Information Systems (IS) is an essential tool for any organizations. The last decade has seen an increasing body of knowledge on IS usage. Yet, IS often fails because of its misuse or non-use. In general, decisions regarding the selection of a system, which involve the evaluation of many IS vendors and an enormous initial investment, are made not through the consensus of employees but through the top-down decision making by top managers. In situations where the selected system does not satisfy the needs of the employees, the forced use of the selected IS will only result in their resistance to it. Many organizations have been either integrating dispersed legacy systems such as archipelago or adopting a new ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system to enhance employee efficiency. This study examines user resistance prior to the adoption of the selected IS or ERP system. As such, this study identifies the importance of managing organizational resistance that may appear in the pre-adoption context of an integrated IS or ERP system, explores key factors influencing user resistance, and investigates how prior experience with other integrated IS or ERP systems may change the relationship between the affecting factors and user resistance. This study focuses on organizational members' resistance and the affecting factors in the pre-adoption context of an integrated IS or ERP system rather than in the context of an ERP adoption itself or ERP post-adoption. Based on prior literature, this study proposes a research model that considers six key variables, including perceived benefit, system complexity, fitness with existing tasks, attitude toward change, the psychological reactance trait, and perceived IT competence. They are considered as independent variables affecting user resistance toward an integrated IS or ERP system. This study also introduces the concept of prior experience (i.e., whether a user has prior experience with an integrated IS or ERP system) as a moderating variable to examine the impact of perceived benefit and attitude toward change in user resistance. As such, we propose eight hypotheses with respect to the model. For the empirical validation of the hypotheses, we developed relevant instruments for each research variable based on prior literature and surveyed 95 professional researchers and the administrative staff of the Korea Photonics Technology Institute (KOPTI). We examined the organizational characteristics of KOPTI, the reasons behind their adoption of an ERP system, process changes caused by the introduction of the system, and employees' resistance/attitude toward the system at the time of the introduction. The results of the multiple regression analysis suggest that, among the six variables, perceived benefit, complexity, attitude toward change, and the psychological reactance trait significantly influence user resistance. These results further suggest that top management should manage the psychological states of their employees in order to minimize their resistance to the forced IS, even in the new system pre-adoption context. In addition, the moderating variable-prior experience was found to change the strength of the relationship between attitude toward change and system resistance. That is, the effect of attitude toward change in user resistance was significantly stronger in those with prior experience than those with no prior experience. This result implies that those with prior experience should be identified and provided with some type of attitude training or change management programs to minimize their resistance to the adoption of a system. This study contributes to the IS field by providing practical implications for IS practitioners. This study identifies system resistance stimuli of users, focusing on the pre-adoption context in a forced ERP system environment. We have empirically validated the proposed research model by examining several significant factors affecting user resistance against the adoption of an ERP system. In particular, we find a clear and significant role of the moderating variable, prior ERP usage experience, in the relationship between the affecting factors and user resistance. The results of the study suggest the importance of appropriately managing the factors that affect user resistance in organizations that plan to introduce a new ERP system or integrate legacy systems. Moreover, this study offers to practitioners several specific strategies (in particular, the categorization of users by their prior usage experience) for alleviating the resistant behaviors of users in the process of the ERP adoption before a system becomes available to them. Despite the valuable contributions of this study, there are also some limitations which will be discussed in this paper to make the study more complete and consistent.
With the growing importance of technology innovation as a key factor for firms' competitive advantage, 'innovation persistence' became also an important research subject. 'Innovation Persistence' is a concept that indicates whether or not firms' innovation activity or performance continues. However, the data used for innovation studies are carried out as cross-sectional surveys in most countries. For this reason, studies dealing with longitudinal aspect of innovation persistence are rare. In particular, there is almost no research on innovation persistence using Korean innovation survey data. This study reviews the concepts and characteristics of innovation persistence based on extant literature, and perform an empirical analysis on the status and features of Korean firms' technology innovation persistence. Based on the data of the Korean Innovation Survey (KIS) conducted every other year from 2012 to 2018, panel data on 3,379 firms which observed multiple times are constructed. As a result, only part of the firms with persistent innovation were observed (for innovation performance 10~12%, for innovation activity 15~17%), and it was found that the persistence of non-innovation was remarkable(about 52~57%). And it was confirmed that the persistence of innovation activities is stronger than that of innovation performance. Besides, some features by sub-types of innovation appeared. Product innovation showed higher persistence than process innovation, and internal R&D also showed higher persistence than joint/external R&D. As a result of additional logit analysis to identify factors, it was found that radical or gradual product innovation is the most influential factor in persisting innovation in the next period. Since the sample selection bias due to a limitations of raw data might exist in the panel data constructed in this study, it should be noted that faulty generalization of the results are not allowed. Nevertheless, this is the first study to examine the technology innovation persistence targeting Korean firms and is expected to be a starting point for follow-up studies. It is anticipated that advanced research results will be drawn through the establishment of official panel data and improved methodologies.
Can the stock market really be predicted? Stock market prediction has attracted much attention from many fields including business, economics, statistics, and mathematics. Early research on stock market prediction was based on random walk theory (RWT) and the efficient market hypothesis (EMH). According to the EMH, stock market are largely driven by new information rather than present and past prices. Since it is unpredictable, stock market will follow a random walk. Even though these theories, Schumaker [2010] asserted that people keep trying to predict the stock market by using artificial intelligence, statistical estimates, and mathematical models. Mathematical approaches include Percolation Methods, Log-Periodic Oscillations and Wavelet Transforms to model future prices. Examples of artificial intelligence approaches that deals with optimization and machine learning are Genetic Algorithms, Support Vector Machines (SVM) and Neural Networks. Statistical approaches typically predicts the future by using past stock market data. Recently, financial engineers have started to predict the stock prices movement pattern by using the SNS data. SNS is the place where peoples opinions and ideas are freely flow and affect others' beliefs on certain things. Through word-of-mouth in SNS, people share product usage experiences, subjective feelings, and commonly accompanying sentiment or mood with others. An increasing number of empirical analyses of sentiment and mood are based on textual collections of public user generated data on the web. The Opinion mining is one domain of the data mining fields extracting public opinions exposed in SNS by utilizing data mining. There have been many studies on the issues of opinion mining from Web sources such as product reviews, forum posts and blogs. In relation to this literatures, we are trying to understand the effects of SNS exposures of firms on stock prices in Korea. Similarly to Bollen et al. [2011], we empirically analyze the impact of SNS exposures on stock return rates. We use Social Metrics by Daum Soft, an SNS big data analysis company in Korea. Social Metrics provides trends and public opinions in Twitter and blogs by using natural language process and analysis tools. It collects the sentences circulated in the Twitter in real time, and breaks down these sentences into the word units and then extracts keywords. In this study, we classify firms' exposures in SNS into two groups: positive and negative. To test the correlation and causation relationship between SNS exposures and stock price returns, we first collect 252 firms' stock prices and KRX100 index in the Korea Stock Exchange (KRX) from May 25, 2012 to September 1, 2012. We also gather the public attitudes (positive, negative) about these firms from Social Metrics over the same period of time. We conduct regression analysis between stock prices and the number of SNS exposures. Having checked the correlation between the two variables, we perform Granger causality test to see the causation direction between the two variables. The research result is that the number of total SNS exposures is positively related with stock market returns. The number of positive mentions of has also positive relationship with stock market returns. Contrarily, the number of negative mentions has negative relationship with stock market returns, but this relationship is statistically not significant. This means that the impact of positive mentions is statistically bigger than the impact of negative mentions. We also investigate whether the impacts are moderated by industry type and firm's size. We find that the SNS exposures impacts are bigger for IT firms than for non-IT firms, and bigger for small sized firms than for large sized firms. The results of Granger causality test shows change of stock price return is caused by SNS exposures, while the causation of the other way round is not significant. Therefore the correlation relationship between SNS exposures and stock prices has uni-direction causality. The more a firm is exposed in SNS, the more is the stock price likely to increase, while stock price changes may not cause more SNS mentions.
The purpose of this study is to compare the differences of the career development and the occupational view between giftedness in computer science and normal students in elementary school, so the results of this study provide assistance to the teacher for the direction and guidance on the career education of the giftedness in computer science in elementary school. This survey is based on 82 giftedness in computer science and 167 normal elementary school students. The questionnaires used in the study contain questions asking regarding the career development and the occupational view. The results of this study were as follows : First, according to the consciousness analysis result about career, the giftedness in computer science choose to be scientific technicians, the normal students choose to be artists. The both groups get career information from their parents, but they usually don't get career counseling from teachers. The education of giftedness in computer science does not contribute to changing their dreams, while normal students have no interest in computer science. Second, according to the career development analysis result, in comparison with non-gifted students, the gifted in information science had more success in all domains of career development. Third, according to the occupational view analysis result, the information science gifted students had higher meaningful rate than the normal students. Intrinsic domain' had higher meaningful rate among the subordinate domains, there is no difference in 'extrinsic domain' and 'incidental domain' between the information science gifted students and the normal students. Fourth, according to the correlation analysis result of the career development and the occupational view, there is a positive correlation in all domains of them. The high they are in the career development, the more they have the certain occupational view. Likewise, if they have the certain occupational view, they will be more successful in career development. Based on the findings of this research, the directing and guidance on the career education of giftedness in computer science in elementary school is same as the followings. We should educate parents regarding information about career for students who are under the influence of parents greatly and indicate them to apply to their children appropriately. In addition, for making them to have the positive image of the computer science, teacher should provide more information about the area of information and form various curriculums to induce more interests about computer science. We need to strengthen the career education for guiding the gifted to assist them to establish their own goal and realize them how to study and choose their career in the future. In school education field, it must develop and manage the definite and empirical program, not the career development program which is focused on only entrance into advanced school, to boost self-realization ability and the suitable career education program based on the correct understanding on giftedness in computer science. For this, through steady trying and research, teachers should be eater to develop the career education for students. Also, we have to implement the internal stability career education program, so it will help students to be aware of their job and career; therefore, students will be able to plan and prepare for their career in this rapid changing world.
We conduct a comprehensive risk analysis of household debt in Korea for the first time using the whole sample credit bureau (CB) data of 2.2 million individual debtors. After analysing debt service capacity profiles of debtor groups classified by the borrower characteristics such as income, age, occupation, credit scoring, and the type of creditor business companies, we investigate the impact of interest rate and income changes on debt service-to-income ratios (DTIs) and default rates of respective debtor groups. Empirical results indicate that debt service burdens are relatively high for low income wage earners, high income self-employed, low income capital and card loan holders, and high income mutual savings loan holders. We also find that debtors from multiple financial companies are particularly weak in their debt service capacity. The scenario analysis indicates that financial companies, with the current level of capital buffers, may be able to absorb negative consequences arising from the increase in DTIs and loan default rates if the interest rate and income changes remain modest. However, the negative consequences may fall disproportionately on non-bank financial companies such as capital, credit card, and mutual savings banks, whose debtors' DTIs are already high. We also find that the refinancing risk of household debt is relatively high in Korea as more than half of household mortgage debts are bullet loans. As the DTIs of mortgage loan holders are already high, under the current DTI regulation, mortgage loans may not be readily refinanced especially when the interest rate rises. Disruptions in mortgage loan refinancing may put downward pressure on housing prices, which may in turn magnify refinancing risk under the current loan-to-value (LTV) regulation. Overall our analysis suggests that, for more effective monitoring of household debt risk, it is necessary to combine existing surveillance schemes based on macro aggregate indicators with more comprehensive and detailed risk analyses based on micro individual data.
In the late 1980s, a financial crisis and Compulsory Competitive Tendering (CCT) in green space services brought with it a profound impact on the quality of parks in the UK. Such government projects, e.g. Urban Task Force (1999) and Public Parks Assessment (2001), aimed to raise the awareness of the severity of the declining standards of urban parks. Since the late 1990s, the UK governments (The New Labour (1997-2010) and The Conservative Government (2010-2019)), have often adopted community-led governance schemes to enhance the quality of parks and address problems derived from the financial crisis. Accordingly, community groups, notably 'Friends of', enlarged their involvement in the decision-making process of park management. However, there is little empirical evidence concerning the impact of community-led governance on park management, in particular, the effect on the users' perceptions of park use. This study explored the context of community-led park management to reclassify the level of build-up of governance underlined by 'A Ladder of Citizen Participation'. In addition, questionnaire surveys were conducted around two Sheffield district parks, which are located in deprived areas. As a result, community involvement in the status quo of UK urban park management has changed its form of governance based on the extent of involvement in the decision-making process. The forms of governance could be categorised in three levels: general, active, and predominant governance, where the extents of decision-making and sharing responsibility vary. The results obtained through the questionnaires show that one park (active governance), which has a stronger tendency of sharing responsibility to get involved in park management, had better contribution to park management and positive impacts on users' satisfaction than the other park (general governance). The findings highlight that stronger governance in partnerships with the non-public sectors can shed light on current and future park management through a shift in sharing responsibility for park management.
The global focus on mitigating climate change has traditionally centered on carbon dioxide, but recent attention has shifted towards methane as a crucial factor in climate change adaptation. Natural settings, particularly aquatic environments such as wetlands, reservoirs, and lakes, play a significant role as sources of greenhouse gases. The accumulation of organic contaminants on the lake and reservoir beds can lead to the microbial decomposition of sedimentary material, generating greenhouse gases, notably methane, under anaerobic conditions. The escalation of methane emissions in freshwater is attributed to the growing impact of non-point sources, alterations in water bodies for diverse purposes, and the introduction of structures such as river crossings that disrupt natural flow patterns. Furthermore, the effects of climate change, including rising water temperatures and ensuing hydrological and water quality challenges, contribute to an acceleration in methane emissions into the atmosphere. Methane emissions occur through various pathways, with ebullition fluxes-where methane bubbles are formed and released from bed sediments-recognized as a major mechanism. This study employs Biochemical Methane Potential (BMP) tests to analyze and quantify the factors influencing methane gas emissions. Methane production rates are measured under diverse conditions, including temperature, substrate type (glucose), shear velocity, and sediment properties. Additionally, numerical simulations are conducted to analyze the relationship between fluid shear stress on the sand bed and methane ebullition rates. The findings reveal that biochemical factors significantly influence methane production, whereas shear velocity primarily affects methane ebullition. Sediment properties are identified as influential factors impacting both methane production and ebullition. Overall, this study establishes empirical relationships between bubble dynamics, the Weber number, and methane emissions, presenting a formula to estimate methane ebullition flux. Future research, incorporating specific conditions such as water depth, effective shear stress beneath the sediment's tensile strength, and organic matter, is expected to contribute to the development of biogeochemical and hydro-environmental impact assessment methods suitable for in-situ applications.
Introduction As consumers' purchase behavior change into a rational and practical direction, the discount store industry came to have keen competition along with rapid external growth. Therefore as a solution, distribution businesses are concentrating on developing PB(Private Brand) which can realize differentiation and profitability at the same time. And as improvement in customer loyalty beyond customer satisfaction is effective in surviving in an environment with keen competition, PB is being used as a strategic tool to improve customer loyalty. To improve loyalty among PB users, it is necessary to develop PB by examining properties of a customer group, first of all, quality level perceived by consumers should be met to obtain customer satisfaction and customer trust and consequently induce customer loyalty. To provide results of systematic analysis on relations between antecedents influenced perceived quality and variables affecting customer loyalty, this study proposed a research model based on causal relations verified in prior researches and set 16 hypotheses about relations among 9 theoretical variables. Data was collected from 400 adult customers residing in Seoul and the Metropolitan area and using large scale discount stores, among them, 375 copies were analyzed using SPSS 15.0 and Amos 7.0. The findings of the present study followed as; We ascertained that the higher company reputation, brand reputation, product experience and brand familiarity, the higher perceived quality. The study also examined the higher perceived quality, the higher customer satisfaction, customer trust and customer loyalty. The findings showed that the higher customer satisfaction and customer trust, the higher customer loyalty. As for moderating effects between PB and NB in terms of influences of perceived quality factors on perceived quality, we can ascertain that PB was higher than NB in the influences of company reputation on perceived quality while NB was higher than PB in the influences of brand reputation and brand familiarity on perceived quality. These results of empirical analysis will be useful for those concerned to do marketing activities based on a clearer understanding of antecedents and consecutive factors influenced perceived quality. At last, discussions about academical and managerial implications in these results, we suggested the limitations of this study and the future research directions. Research Model and Hypotheses Test After analyzing if antecedent variables having influence on perceived quality shows any difference between PB and NB in terms of their influences on them, the relation between variables that have influence on customer loyalty was determined as Figure 1. We established 16 hypotheses to test and hypotheses are as follows; H1-1: Perceived price has a positive effect on perceived quality. H1-2: It is expected that PB and NB would have different influence in terms of perceived price on perceived quality. H2-1: Company reputation has a positive effect on perceived quality. H2-2: It is expected that PB and NB would have different influence in terms of company reputation on perceived quality. H3-1: Brand reputation has a positive effect on perceived quality. H3-2: It is expected that PB and NB would have different influence in terms of brand reputation on perceived quality. H4-1: Product experience has a positive effect on perceived quality. H4-2: It is expected that PB and NB would have different influence in terms of product experience on perceived quality. H5-1: Brand familiarity has a positive effect on perceived quality. H5-2: It is expected that PB and NB would have different influence in terms of brand familiarity on perceived quality. H6: Perceived quality has a positive effect on customer satisfaction. H7: Perceived quality has a positive effect on customer trust. H8: Perceived quality has a positive effect on customer loyalty. H9: Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer trust. H10: Customer satisfaction has a positive effect on customer loyalty. H11: Customer trust has a positive effect on customer loyalty. Results from analyzing main effects of research model is shown as