aspect (such as national technology innovation strategy, regional innovation system, industry technology innovation) and microcosmic aspect (such as enterprise technology innovation strategy, patterns and evaluation standards). Based on the analysis, this article discusses the limitation of current work and research trend about the technology innovation.

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Sliding Mode Control Based on 3-Loop of a Pneumatic Motor (공압모터의 3-루프 기반 슬라이딩 모드 제어)

  • Kim, Geun-Mook
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.15 no.11
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    • pp.6446-6451
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    • 2014
  • Pneumatic motors are quite attractive for many applications because of their competitive price, light-weight, easy assembly, safety in hazardous areas as well as other features, such as a good force/weight ratio and operation in exceptionally harsh environments. In contrast to these advantages, pneumatic motors have limited use in applications, particularly those requiring a fast and precise response. These undesirable characteristics are due to the high compressibility of air and from the nonlinearities in pneumatic systems. This paper presents the sliding mode controller based on 3-loop(SMCB3L), which increases the load stiffness to control the rotation angle of a pneumatic motor. The characteristics for the step responses and load disturbances of the proposed controller were compared with the conventional PID controller. The experimental results showed that a properly designed SMCB3L is capable of high positioning accuracy within ${\pm}0.05mm$. Furthermore, the load stiffness of the SMCB3L can be improved 3.5 fold compared to that of PID controllers.

A Study on information resource management based ITA in a organization (ITA 기반에서의 조직 정보화 자원관리 방안 연구)

  • Cho, sung-nam;Kim, ji-young;Chung, taik-yeong;Park, chan-jin
    • Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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    • 2007.11a
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    • pp.410-413
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    • 2007
  • Information Technology(IT) was introduced to the business as a means of improving operational efficiency. Nowadays, IT has become an essential component of an organization's survival. Almost no operations of an organization can be performed without IT. The benefits of using IT in organizations can not be underestimated. Some organizations have flourished because of the competitive advantages derived from the IT systems they have developed. Most IT systems, however, have been extended, changed and integrated with ad-hoc and makeshift solutions without thinking long-range view. It results in high maintenance cost and uncontrolled system for managing information resources. Especially, public institutions under the Project-Based System (PBS) have some problems in keeping a good management systems for information resource, because they are usually operated for a set period. Therefore, we propose the framework how to efficiently manage the IT assets and resources based on the Information Technology Architecture (ITA) that is introduced for the overall optimization of IT investment, change management and inter-operability.

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An Empirical Analysis on the Determinants of Entry into Foreign Markets of Small- and Medium- sized Service Firms : Focused on Korean Beauty Industry (중소 서비스기업의 해외시장진출 결정요인에 관한 실증분석 : 대구.경북지역 미용서비스업 중심으로)

  • Hong, Song-Hon
    • International Commerce and Information Review
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.149-172
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    • 2009
  • Service industries nowadays have become the subject of a scientific research. However, unlike research on manufacturing, there has not yet been a broader presentation of important aspects theoretically and methodologically. The importance of service sector in both national and global economies has grown significantly. An active participation of service industries in the internationalization process, notably by licensing and FDI, has occurred over time. But a few sub-sectors still dominate on this process, for example, financial institutions such as banks, securities, and insurance as well as producer services in advertising and accounting. On the other hand, personal services that are owned by small- and medium- sized firm have limited capabilities in their transnational transfer. This paper attempts to examine various factors influencing decisions for these small- and medium- sized Korean beauty firms in entering to the foreign markets. Determining factors for these firms in the engagement of internationalization depends largely on competitive advantages in both domestic and host countries, and they may be different from those in the sub-sectors mentioned above. Based on previous researches, i identified three categories of independent variables(characteristics of firms, managers, and competition) that can influence decisions to enter to the foreign markets. Seven hypotheses have been tested by using a sample of beauty firms in Daegu city and Kyungbuk province. The results show that the intention of these firms to enter to the foreign markets is significantly influenced by the factors of the innovative character of CEO's, the competitiveness of firms, and size of firms.

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An Application of Support Vector Machines to Customer Loyalty Classification of Korean Retailing Company Using R Language

  • Nguyen, Phu-Thien;Lee, Young-Chan
    • The Journal of Information Systems
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    • v.26 no.4
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    • pp.17-37
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    • 2017
  • Purpose Customer Loyalty is the most important factor of customer relationship management (CRM). Especially in retailing industry, where customers have many options of where to spend their money. Classifying loyal customers through customers' data can help retailing companies build more efficient marketing strategies and gain competitive advantages. This study aims to construct classification models of distinguishing the loyal customers within a Korean retailing company using data mining techniques with R language. Design/methodology/approach In order to classify retailing customers, we used combination of support vector machines (SVMs) and other classification algorithms of machine learning (ML) with the support of recursive feature elimination (RFE). In particular, we first clean the dataset to remove outlier and impute the missing value. Then we used a RFE framework for electing most significant predictors. Finally, we construct models with classification algorithms, tune the best parameters and compare the performances among them. Findings The results reveal that ML classification techniques can work well with CRM data in Korean retailing industry. Moreover, customer loyalty is impacted by not only unique factor such as net promoter score but also other purchase habits such as expensive goods preferring or multi-branch visiting and so on. We also prove that with retailing customer's dataset the model constructed by SVMs algorithm has given better performance than others. We expect that the models in this study can be used by other retailing companies to classify their customers, then they can focus on giving services to these potential vip group. We also hope that the results of this ML algorithm using R language could be useful to other researchers for selecting appropriate ML algorithms.