• Title/Summary/Keyword: Job-Satisfaction

Search Result 4,320, Processing Time 0.036 seconds

A Study on Performance and Achievement of Village Health Workers in Rural Primary Health Care Program (농촌 일차 보건사업에 있어서 마을건강원 업무량 및 업적에 관한 연구)

  • Hur, Dal-Young;Lee, Myoung-Sook;Yum, Yong-Tae;Kim, Soon-Duck
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
    • /
    • v.12 no.1
    • /
    • pp.36-53
    • /
    • 1987
  • It is utmostly important to establish the efficient fitable way of peoples' active participation in primary health care especially in the areas where the public or governmental service input for the basic health care is insufficient like as in rural areas of Korea. In light of above reason, this study focused mainly on the evaluation of roles and activities of village health workers (VHWs) who were selected from grass- root level of village people in order to derive further motivation for active participation. This is believed to be a sort of feedback mechanisms. Actually, the authors collected the activity reports of VHWs who had been devoting themselves in the primary health care services of Jeomdong Area, of Yeoju Gun one of Korea University Community Health Action Programmes and survey record on the VHWs activity from correspondent people. 1 hose data were analyzed through computer programmed package. The activities performed by VHWs were limited to the performance in 1985 for conveniance. The summarized results were as follows; 1) General characteristics of VHWs. Among a total of 28 VHWs in the area, about 39.3g of them have been replaced up to the date since the implementation in 1983, because of moving out, occupational employment and of others. The age of majority (75.0%) lied between the range of 30-50, and educational background of 67.9% belonged to category of primary school graduation, about 50% of them experienced to be or were also entiled "chief of women club" of corresponding villages. 2) Work-load of VHWs. Each VHW was assigned for tasks of health care for average 55 households of 248 persons. They shared approximately 6 days a month for the activity in average and it covered 17 cases of basic health care in a month. A half of the VHWs performed home visits irregularly without solidified schedule. 3) Work performance analysis. Informations collected through VHWs were compared with data from official vital registration at local administration center "Myon Office" in 1985. VHWs collected 100.8 of new born, 116.2 of death, 58.3 of move in and 74.8 of move out in comparison with 100.0 of official registration each. Pregnant women of 79.8% of mothers among the total pregnancy of 94 which were confirmed as normally delivered or aborted cases by all means afterwards had been detected by VHWs as being pregnant and all of them received some of antenatal cares by VHWs. All(100%) of delivered women were detected by VHWs through home visits and they were cared postnatally. Whereas, according to the records of birth registration, the places of delivery were clinic in 33.7%, and mother's home in 66.3%, VHWs reported them to be clinic in 48.9%, midwifery in 20.2%. It was cleared that most of misinformation was caused by uncautious filling of birth registration at notification. Among the total of 717 eligible women under age 44 years, family planning status of 92.6% was reported by VHWs confirming practice of control to be 70.8% of reported fertile women. 4) Attitude of VHW on the roles and functions. Although 92.0% of VHWs expressed VHWs to be worthwhile, only 52.0% of them had dignity and satisfaction in their activity and 44.0% of them had passive attitude of working saying they followed direction regardlessly. Concerning difficulties in performance as a VHW, 60.7% of them pointed out lacking of medical and health related knowledge by themselves. Still, 64.0% of them thought visiting unfamilier house to be awful and 40.0% complained forms of activity to be difficult and hard. It was also revealed that 56.6% confessed lack of interest on community health service itself. Most of VHWs needed more educational training especially on clinical fields such as cares of gynecological diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and other chronic diseaes of the aged. Regular on-the-job basic trainings were said to be needed twice a year.

  • PDF

A study on Teacher Perception and Classroom Practice of Practical Problem-Focused Home Economics Instruction (실천적 문제 중심 가정과 수업에 대한 교사의 인식과 실행에 관한 연구)

  • Go, Mi-Young;Yu, Nan-Sook
    • Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
    • /
    • v.23 no.1
    • /
    • pp.159-176
    • /
    • 2011
  • The purpose of this study was to investigate 1) how the middle school Home Economics teachers perceive the importance of the practical problem-focused instruction, 2) how often they perform the instruction, and 3) what they require for the implementation the instruction. Data were collected from 150 Home Economics teachers via e-mail survey and from 6 Home Economics teachers' face-to-face interviews. Descriptive statistics including frequency, percentage, average, and standard deviation, and the results of such analyses as ANOVA, T-test, and correlation were reported using SPSS/win 10.1. The results of this research were as follows: First, even though the majority of the respondents recognized the high need for practical problem-focused instruction, only a small portion of the respondents reported that they performed that instruction in the classroom. There was no correlation between the perception of the need for practical problem-focused instruction and the degree of performance of practical problem-focused instruction. Secondly, the of performance of practical problem-focused instruction was significantly different depending on the years of teaching experience and the subject that the teachers majored in. Job satisfaction had positive correlations with the perception of the need for practical problem-focused instruction and the degree of performance of practical problem-focused instruction. Thirdly, the more teachers shared information and materials with colleagues, the better they tended to be at practical problem-focused instruction. On the other hand, insufficient time for their instruction and a deficiency in understanding the rationale of the instruction were pointed out as barriers to classroom practice. The respondents answered that long-term training programs on the philosophical foundation of practical problem-focused instruction, materials related to the instruction as well as additional credits for Home Economics are most critical to reduce the discrepancy between the teacher perception and the classroom practice of practical problem-focused instruction.

  • PDF

The Effect of using Computer & Smart-phone on Decreased Work Efficiency due to Musculoskeletal Disorders ; Mediating Effect of Perceived Musculoskeletal Disorders (컴퓨터 및 스마트폰 사용이 근골격계질환으로 인한 업무능력 저하에 미치는 영향 : 근골격계 질환의 매개효과)

  • Park, Jong-Ho
    • Journal of Distribution Science
    • /
    • v.14 no.3
    • /
    • pp.55-62
    • /
    • 2016
  • Purpose - Average using time of smart-phone for Korean people is 3 hours 39 minutes and most people who are using a computer at home and their workplace can be affected over force to neck and shoulder due to unstable body posture. musculoskeletal disorders which caused by unstable body posture can affect strongly to decrease work efficiency. So this research is designed to measure the effect of using computer & smart-phone on decreased work efficiency due to musculoskeletal disorders and mediating effect between decreased work efficiency and musculoskeletal disorders. Research Design, Data, and Methodology - The author has developed a questionnaire with 6 hypothesis on the basis of previous research result with 5 constructs. The questionnaires were also made by interview and E-mail. 300 copies of questionnaires were distributed and 282 questionnaire were used for the analysis as valid data responses. SPSS ver.21.0 were used and made Cronbach's α and reliability test, correlation, Baron & Kenny 3 step mediated regression analysis. Result - Cronbach's α shows 0.770~0.954 and C.R. is 0.963~0.997 which is higher than 0.7. and AVE was 0.867~0.933. So the data are all acceptable condition. Using for a long time of a computer & smart-phone has a positive effect on musculoskeletal disorders. This means, it can cause musculoskeletal disorders if people use a computer & smart-phone for a long time due to unstable body posture. And musculoskeletal disorders can effect strongly decrease work efficiency. This study also found out that a long time of using computer can cause musculoskeletal disorders rather than using smart-phone a long time. To check mediate effect of musculoskeletal disorders between using a computer & smart-phone and Decreased Work Efficiency, author used 3-step mediated regression analysis of Baron & Kenny (1986). Using a computer for a long time mediate partially and using a smart-phone for a long time mediate completely. This means that using a smart-phone a long time is not the actual reason to decrease work efficiency. But using level of smart-phone is increasing rapidly day by day. So we need to make additional research about this matter seriously. Conclusion - Nowadays, people can not live on without a computer & smart-phone even a moment. But, using a computer for a long time will affect to cause musculoskeletal disorders and it will effect strongly to decrease work efficiency. Before, we thought over that musculoskeletal disorders were diseases of elder people. But, we found out from this study that musculoskeletal disorders can be happen to any people, even children, or workers in heavy industry or engaged in brain work. So we need to be careful when we use a computer for a long time. People also need to be careful to keep correct body posture when using both a computer and smart-phone since a smart-phone became more popular and using time level became longer. Due to increased income and living standard of people, physical growth of young people is so rapid. But the physical environment of society is not suitable for them since it can not follow up the speed of growth. Suitable work table is very important to prevent musculoskeletal disorder which can affect decrease work efficiency. For a person, a society or country, increased productivity is very important since it can directly connected to the job satisfaction. Education and reeducation for the people is also important, but to teach them how to keep good condition of health will be more important since it can increase the quality of work efficiency and quality of life. Computer and Smart-phone is one the best invention of modern society, but it can cause mental and physical disease which can affect decrease work efficiency and productivity. So it is necessary to observe attentively for the situation continually.

Summary and Conclusion Title :Oriental Nursing Management System (한방간호 관리체계 연구)

  • Moon, Heui-Ja
    • Journal of East-West Nursing Research
    • /
    • v.10 no.1
    • /
    • pp.11-26
    • /
    • 2004
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate the present conditions of nursing investment contents, its conversion process, and output in Oriental University Medical Center, Korea to get good qualified Oriental nursing result which is the ultimate purpose of the Oriental nursing management, and to develope a matrix of Oriental nursing management system on the basis of that project. The subjects for nursing investment and output contents were eighteen nursing directors in eleven Oriental University Medical Center and two hundred thirty-nine nurses with three years and over experience in Oriental medical center. The subjects for Oriental nursing organization, human affair management, and control function were nineteen Oriental medical center in Oriental University Medical Center, Korea. Data were collected from November, 2002 to February, 2003 with questionnaire. Data analysis was done by SPSS PC+ 12 program. Frequency, percentage, and minimum/maximum values were used for investment contents, and frequency and percentage were used for conversion process and output contents. 1. The input factors of oriental nursing management system The objective's western hospital career was over five years of one hundred and seventy-five(73.2%) persons. Nursing in-service education was performed in fourteen hospitals(77.8%). Two hundreds(83.7%) were pro to oriental nurse system. Only four hospitals(22.2%) had independent budget in nursing division. Nursing staff allocation to the bed was from 2.8:1 to 9.06:1 respectively, with a big gap of the rate following the hospitals. 2. The conversion factors of oriental nursing system 1) Oriental nursing system Oriental hospital nursing system was organized independently in ten hospitals among eighteen hospitals. The recruitment of nurses which was a vital role of the nursing division of the hospital was mostly(79%) opened. The education to develope nursing personnels was through in-service one in 97.4%. Education for oriental nursing and management was performed in 42.1%(eight hospitals) and that for reserves was done in 36.8%(seven hospitals). Administration for nursing education by nursing division was 68.5%(thirteen hospitals). The post education evaluation was performed by report submission in 36.8%(seven hospitals), by written examination in 26.3%, by questionnaires in 21.1%, and by lecture presentation in 15.8% subsequently. The directorial meeting for the nursing directors was attended by 84.2%(sixteen hospitals), and the meeting type was the medical executive and support division executive meeting in 55.6%(ten hospitals) and the personnel management in 39.6%(seven hospitals). 2) The actual conditions of oriental nursing personnel management The reason of working in oriental hospital was by voluntary in 67.1%(a hundred and sixty persons), by nursing department order in 28.0%(sixty-seven persons), and by others in 5.0%(twelve persons) respectively. The shift form was a three-shifts one in 94.7%(eighteen hospitals), a two-shift one in only one hospital. Duty assignment was functional in 52.6%(ten hospitals), team and functional in 26.3%(five hospitals) and no team alone. Promotion manual was present at 68.4%(thirteen hospitals) and the competency essentials comprised of performance evaluation in 79%, interview, written examination, training result, study result subsequently. No labor union existed in 79%(fifteen hospitals) 3) Oriental nursing preceptor system There were five oriental hospitals(27.7%) administering the preceptor utilization model, which showed lower rate than the twenty-two medical university hospitals in Seoul in which fifteen hospitals (72.7%) were having the system. To the question of necessity of oriental nurse system asked to the objectives of two hundred and thirty-nine with more than three year-experience in oriental hospital, two hundred persons(83.7%) answered positively. 4) The control of oriental nursing The evaluation results from the target hospitals were mostly not opened in 89.4% of oriental hospitals. Thirteen hospitals(68.3%) had evaluation system of direct managers and the next were three hospitals(15.8%) of direct managers and selves. There was one hospital(5.3% each) where fellows and superiors, fellows, and inferiors' evaluation was performed and no hospital where superiors, fellows, inferiors and selves, and superiors, fellows and selves' evaluation was performed. The QI activity of nursing was 42.1%(eight hospitals) for nursing service evaluation, 36.8% for survey of ECSI, 26.3% for survey of ICSI, 15.8% for medical visit rate, 10% for hospital standardization inspection in sequence. 3. The output factors of oriental nursing management system The job satisfaction appeared good in general, indicating very good in thirty-seven persons (15.7%), good in one hundred and fourteen persons (48.3%) and fair in eighty-five persons(36.0%).

  • PDF

Development of Intelligent ATP System Using Genetic Algorithm (유전 알고리듬을 적용한 지능형 ATP 시스템 개발)

  • Kim, Tai-Young
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.16 no.4
    • /
    • pp.131-145
    • /
    • 2010
  • The framework for making a coordinated decision for large-scale facilities has become an important issue in supply chain(SC) management research. The competitive business environment requires companies to continuously search for the ways to achieve high efficiency and lower operational costs. In the areas of production/distribution planning, many researchers and practitioners have developedand evaluated the deterministic models to coordinate important and interrelated logistic decisions such as capacity management, inventory allocation, and vehicle routing. They initially have investigated the various process of SC separately and later become more interested in such problems encompassing the whole SC system. The accurate quotation of ATP(Available-To-Promise) plays a very important role in enhancing customer satisfaction and fill rate maximization. The complexity for intelligent manufacturing system, which includes all the linkages among procurement, production, and distribution, makes the accurate quotation of ATP be a quite difficult job. In addition to, many researchers assumed ATP model with integer time. However, in industry practices, integer times are very rare and the model developed using integer times is therefore approximating the real system. Various alternative models for an ATP system with time lags have been developed and evaluated. In most cases, these models have assumed that the time lags are integer multiples of a unit time grid. However, integer time lags are very rare in practices, and therefore models developed using integer time lags only approximate real systems. The differences occurring by this approximation frequently result in significant accuracy degradations. To introduce the ATP model with time lags, we first introduce the dynamic production function. Hackman and Leachman's dynamic production function in initiated research directly related to the topic of this paper. They propose a modeling framework for a system with non-integer time lags and show how to apply the framework to a variety of systems including continues time series, manufacturing resource planning and critical path method. Their formulation requires no additional variables or constraints and is capable of representing real world systems more accurately. Previously, to cope with non-integer time lags, they usually model a concerned system either by rounding lags to the nearest integers or by subdividing the time grid to make the lags become integer multiples of the grid. But each approach has a critical weakness: the first approach underestimates, potentially leading to infeasibilities or overestimates lead times, potentially resulting in excessive work-inprocesses. The second approach drastically inflates the problem size. We consider an optimized ATP system with non-integer time lag in supply chain management. We focus on a worldwide headquarter, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities are globally networked. We develop a mixed integer programming(MIP) model for ATP process, which has the definition of required data flow. The illustrative ATP module shows the proposed system is largely affected inSCM. The system we are concerned is composed of a multiple production facility with multiple products, multiple distribution centers and multiple customers. For the system, we consider an ATP scheduling and capacity allocationproblem. In this study, we proposed the model for the ATP system in SCM using the dynamic production function considering the non-integer time lags. The model is developed under the framework suitable for the non-integer lags and, therefore, is more accurate than the models we usually encounter. We developed intelligent ATP System for this model using genetic algorithm. We focus on a capacitated production planning and capacity allocation problem, develop a mixed integer programming model, and propose an efficient heuristic procedure using an evolutionary system to solve it efficiently. This method makes it possible for the population to reach the approximate solution easily. Moreover, we designed and utilized a representation scheme that allows the proposed models to represent real variables. The proposed regeneration procedures, which evaluate each infeasible chromosome, makes the solutions converge to the optimum quickly.

Workplace Friendship and Organizational Effectiveness of Dental Hygienists (치과의료기관 근무자들의 프렌드십과 조직효과성 관계 연구)

  • Yoo, Youngsuk;Seo, Youngjoon;Kim, Sungho
    • Journal of dental hygiene science
    • /
    • v.12 no.6
    • /
    • pp.644-651
    • /
    • 2012
  • This study purports to measure the level of work friendship in dental clinic and examines the friendship's effect on the organizational effectiveness. Data were collected from workers who worked in dental clinic located in Seoul and Gyeonggi areas by self-administered questionnaires from early in October till lately in September, 2009 through direct interview and e-mail. Among 250 questionnaires, 240 responses were returned, and 17 copies with an inaccurate answer were excluded. Finally 223 responses were analyzed through SPSS program. The study revealed that the work friendship in dental clinic has enormous influence on job satisfaction, occupational commitment, intent to leave, stress etc. The results imply that the managers of the dental clinics need to create an organizational climate which emphasizes on a good relationship among members and have them take part in various committees or informal activities.

The Effect of Parental Support, Organizational Culture, and Marriage Support Policies on the Intention of Marriage of Unmarried Workers (부모의 지원과 조직문화, 결혼지원정책이 미혼직장인의 결혼의향에 미치는 영향)

  • Hwang, In Ja
    • Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
    • /
    • v.25 no.1
    • /
    • pp.15-34
    • /
    • 2021
  • Purpose : This study aims to identify the influence of individual, parental, workplace, and policy variables on the intention of marriage of unmarried workers. The results of the study can be used as a basis to come up with policy and practical measures to increase these workers' intention of marriage. Methods : Data was collected from 480 participants through a questionnaire. The measuring tools in this study were tested for reliability and validity. In addition, technical statistics, ANOVA, correlation analysis, and hierarchical regression analysis were performed by SPSS 18.0. Results : First, unmarried workers' willingness to marry was higher above the average. Second, significant differences in the unmarried workers' intention of marriage were revealed based on gender, age, level of education, total assets, and debt status. Significant associations were also found with parents' economic levels and the possibility of parental support for housing and marriage expenses. The differences in response based on employment patterns, job satisfaction, and family-friendly organizational culture were also significant. The correlation between policy variables and marriage intentions also showed the necessity of a funded housing policy and a marriage preparation policy. Third, based on the hierarchical regression analysis using personal, parental, and workplace variables to identify the factors affecting unmarried workers' willingness to marry, it is clear that gender, age, and the likelihood of parental support for housing and marriage expenses have a significant impact. A family-friendly organizational culture and funded housing policy were also significant contributors. Conclusion : The study found that the funded housing policy was the most important factor affecting unmarried office workers' willingness to marry. Additionally, the possibility of parental support for housing and marriage expenses and a family-friendly organizational culture at work were found to have an important impact on the improvement of unmarried workers' willingness to marry.

Comparison of Educators and Students' Perception of Evaluation Criteria for Admission to Career and Technical High Schools: A Case Study (특성화고등학교 미래인재전형의 평가기준에 대한 교사와 학생의 인식비교 : 서울시교육청 특성화고 사례를 중심으로)

  • Cho, Sung Ran;Lee, Hwa-Yeong;Han, jiyoon;Ye, Cheol-Hae;Shin, Changho
    • (The)Korea Educational Review
    • /
    • v.24 no.1
    • /
    • pp.227-254
    • /
    • 2018
  • This study examines differences in perception between applicants and admissions committee members regarding evaluation criteria for admission to career and technical high schools in Seoul. This investigation, based on "The survey on policy for career and technical high school admissions," seeks to explore and consider the various criteria for selecting and evaluating students. The target populations of the survey were the educators in charge of admission and freshmen in Seoul career and technical high schools. We report three major findings, with the first pertaining to the existing criteria and policies for admission to career and technical high schools. While educators agreed with the intent and reasoning behind the school's competitive spots, they were overall dissatisfied with the selection method and the lack of a requirement for academic transcripts. Matriculated students, in comparison, expressed greater satisfaction with the existing criteria for admission. Secondly, when assessing the importance of various evaluation components in an application, educators viewed the interview and attendance record as the most valuable components of the application, followed by future plans, personal statement, volunteer work, and portfolio, in order of decreasing importance. Students ranked attendance record, interview, personal statement, portfolio, future plans, and volunteer work as most to least important components of their application. Thus, students regarded the personal statement and portfolios as being of higher priority than did the educators. The last major finding pertained to students' rationale for applying and educators' selection criteria. At the time of application, students focused on aptitude and job prospects after graduation, while educators valued personality and competence. In summary, the applicants' viewpoints and actions aligned much more closely with the mission of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education than did those of the educators in charge of admission. Thus, in order to establish a consensus between the policy and mission of career and technical high schools, each career and technical high school should clarify the exact criteria for their ideal candidate. There is also a need to bridge the gap in perception between the applicants and educators regarding selection strategy, to establish a harmonized evaluation criteria. These goals are necessary to attract and recruit talented, bright individuals who will meet the demands of today's society.

Distributors' Preference for the Flextime System (유통업체 종사자의 유동근무제에 대한 선호성향에 대한 연구)

  • Lee, Won-Haeng
    • Journal of Distribution Science
    • /
    • v.10 no.4
    • /
    • pp.13-20
    • /
    • 2012
  • The "flextime" system, which was initially designed to maintain a balance between work and personal life, has recently received much attention as an alternative form of work, enabling employees to fully exert their creativity. Most studies show that the effects of flextime on performance, productivity, attitude toward the organization, absenteeism, and turnover differ between managerial and non-managerial workers. This suggests that workers' personal characteristics affect their preference for flextime by directly or indirectly influencing its result variables. As most Korean companies have not adopted the flextime system, little research has been conducted on it in Korea. Recently, Korean companies have been discussing flextime as one of several measures for enhancing international competitiveness. Therefore, this study aims to offer a theoretical framework for the introduction of the system by analyzing the effects of the precedent factors on the preference for flextime. Though not statistically significant, a higher preference for flextime is noted among workers over the age of 36. Older workers usually are more conservative and less adaptable to change but here the older Korean workers may be anxious and resistant. Additional research on workers in different types of businesses using improved research methods will lead to more meaningful results. Married workers display a lower preference to flextime than single workers. In Korea, the current atmosphere focused on a happy home encourages married workers to prefer regular work hours, enabling them to go to and from work on a regular schedule. This means that normal working hours, from morning to evening, are preferred as it is the most suitable system for families. However, this is not so in the case of single workers. Unmarried singles tend to prefer flextime for investing in self-development toward future prosperity, over the benefits of regular working-hours. Flextime is designed to meet their needs to some extent as it is helpful in maintaining a balance between work life and self-development. If flextime is selected, workers can spend mornings on self-development and work in the afternoons. Therefore, when flextime is introduced in Korea, it would be desirable to start with unmarried workers, to increase corporate creativity and productivity and develop individual potential. In particular, when the five-day workweek, the main concern for companies and labor unions, is adopted, synergy with flextime could be expected and a gradual implementation of flextime will be effective. Gender difference shows similar results to marital status with male workers displaying a higher preference for flextime. It is inferred that male workers' attitudes toward flextime are more favorable than female workers' because flextime enables self-development and work life to coexist. A relatively weak, though statistically significant, correlation exists between control position and flextime preference with inner-control-oriented workers displaying favorable attitudes toward flextime. Generally, inner-control-oriented workers tend to attribute the consequences caused by any person or partner relationship to themselves. Thus, when a new system is introduced they are likely to have less reluctance and fear than outer-control-oriented workers, because they think it is important to deal with the new system. A weak but slight correlation exists between the desire for achievement and flextime preference. People who have a higher desire for achievement are willing to consider the new system, especially if significant success is reasonably expected. This result is derived from a reasonable judgment that flextime offers an individual the time for self-development while the organization benefits from the resulting creativity and performance enhancements. Although not the primary analysis, a high correlation is found between control position and the desire for achievement, which is consistent with the results of previous research. The regression analysis not only supports the preceding ANOVA and correlation analysis but also shows the existence of a causal relationship. Married workers have a weak preference for flextime, which is consistent with the results of the preceding ANOVA. Relative to men, women have a weak preference for flextime. No statistically significant correlation was noticed for age. Inner-control-oriented workers prefer flextime more than outer-control-oriented workers as the former view the consequences of change to be their own responsibility. However, the preference for flextime seems to be weak. As expected, people with a higher desire for achievement have a stronger preference for flextime, presumably because the greater the desire for achievement, the stronger the spirit of challenging an uncertain future. No significant correlation exists between job satisfaction and flextime preference.

  • PDF

An Empirical Study in Relationship between Franchisor's Leadership Behavior Style and Commitment by Focusing Moderating Effect of Franchisee's Self-efficacy (가맹본부의 리더십 행동유형과 가맹사업자의 관계결속에 관한 실증적 연구 - 가맹사업자의 자기효능감의 조절효과를 중심으로 -)

  • Yang, Hoe-Chang;Lee, Young-Chul
    • Journal of Distribution Research
    • /
    • v.15 no.1
    • /
    • pp.49-71
    • /
    • 2010
  • Franchise businesses in South Korea have contributed to economic growth and job creation, and its growth potential remains very high. However, despite such virtues, domestic franchise businesses face many problems such as the instability of franchisor's business structure and weak financial conditions. To solve these problems, the government enacted legislation and strengthened franchise related laws. However, the strengthening of laws regulating franchisors had many side effects that interrupted the development of the franchise business. For example, legal regulations regarding franchisors have had the effect of suppressing the franchisor's leadership activities (e.g. activities such as the ability to advocate the franchisor's policies and strategies to the franchisees, in order to facilitate change and innovation). One of the main goals of the franchise business is to build cooperation between the franchisor and the franchisee for their combined success. However, franchisees can refuse to follow the franchisor's strategies because of the current state of franchise-related law and government policy. The purpose of this study to explore the effects of franchisor's leadership style on franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. We classified leadership styles according to the path-goal theory (House & Mitchell, 1974), and it was hypothesized and tested that the four leadership styles proposed by the path-goal theory (i.e. directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership) have different effects on franchisee's commitment. Another purpose of this study to explore the how the level of franchisee's self-efficacy influences both the franchisor's leadership style and franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. Results of the present study are expected to provide important theoretical and practical implications as to the role of franchisor's leadership style, as restricted by government regulations and the franchisee's self-efficacy, which could be needed to improve the quality of the long-term relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. Quoted by Northouse(2007), one problem regarding the investigation of leadership is that there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. But despite the multitude of ways in which leadership has been conceptualized, the following components can be identified as central to the phenomenon: (a) leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs in a group context, and (d) leadership involves goal attainment. Based on these components, in this study leadership is defined as a process whereby franchisor's influences a group of franchisee' to achieve a common goal. Focusing on this definition, the path-goal theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals. Drawing heavily from research on what motivates employees, path-goal theory first appeared in the leadership literature in the early 1970s in the works of Evans (1970), House (1971), House and Dessler (1974), and House and Mitchell (1974). The stated goal of this leadership theory is to enhance employee performance and employee satisfaction by focusing on employee motivation. In brief, path-goal theory is designed to explain how leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are best suited to subordinates' needs and to the situation in which subordinates are working (Northouse, 2007). House & Mitchell(1974) predicted that although many different leadership behaviors could have been selected to be a part of path-goal theory, this approach has so far examined directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors. And they suggested that leaders may exhibit any or all of these four styles with various subordinates and in different situations. However, due to restrictive government regulations, franchisors are not in a position to change their leadership style to suit their circumstances. In addition, quoted by Northouse(2007), ssubordinate characteristics determine how a leader's behavior is interpreted by subordinates in a given work context. Many researchers have focused on subordinates' needs for affiliation, preferences for structure, desires for control, and self-perceived level of task ability. In this study, we have focused on the self-perceived level of task ability, namely, the franchisee's self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is chiefly defined as the personal attitude of one's ability to accomplish concrete tasks. Therefore, it is not an indicator of one's actual abilities, but an opinion of the extent of how one can use that ability. Thus, the judgment of maintain franchisee's commitment depends on the situation (e.g., government regulation and policy and leadership style of franchisor) and how it affects one's ability to mobilize resources to deal with the task, so even if people possess the same ability, there may be differences in self-efficacy. Figure 1 illustrates the model investigated in this study. In this model, it was hypothesized that leadership styles would affect the franchisee's commitment, and self-efficacy would moderate the relationship between leadership style and franchisee's commitment. Theoretically, quoted by Northouse(2007), the path-goal approach suggests that leaders need to choose a leadership style that best fits the needs of subordinates and the work they are doing. According to House & Mitchell (1974), the theory predicts that a directive style of leadership is best in situations in which subordinates are dogmatic and authoritarian, the task demands are ambiguous, and the organizational rule and procedures are unclear. In these situations, franchisor's directive leadership complements the work by providing guidance and psychological structure for franchisees. For work that is structured, unsatisfying, or frustrating, path-goal theory suggests that leaders should use a supportive style. Franchisor's Supportive leadership offers a sense of human touch for franchisees engaged in mundane, mechanized activity. Franchisor's participative leadership is considered best when a task is ambiguous because participation gives greater clarity to how certain paths lead to certain goals; it helps subordinates learn what actions leads to what outcome. Furthermore, House & Mitchell(1974) predicts that achievement-oriented leadership is most effective in settings in which subordinates are required to perform ambiguous tasks. Marsh and O'Neill (1984) tested the idea that organizational members' anger and decline in performance is caused by deficiencies in their level of effort and found that self-efficacy promotes accomplishment, decreases stress and negative consequences like depression and emotional instability. Based on the extant empirical findings and theoretical reasoning, we posit positive and strong relationships between the franchisor's leadership styles and the franchisee's commitment. Furthermore, the level of franchisee's self-efficacy was thought to maintain their commitment. The questionnaires sent to participants consisted of the following measures; leadership style was assessed using a 20 item 7-point likert scale developed by Indvik (1985), self-efficacy was assessed using a 24 item 6-point likert scale developed by Bandura (1977), and commitment was assessed using a 6 item 5-point likert scale developed by Morgan & Hunt (1994). Questionnaires were distributed to Korean optical franchisees in Seoul. It took about 20 days to complete the data collection. A total number of 140 questionnaires were returned and complete data were available from 137 respondents. Results of multiple regression analyses testing the relationships between the each of the four styles of leadership shown by the franchisor as independent variables and franchisee's commitment as the dependent variable showed that the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.13, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.07, p<.001)were significant. However, when participants divided into high and low self-efficacy groups, results of multiple regression analyses showed that only the relationship between achievement-oriented leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.14, p<.001) was significant in the high self-efficacy group. In the low self-efficacy group, the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.17, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.10, p<.001) were significant. The study focused on the franchisee's self-efficacy in order to explore the possibility that regulation, originally intended to protect the franchisee, may not be the most effective method to maintain the relationships in a franchise business. The key results of the data analysis regarding the moderating role of self-efficacy between leadership behavior style as proposed by path-goal and commitment theory were as follows. First, this study proposed that franchisor should apply the appropriate type of leadership behavior to strengthen the franchisees commitment because the results demonstrated that supportive and participative leadership styles by the franchisors have a positive influence on the franchisee's level of commitment. Second, it is desirable for franchisor to validate the franchisee's efforts, since the franchisee's characteristics such as self-efficacy had a substantial, positive effect on the franchisee's commitment as well as being a meaningful moderator between leadership and commitment. Third, the results as a whole imply that the government should provide institutional support, namely to put the franchisor in a position to clearly identify the characteristics of their franchisees and provide reasonable means to administer the franchisees to achieve the company's goal.

  • PDF