• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.10 no.8
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• pp.33-44
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• 2019

Purpose - As the scope of existing digital transformation expanded to various degrees, the Fourth Industrial Revolution came into being. In 2016, Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum (WEF), said that the new technologies that lead the fourth industrial revolution are AI, Block chain, IoT, Big Data, Augmented Reality, and Virtual Reality. This technology is expected to be a full-fledged fusion of digital, biological and physical boundaries. Everything in the world is connected to the online network, and the trend of 'block chain' technology is getting attention because it is a core technology for realizing a super connective society. If the block chain is commercialized at the World Knowledge Forum (WKF), it will be a platform that can be applied to the entire industry. The block chain is rapidly evolving around the financial sector, and the impact of block chains on logistics, medical services, and public services has increased beyond the financial sector. Research design, data, and methodology - Figure analysis of data and social science analytical software of IBM SPSS AMOS 23.0 and IBM Statistics 23.0 were used for all the data researched. Data were collected from hotel employees in China from 25th March to 10th May. Results - The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the block chain characteristics of the existing hotel reservation system on the intention to use and to examine the influence of the block chain characteristics of the hotel reservation system on the intention to use, We rearranged the variables having the same or similar meaning and analyzed the effect of these factors on the intention to use the block chain characteristic of the hotel reservation system. 339 questionnaires were used for analysis. Conclusions - There are only sample hotel workers in this study, and their ages are in their 20s and 30s. In future studies, samples should be constructed in various layers and studied. In this study, the block chain characteristics are set as five variables as security, reliability, economical efficiency, availability, and diversity. Among them, Security and reliability made positive effects on the perceived usefulness. Also, security and economics did on the perceived ease. Availability and diversity did on both perceived usefulness and perceived ease. Perceived ease did on perceived usefulness. And perceived ease and perceived usefulness did on user intent. But security and economics did not on the perceived usefulness

• Transactions of the KSME C: Technology and Education
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2015

This paper presents numerical results of static structural stability analysis in development of a vertical transfer device of a PRT(Personal Rapid Transit) vehicle. The vertical transfer of a fully occupied vehicle operating on a road network is the first attempt, which is expected to contribute to overcome the limitations of conventional 2-dimensional operation mode. In particular, the vertical transfer apparatus designed based on vertical circulating conveyors is capable of continuous transfer without time delay so that it enables to accommodate a high traffic density. This system has been frequently used in a logistics field; however, it is essential to assess a structural integrity because an external force by a vehicle weight is exerted on the conveyors in the form of a concentrated load unlike a conventional logistic transport. In this study, prior to the production process, the structural performance of the pilot design in an early stage is numerically evaluated using the commercial finite element method (FEM) solver (i.e., $Ansys^{(R)}$).

• 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.