• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.31-53
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• 2006

The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of the strategy of hospital specialization by analyzing the differences in expected and perceived services, perceived service quality, satisfaction, and intentions to revisit and recommend the hospital to others between general and specialty hospitals. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire from patients admitted to four study hospitals: two speciality and two general hospitals. The questionnaire was developed based on SERVQUAL to measure five dimensions of service quality. Four hundreds questionnaires were distributed to inpatients or their guardians and 282 returned questionnaires were used in the analyses. The significance of the differences in study variables between specialty and general hospitals were tested by t-test and $x^2$-test. The factor analysis result confirmed the construct validity of 28 questions asked to measure service quality and resulted in four dimensions of service quality: reliability, assurance, tangible and empathy/responsiveness. Cronbach's Alpha ranged from .9013 to .9358, that confirmed the internal consistency of answers. The study results indicated that patients who used specialty hospitals had higher levels of expected and perceived service, a higher level of perceived service quality, and higher levels of service satisfaction than patients who used general hospitals. Percents of patients who had the intention to revisit the hospital and to recommend the hospital to others were higher among patients in specialty hospitals. The most frequent reason to choose the hospital was the excellence of doctors in both general(29.9%) and specialty(43.8%) hospitals, that was followed by convenient transportation(15.3%) and someone know works at the hospital(15.3%) in general hospitals and other's recommendation(14.6%), and nice amenities(13.1%) in specialty hospitals. Although there were no significant differences in clinical department, age, and sex of patients between general and specialty hospitals, patients who visited speciality hospitals had higher levels of education and income than their counter part in general hospitals. These results suggested that specialty hospitals performed better than general hospitals. Specialization could be a viable strategy to tide over recent financial difficulties experienced by hospitals, particularly small- and medium-sized hospitals.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.89-97
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• 2011

Traditional quality control for manufacturing or service sector is not suitable for the quality control of a project as the project is one-time task constrained by time, cost, and quality. To meet the internal and external customers' requirements, quality costs approach to the project will be effective. Hence, we propose PONC (price of nonconformance) estimation procedure and a mathematical model, which are focused on activity-based prevention in the execution step and warranty step of EPLC (extended project life cycle). This procedure and model will help project manager develop preventive action plan for project quality costs minimization from nonconformance risk activities and PONC estimates information.

• Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.553-564
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• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study is to identify the expectations and perceptions of health center users as to the services. SERVQUAL scale was used for measurement of service quality. The purpose of this study is to offer baseline data for improving the quality of health care services. Methods: The subjects were users of a health center in S City in Kangwon-do; 170 people participated in this study. Results: Regarding service quality depending on general characteristics, the following results were obtained. First, there were statistically significant differences depending on the gender, purpose of visit, and satisfaction in the health center. Second, the services fell short of the expectations. Third, the quality of 'safe, accurate services' scored the highest, while 'empathy and friendliness' scored the lowest. Fourth, 'internal, external environment of the health center' scored the highest, while 'courtesy of staff' scored the lowest. There were no statistically significant differences. Conclusion: Based on the findings, the following are suggested. First, employee education should be provided for development of empathy and interaction with patients; those are the weakest areas in the health care services. Second, a system allowing patients to understand and participate in their treatment should be developed.

• The KIPS Transactions:PartD
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• v.15D no.2
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• pp.223-234
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• 2008

Recently the web service area provides the efficient integrated environment of the internal and external of corporation and enterprise that wants the introduction of it is increasing. Also the web service develops and the new business model appears, the domestic enterprise environment and e-business environment are changing caused by web service. The web service which provides the similar function increases, most the method which searches the suitable service in demand of the user is more considered seriously. When it needs to choose one among the similar web services, service consumer generally needs quality information of web service. The problem, however, is that the advertised QoS information of a web service is not always trustworthy. A service provider may publish inaccurate QoS information to attract more customers, or the published QoS information may be out of date. Allowing current customers to rate the QoS they receive from a web service, and making these ratings public, can provide new customers with valuable information on how to rank services. This paper suggests the agent-based quality broker architecture which helps to find a service providing the optimum quality that the consumer needs in a position of service consumer. It is able to solve problem which modify quality requirements of the consumer from providing the architecture it selects a web service to consumer dynamically. Namely, the consumer is able to search the service which provides the optimal quality criteria through UDDI browser which is connected in quality broker server. To quality criteria value decision of each service the user intervention is excluded the maximum. In the existing selection architecture, the objective evaluation was difficult in subjective class of service selecting of the consumer. But the proposal architecture is able to secure an objectivity with the quality criteria value decision where the agent monitors binding information in consumer location. Namely, it solves QoS information of service which provider does not provide with QoS information sharing which is caused by with feedback of consumer side agents.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.35 no.10
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• pp.855-861
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• 2011

With the rapid growth and development of the Korean Shipping Industry both in external quantum and internal complexity, the marine insurance industry has accordingly expanded with it. This empirical study analyzes the quality factors of the Insurance and P&I Services using 5 factors of quality measures with 22 questions regarding the effect on customer satisfaction by the services offered by the P&I Clubs. The Study is expected to provide P&I Clubs with management tactics for customer satisfaction and the subsequent continued patronage supported by their members through the enhancement of the service quality. This study also provides direction for ship-owners and the members of the P&I Clubs in finding the most efficient service provider as well as in proposing competitive prices of the P&I insurance premium as their management tactic.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.301-314
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of information service quality on user satisfaction and individual performance in Outbound Callcenter. A survey was conducted and data were collected from 330 respondents of 1 company which adopted CMS. Validity and reliability of the research instrument were tested and research hypotheses were examined using PLS Graph 3.0. As a result of data analysis, 6 out of 8 hypotheses were supported. User satisfaction is significantly influenced by information quality factors such as accuracy, currency, and relevancy. 2) Also, User satisfaction is significantly affected by internal service quality factors such as training support and reward system. 3) Individual performance is significantly influenced by user satisfaction. Implications of these findings are discussed for researchers and practitioners.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.206-214
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• 2004

Residual wall thicknesses, corrosion rates, and residual life of thirty four samples of cast iron pipes(CIPs) and ductile cast iron pipes(DCIPs) collected from water mains of B city were studied to estimate their remaining service life or optimum time of rehabilitation. The internal maximum corrosion depths of samples measured using a dial gauge after shot blasting were twice higher than the external in most cases. Therefore corrosion of water pipes was much more affected by internal water quality than soil. Residual wall thicknesses of DCIPs were higher than those of CIPs. That reason was thought to be that DCIPs have been protected from internal corrosion by lining cement mortar. Residual life calculated by maximum corrosion rate was ranged up to 44 years with 12.40 years average. Since most CIPs were much deteriorated, rehabilitation plan should be established soon in B city. Residual life of DCIP was 33.52 years average. When cement mortar lining is used up by neutralization of DCIPs. DCIP also should be rehabilitated.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.57-63
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• 2009

With an exponential increase in electronic commerce (e-commerce), marketers are attempting to gain a competitive advantage by emphasizing service quality and post interaction service aspects, which leads to customer satisfaction or behavioral consequence. Particularly for apparel, service quality is one of the key determinants in encouraging customer e-loyalty, and hence the success of apparel retailing in the context of electronic commerce. Therefore, this study explores e-service quality (E-SERVQUAL) factors and their unique effects on e-loyalty for apparel online shopping based on Parasuraman et al' s (2005) framework. Specific objectives of this study are to identify underlying dimension of E-SERVQUAL, and analyze a structural model for examining the effect of E-SERVQUAL on e-loyalty for online apparel shopping. For the theoretical framework of service quality in the context of online shopping, literatures on traditional and electronic service quality factors were comparatively reviewed, and two aspects of core and recovery services were identified. This study hypothesized that E-SERVQUAL has an effect on e-loyalty; customer satisfaction has a positive effect on e-service loyalty for apparel online shopping; and customer satisfaction mediates in the effect of E-SERVQUAL on e-loyalty for apparel online shopping. A self-administered questionnaire was developed based on literatures. A total of 252 usable questionnaires were obtained from online consumers who had purchase experience with online shopping for apparel products and reside in standard metropolitan areas, in the United States. Factor analysis (e.g., exploratory, confirmatory) was conducted to assess the validity and reliability and the structural equation model including measurement and structural models was estimated via LISREL 8.8 program. Findings showed that the E-SERVQUAL of shopping websites for apparel consisted of five factors: Compensation, Fulfillment, Efficiency, System Availability, and Responsiveness. This supports Parasuraman (2005)'s E-S-QUAL encompassing two aspects of core service (e.g., fulfillment, efficiency, system availability) and recovery related service (e.g., compensation, responsiveness) in the context of apparel shopping online. In the structural equation model, there are five exogenous latent variables for e-SERVQUAL factors; and two endogenous latent variables (e.g., customer satisfaction, e-loyalty). For the measurement model, the factor loadings for each respective construct were statistically significant and were greater than .60 and internal consistency reliabilities ranged from .85 to .88. In the estimated structural model of the e-SERVEQUAL factors, the system availability was found to have direct and positive effect on e-loyalty, whereas efficiency had a negative effect on e-loyalty for apparel online shopping. However, fulfillment was not a significant predictor for explaining consequences of E-SERVQUAL for apparel online shopping. This finding implies that perceived service quality of system available was likely to increase customer satisfaction for apparel online shopping. However, it was not supported that e-loyalty was determined by service quality, because service quality has an indirect effect on e-loyalty (i.e., repurchase intention) by mediating effect of value or satisfaction in the context of online shopping for apparel. In addition, both compensation and responsiveness were found to have a significant impact on customer satisfaction, which influenced e-loyalty for apparel online shopping. Thus, there was significant indirect effect of compensation and responsiveness on e-loyalty. This suggests that the recovery-specific service factors play an important role in maximizing customer satisfaction levels and then maintaining customer loyalty to the online shopping site for apparel. The findings have both managerial and research implications. Fashion marketers can establish long-term relationship with their customers based on continuously measuring customer perceptions for recovery-related service quality, such as quick responses to problem and returns, and compensation for customers' problem after their purchases. In order to maintain e-loyalty, recovery services play an important role in the first choice websites for consumers to purchase clothing. Given that online consumers may shop anywhere, a marketing strategy for improving competitive advantages is to provide better service quality, maximize satisfaction, and turn to creating customers' e-loyalty for apparel online shopping. From a researcher's perspective, there are some limitations of this research that should be considered when interpreting its findings. For future research, findings provide a basis for the further study of this important topic along both theoretical and empirical dimensions. Based on the findings, more comprehensive models for predicting E-SERVQUAL's consequences can be developed and tested. For global fashion marketing, this study can expand to a cross-cultural approach into e-service quality for apparel by including multinational samples.

• Journal of Korean Academic Society of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.159-170
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• 2001

Client(patient) satisfaction has been used for a variety of purposes in different settings, yet, those receiving home care services have been the focus of few satisfaction studies. Satisfaction is considered an indicator of quality of care and is also being used to assess the performance of home care providers and home health care delivery at multiple levels. The aim of this study was to develop the tool for evaluating client satisfaction in several aspects with home care service while maintaining or achieving acceptable reliability and validity. Firstly, Client Satisfaction Instrument made preliminary of 43 items composed basic 6 criteria and 7 indicators, based on a review of literature, quality improvement and client satisfaction findings in home care. Secondly, there were consisted in two expert panel groups who were made in professionals of research and practice in home care field. The tool was modified to 6 criteria and 7 indicators, 25 items after reviewing by two expert panel groups. The content validity index of the tool was above 0.8 and the results of internal consistency was more than 0.8 in all items. Finally. The Client Satisfaction Instrument in Home Care Service was made up 6 criteria such as client satisfaction of nurses's instruction of home care educational need. knowledge/technique/attitude of homecare nurses's performance. interpersonal relationship and emotional support of nurse. easiness of homecare accessibility, continuity of homecare service. overall efficacy of homecare use, 7 indicators. and 25 items. The results of evaluating client satisfaction will be able to contribute in quality improvement and service marketing in home care.

• Proceedings of the Safety Management and Science Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.731-746
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• 2011

The successful and sustainable growth of SMEs depends on their ability of strengthen their competitiveness in quality and cost and service more than anything else as a fundamental of operation. Among these key competitive factors of SMEs, quality is the most critical factor in manufacturing business fields. Because quality strongly influence cost and service performance on this manufacturing business field. There are many different ways to improve the quality performance but it needs proper management decision to choose the best way what can maximize outputs with minimum inputs. And it needs effective measurement methods and some indicators to analysis the quality performance properly. The quality cost is one of the simplest key indicators to measure the quality performance and the effectiveness of quality related management decisions. The major purpose of this study is to diagnose the categorized current level of actual quality cost of local SMEs to maximize their quality management effectiveness through comparing their level with others what's expressed in early studies. In this study, through survey on local SMEs, we found that their average annual quality cost ratio versus turnover - Total amount of annual quality cost divided by annual turnover - is around 3.69% excluded some SME's performances what have different quality control measures with others. And we found some results what corresponded with the early studies on the correlations between those categorized quality costs factors and some discrepancies between some of the literature model and the early case study results as follows. There were negative correlations between the Prevention costs and the External failure costs, and the Appraisal costs and the External failure costs, and there was positive correlation between the Appraisal costs and Internal failure costs same as early studies. But, we couldn't found any strong negative correlations between the Cost of control - Preventive costs & Appraisal costs - and the Cost of Failure of control - Internal & External failure costs -. It reveals not only the lack of effectiveness on their preventive or appraisal activities but also it can reveal there were so many effective ways to prevent the failure costs properly such as some innovative investment on Factory automation includes Error Proofing and more preventive actions to improve the effectiveness of the typical management methods likes CE (Concurrent Engineering), APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning), FMEA (Failure Mode & Effect Analysis) etc.