• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.45-53
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• 2015

Purpose - Online shopping enables consumers to conveniently purchase products irrespective of the time and place. As a result, several online shopping companies have emerged to cater to this growing market and, therefore, the competition among them has become increasingly intense. This paper evaluates the comparative efficiency of online shopping companies for a multi-year period (2009-2013), in order to help online shopping managers identify major drivers for enhancing management efficiency and the subsequent competitiveness. Research design, data, and methodology - The researchers collected the data from 2009 to 2013 from the distribution yearbook. This paper analyzes the marketability (sales figures), profitability (business profits), and management conditions (net profits) of domestic online shopping enterprises by incorporating information on human resources (number of employees) and material resources (total assets and capital). Therefore, the number of employees, total assets, and capital are selected as input variables, and sales figures, business profits, and net profits as the output variables. In this study, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to measure the comparative efficiency of domestic online shopping companies. In addition, the Malmquist Productivity Index was used to evaluate the trend of change of Decision Making Units' (DMUs') efficiency for a multi-year period. Results - First, as of 2013, Interpark (2.415) was found to be the most efficient online shopping enterprise, followed by Aladdin Communications (2.117), Hyundai Home shopping (1.867), Home&Shopping (1.176), NS Home shopping (1.170), Commerce Planet (1.126), CJ O Shopping (1.105), Ebay Korea (1.088), and GS Home Shopping (1.051). Second, this study recognizes how the management efficiency has changed for the period 2009-2013. Third, the lesser the capital and employees, the more are the net profits, and the better is the management efficiency of domestic online shopping companies. Lastly, the productivity of such companies is influenced by endogenous factors rather than exogenous factors such as shifts in business environment and technological advances. Conclusions - DHC Korea influenced various distribution channels to reach customers through the Internet. Consequently, this helped in increasing the awareness about its products, in addition to an increase in sales. These achievements can be attributed to the characteristics of online shopping companies. Although it is easy for these companies to suggest goods for one-off purchases, they however have difficulties in retaining customers. Overcoming this challenge can be one of the ways to benchmark a successful case of an efficient company. For example, an online shopping company can attract customers by developing a corresponding mobile application as a convenient way to shop online. Additionally, they can satisfy customers by quick delivery of purchased products, which is possible by building an effective logistics network. Our study indicates that the productivity of an online shopping company was influenced by endogenous factors driven by improvements in managerial practices rather than exogenous factors. Accordingly, online shopping companies should adopt strategies to improve their operational efficiency rather than sales volume-oriented management.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.63-72
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• 2013

Purpose - This study analyzes the relationship and dynamic interactions between stock price index, interest rate, price index, and housing price indices using Korean monthly data from 2000 to 2013, based on a VAR model. This study also examines Granger causal relationships among these variables in order to determine whether the time series of one is useful in forecasting another, or to infer certain types of causal dependency between stochastic variables. Research design, data, and methodology - We used Korean monthly data for all variables from 2000: M1 to 2013: M3. First, we checked the correlations among different variables. Second, we conducted the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test and the co-integration test using the VAR model. Third, we employed Granger Causality tests to quantify the causal effect from time series observations. Fourth, we used the impulse response function and variance decomposition based on the VAR model to examine the dynamic relationships among the variables. Results - First, stock price Granger affects interest rate and all housing price indices. Price index Granger, in turn, affects the stock price and six metropolitan housing price indices. However, none of the Granger variables affect the price index. Therefore, it is the stock markets (and not the housing market) that affects the housing prices. Second, the impulse response tests show that maximum influence on stock price is its own, and though it is influenced a little by interest rate, price index affects it negatively. One standard deviation (S.D.) shock to stock price increases the housing price by 0.08 units after two months, whereas an impulse shock to the interest rate negatively impacts the housing price. Third, the variance decomposition results report that the shock to the stock price accounts for 96% of the variation in the stock price, and the shock to the price index accounts for 2.8% after two periods. In contrast, the shock to the interest rate accounts for 80% of the variation in the interest rate after ten periods; the shock to the stock price accounts for 19% of the variation; however, shock to the price index does not affect the interest rate. The housing price index in 10 periods is explained up to 96.7% by itself, 2.62% by stock price, 0.68% by price index, and 0.04% by interest rate. Therefore, the housing market is explained most by its own variation, whereas the interest rate has little impact on housing price. Conclusions - The results of the study elucidate the relationship and dynamic interactions among stock price index, interest rate, price index, and housing price indices using VAR model. This study could help form the basis for more appropriate economic policies in the future. As the housing market is very important in Korean economy, any changes in house price affect the other markets, thereby resulting in a shock to the entire economy. Therefore, the analysis on the dynamic relationships between the housing market and economic variables will help with the decision making regarding the housing market policy.

• Spatial Information Research
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• v.14 no.1 s.36
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• pp.163-176
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• 2006

The concept of 'spatial association' explains spatial distribution pattern of geographical phenomenon based on similarity with neighborhoods, as in the Tobler's Law of Geography: 'Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.' In this study, we develop a time-series exploratory analysis tool for discovering temporal patterns of spatial association by combining spatial statistics and geo-visualization, and thus present a possibility to support spatial decision-making process. As for the spatial proximity weight matrix indispensable to measuring global and local spatial association, we employ a variety of flexible weighting schemes using geometric characteristics of areal unit. In addition, we renovate the existing visualization methods for more effective understanding of the procedures and results of time-series analysis on spatial association: for instance, temporal parallel coordinate plot with box plot, animated map for spatial association, and 3D Moran scatterplot. The feasibility of our system is verified by time-series analysis experiments on the spatial association of land price fluctuation rate for all administrative units in Korea, $1995{\sim}2004$.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.123-135
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• 2016

This study uses Data Envelopment Analysis(DEA) to investigate the management efficiency of Korean shipping companies based on business administration costs such as corporate entertainment, advertisement, and labor costs. We analyze shipping enterprises listed on the Korean stock market of the period of 2010-2014. Corporate entertainment, advertisement and labor costs are used as input variables and sales and net income are used as output variables. We use technical efficiency, pure technical efficiency, scale efficiency and returns to scale to propose a plan to improve the efficiency of inefficiency decision-making units (DMUs). The results of the efficiency analysis show that six of the DMUs in the technical efficiency of CCR model and eight of the DMUs in the pure technical efficiency of BCC model are in efficient state. In terms of return to scale, six of the DMUs(24% of all DMUs) show increasing returns to scale, while 13 DMUs(52% of all DMUs) showdecreasing returns to scale. Because multiple efficient state for DMUs exist in the technical efficiency analysis, we conduct a super efficiency analysis. The results show that the efficient state of the twomost efficient DMUs are 1.314 and 1.243, respectively. This implies that these DMUs could maintain their current levels of the efficiency if they increase the amount spent on advertisements, corporate entertainment and labor costs by 31.4% and 24.3%. respectively. We conclude this study by providing the efficiency states of each DMU and target for improving the inefficiencies in each case.

• Communications for Statistical Applications and Methods
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.451-464
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• 2008

Six sigma is the rating that signifies "best in clas", with only 3.4 defects per million units or operations. Higher sigma quality level is generally perceived by customers as improved performance by assigning a correspondingly higher satisfaction score. The process capability indices and the sigma level $Z_{st}$ have been widely used in six sigma industries to assess process performance. Most evaluations on process capability indices focus on point estimates, which may result in unreliable assessments of process performance. In this paper, we consider statistical inference for process capability indices $C_p$, $C_{pk}$ and $C_{pm}$. Also, we study better testing procedure on assessing sigma level $Z_{st}$ and capability index $C_{pm}$, for practitioners to use in determining whether a given process is capable. The proposed method is easy to use and the decision making is more reliable. Whether a process is clearly normal or nonnormal, our bootstrap testing procedure could be applied effectively without the complexity of calculation. A numerical result based on our proposed method is illustrated.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.647-654
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• 2016

In the defense industry, national security takes priority over economic sense and this has translated into high cost and long-term research and development. However, the exponential growth of technology and rapid changes in the security situation in recent years have resulted in a call for the development of systems at a low cost within a short period of time. In order to implement a modularization strategy in the field of defense, the introduction of line replaceable units in OO systems needs to be prioritized. This study selects six criteria following a literature review and prioritizes 11 modules for OO systems using the project evaluation method, Grey Relational Analysis (GRA). Based on the GRA results, the grey relational grades were derived as 0.83, 0.81 and 0.80 for the M11 (Main board), M8 (EMI module), M3 (Single board computer) modules, respectively. The cost and time of development is expected to be reduced in accordance with the grey relational grade. The results of this research could be utilized for decision making on adopting modularization in similar system development or product improvement programs (PIPs).

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.91-105
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• 2021

The current increasing size of container vessels affects the container port's situation. The containerization has changed the inter-modal handling process, which brought more flexibility and comfortableness in the shipping industry sector. Thus, it is very crucial to analyze the efficiency of container ports in the regional sphere. Such kind of efficiency analysis provide a powerful management tool for port operators and shipping managers in the Mediterranean market, and it also helps to form an information for planning new regional and national port operations. This paper aims to analyze the ports' technical efficiency of Mediterranean major container ports. It is conducted to establish the model of port performance and efficiency through the empirical test of the various factors. Regarding to the panel data collected from the 48 DMUs (decision making units), this study attempts to provide the empirical basis of the port efficiency relative to another factors in the total port performance. Due to the complexity of the various activities carried out at container ports, the study focuses only on the technical efficiency at the level of the Mediterranean container port. Unlike the practice of cross-sectional data analysis, originally established by Charnes et al. (1985), the panel data in DEA window analysis applications are used. The main focus of this study is the relative technical efficiency of 12 container ports from 7 countries in the Mediterranean market. The selection of ports under study is based on their high handling capability and rankings in World Top 100 (Containerization International, 2018).

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.97-109
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• 2019

Degree days have been determined using temperature data measured at nearby weather stations to a site of interest to produce information for supporting decision-making on agricultural production. Alternatively, the data products of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) can be used for estimation of degree days in a given region, e.g., Korean Peninsula. The objective of this study was to develop a simple tool for processing the MODIS product for estimating cooling degree days (CDD), which would help assessment of heat stress conditions for a crop as well as energy requirement for greenhouses. A set of scripts written in R was implemented to obtain temperature profile data for the region of interest. These scripts had functionalities for processing spatial data, which include reprojection, mosaicking, and cropping. A module to extract air temperature at the surface pressure level was also developed using R extension packages such as rgdal and RcppArmadillo. Random forest (RF) models, which estimate mean temperature and CDD with a different set of MODIS data, were trained at 34 sites in South Korea during 2009 - 2018. Then, the values of CDD were calculated over Korean peninsula during the same period using those RF models. It was found that the CDD estimates using the MODIS data explained >74% of the variation in the CDD measurements at the weather stations in North Korea as well as South Korea. These results indicate that temperature data derived from the MODIS atmospheric products would be useful for reliable estimation of CDD. Our results also suggest that the MODIS data can be used for preparation of weather input data for other temperature-based agro-ecological models such as growing degree days or chill units.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.453-459
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• 2021

The system marginal price of electricity is the amount paid to all the generating units, which is an important decision-making factor for the construction and maintenance of an electrical power unit. In this paper, we suggest a long-term forecasting model for calculating the system marginal price based on prices of natural gas and oil. As most variables used in the analysis are nonstationary time series, the long run relationship among the variables should be examined by cointegration tests. The forecasting model is similar to an error correction model which consists of a long run cointegrating equation and another equation for short run dynamics. To mitigate the robustness issue arising from the relatively small data sample, this study employs various testing and estimating methods. Compared to previous studies, this paper considers multiple fuel prices in the forecasting model of system marginal price, and provides greater emphasis on the robustness of analysis. As none of the cointegrating relations associated with system marginal price, natural gas price and oil price are excluded, three error correction models are estimated. Considering the root mean squared error and mean absolute error, the model based on the cointegrating relation between system marginal price and natural gas price performs best in the out-of-sample forecast.

• The Korean Nurse
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.77-96
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• 1997

The duty shifts of hospital nurses not only affect nurses' physical and mental health but also present various personnel management problems which often result in high turnover rates. In this context a study was carried out from October to November 1995 for a period of two months to find out the status of hospital nurses' duty shift patterns, and preferred duty hours and fixed duty shifts. The study population was 867 RNs working in five general hospitals located in Seoul and its vicinity. The questionnaire developed by the writer was used for data collection. The response rate was 85.9 percent or 745 returns. The SAS program was used for data analysis with the computation of frequencies, percentages and Chi square test. The findings of the study are as follows: 1. General characteristics of the study population: 56 percent of respondents was (25 years group and 76.5 percent were "single": the predominant proportion of respondents was junior nursing college graduates(92.2%) and have less than 5 years nursing experience in hospitals(65.5%). For their future working plan in nursing profession, nearly 50% responded as uncertain The reasons given for their career plan was predominantly 'personal growth and development' rather than financial reasons. 2. The interval for rotations of duty stations was found to be mostly irregular(56.4%) while others reported as weekly(16.1%), monthly(12.9%), and fixed terms(4.6%). 3. The main problems related to duty shifts particularly the evening and night duty nurses reported were "not enough time for the family, " "afraid of security problems after the work when returning home late at night." and "lack of leisure time". "problems in physical and physiological adjustment." "problems in family life." "lack of time for interactions with fellow nurses" etc. 4. The forty percent of respondents reported to have '1-2 times' of duty shift rotations while all others reported that '0 time'. '2-3 times'. 'more than 3 times' etc. which suggest the irregularity in duty shift rotations. 5. The majority(62.8%) of study population found to favor the rotating system of duty stations. The reasons for favoring the rotation system were: the opportunity for "learning new things and personal development." "better human relations are possible. "better understanding in various duty stations." "changes in monotonous routine job" etc. The proportion of those disfavor the rotating 'system was 34.7 percent. giving the reasons of"it impedes development of specialization." "poor job performances." "stress factors" etc. Furthermore. respondents made the following comments in relation to the rotation of duty stations: the nurses should be given the opportunity to participate in the. decision making process: personal interest and aptitudes should be considered: regular intervals for the rotations or it should be planned in advance. etc. 6. For the future career plan. the older. married group with longer nursing experiences appeared to think the nursing as their lifetime career more likely than the younger. single group with shorter nursing experiences ($x^2=61.19.{\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=41.55.{\;}p=.000$). The reason given for their future career plan regardless of length of future service, was predominantly "personal growth and development" rather than financial reasons. For further analysis, the group those with the shorter career plan appeared to claim "financial reasons" for their future career more readily than the group who consider the nursing job as their lifetime career$(x^2$= 11.73, p=.003) did. This finding suggests the need for careful .considerations in personnel management of nursing administration particularly when dealing with the nurses' career development. The majority of respondents preferred the fixed day shift. However, further analysis of those preferred evening shift by age and civil status, "< 25 years group"(15.1%) and "single group"(13.2) were more likely to favor the fixed evening shift than > 25 years(6.4%) and married(4.8%)groups. This differences were statistically significant ($x^2=14.54, {\;}p=.000;{\;}x^2=8.75, {\;}p=.003$). 7. A great majority of respondents(86.9% or n=647) found to prefer the day shifts. When the four different types of duty shifts(Types A. B. C, D) were presented, 55.0 percent of total respondents preferred the A type or the existing one followed by D type(22.7%). B type(12.4%) and C type(8.2%). 8. When the condition of monetary incentives for the evening(20% of salary) and night shifts(40% of. salary) of the existing duty type was presented. again the day shift appeared to be the most preferred one although the rate was slightly lower(66.4% against 86.9%). In the case of evening shift, with the same incentive, the preference rates for evening and night shifts increased from 11.0 to 22.4 percent and from 0.5 to 3.0 percent respectively. When the age variable was controlled. < 25 yrs group showed higher rates(31.6%. 4.8%) than those of > 25 yrs group(15.5%. 1.3%) respectively preferring the evening and night shifts(p=.000). The civil status also seemed to operate on the preferences of the duty shifts as the single group showed lower rate(69.0%) for day duty against 83. 6% of the married group. and higher rates for evening and night duties(27.2%. 15.1%) respectively against those of the married group(3.8%. 1.8%) while a higher proportion of the married group(83. 6%) preferred the day duties than the single group(69.0%). These differences were found to be statistically all significant(p=.001). 9. The findings on preferences of three different types of fixed duty hours namely, B, C. and D(with additional monetary incentives) are as follows in order of preference: B type(12hrs a day, 3days a wk): day shift(64.1%), evening shift(26.1%). night shift(6.5%) C type(12hrs a day. 4days a wk) : evening shift(49.2%). day shift(32.8%), night shift(11.5%) D type(10hrs a day. 4days a wk): showed the similar trend as B type. The findings of higher preferences on the evening and night duties when the incentives are given. as shown above, suggest the need for the introductions of different patterns of duty hours and incentive measures in order to overcome the difficulties in rostering the nursing duties. However, the interpretation of the above data, particularly the C type, needs cautions as the total number of respondents is very small(n=61). It requires further in-depth study. In conclusion. it seemed to suggest that the patterns of nurses duty hours and shifts in the most hospitals in the country have neither been tried for different duty types nor been flexible. The stereotype rostering system of three shifts and insensitiveness for personal life aspect of nurses seemed to be prevailing. This study seems to support that irregular and frequent rotations of duty shifts may be contributing factors for most nurses' maladjustment problems in physical and mental health. personal and family life which eventually may result in high turnover rates. In order to overcome the increasing problems in personnel management of hospital nurses particularly in rostering of evening and night duty shifts, which may related to eventual high turnover rates, the findings of this study strongly suggest the need for an introduction of new rostering systems including fixed duties and appropriate incentive measures for evenings and nights which the most nurses want to avoid, In considering the nursing care of inpatients is the round-the clock business. the practice of the nursing duty shift system is inevitable. In this context, based on the findings of this study. the following are recommended: 1. The further in-depth studies on duty shifts and hours need to be undertaken for the development of appropriate and effective rostering systems for hospital nurses. 2. An introduction of appropriate incentive measures for evening and night duty shifts along with organizational considerations such as the trials for preferred duty time bands, duty hours, and fixed duty shifts should be considered if good quality of care for the patients be maintained for the round the clock. This may require an initiation of systematic research and development activities in the field of hospital nursing administration as a part of permanent system in the hospital. 3. Planned and regular intervals, orientation and training, and professional and personal growth should be considered for the rotation of different duty stations or units. 4. In considering the higher degree of preferences in the duty type of "10hours a day, 4days a week" shown in this study, it would be worthwhile to undertake the R&D type studies in large hospital settings.