• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.39-48
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• 2011

One of the major reasons for fierce competition among firms is that they strive to increase their own market shares in the same market with similar and apparently undifferentiated products in terms of quality and perceived benefit. Due to such changes in the marketing environment, differentiated after-sales service and diversified promotion strategies have become more important in the race to gain a competitive advantage. Price discount is one of the popular promotion strategies that most retailers use, especially to increase sales, but offering a price discount does not always lead to the expected result. If marketers apply an identical price-promotion strategy without considering the characteristic differences in products and consumer preferences, the discounted price itself may make people skeptical about the quality of the product. Moreover, the changes in perceived value may appear differently depending on factors such as consumer involvement. This implies that variables such as the level of consumer involvement, brand loyalty, and external reference prices, in reality, would have different effects on how consumers perceive the value of price discounts. The variables that affect consumers' perceived values and buying decisions are diverse and complicated. Several studies have examined the effects of such variables as external reference price, selling price, and brand on consumers' perceived value of products. Results have not shown consistent patterns. Therefore, we must note that the factors affecting consumers' value perceptions and buying behaviors are diverse and that the results of studies on the same dependent variable come out differently depending on what that variable is. This study focused on the level of consumer involvement as a salient variable that supposedly affects the perceived value of a product, willingness to buy, and search intentions. We tried to examine whether a price discount affects the perceived value-such as perceived acquisition value and perceived transaction value-in different ways depending on the level of consumer involvement. In addition, we proposed managerial implications that marketers need to consider as a whole, for instance, product attributes, brand loyalty, and involvement and then established a differentiated pricing strategy, case by case, in order to effectively enhance consumers' perceived values. As a result, we found that perceived transaction value positively affects perceived acquisition value and when discounting the price of a high-involvement product enhances the consumer's willingness to buy, but perceived acquisition value does not affect the search intentions significantly. In the case of discounting prices of low-involvement products, on the other hand, the perceived transaction value has a positive effect on the willingness to buy, but the negative effect of perceived acquisition value on the search intentions was not significant. We suppose that people doubt a product's quality because of a declined perceived quality derived from a price discount. Even though the price discount enhanced the transaction value, people eventually increased their level of searching for additional product information. From the results of this study, we suggest that marketers ought to establish an appropriate value-enhancing strategy based on the understanding of which perceived value consumers rely on more when they conduct purchasing behavior because consumers perceive the degree of importance of acquisition value or transaction value differently, depending on their level of involvement.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.46-57
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• 2014

This study contemplated the gardening culture from the pictures, which the scholars of late Joseon Dynasty, the aspects of garden landscapes and garden use behaviors are drawn as follows. 1. The yard by the detached house for men and guest in front of the premises(Sarang Madang) and backyard were the major places for Ahoi(social gatherings of the scholars). The mansions had interests in the management of the outer garden beyond the house wall with building structures like the pavilions on the high walls and side gates. This management and the selection of location anticipating in advance of the management are noteworthy. 2. Only house gardens had plant pots with flowers and the small flower bed(Hwa-O) at Sarang Madang occasionally had plant pots without flowers and oddly shaped stone pots and equipped pine branch eaves and traditional awnings made of plant material like a trellis. 3. The oddly shaped stones were significant landscape elements in the gardens of houses and villas. Some of them were depicted as the Taihu stone and this draws attention to the question of whether the Taihu stone was actually used in the garden of late Joseon Dynasty. 4. The gardens in villas accommodated the borrowed scenery with various materials like wooden fences, bamboo or reed fences, mud walls. They also had the artificial gardens with some odd shaped stones, old pines, bamboos, Japanese apricots, willows, paulownia trees, lotuses and plantains in the secured Madangs. 5. Gyeong Hwa Sa Jog(The scholars of the ruling class adapted to the 18th century's new historical aspect) of late Joseon Dynasty built the villas at the beautiful scenery closed to the their houses. 6. The Gardens around pavilions were located high closed to the mountain streams with nature like beautiful forests, oddly formed rocks, precipitous cliffs and viewing stones. The back side of the pavilion was enclosed by bamboo forests and the front had pines, ginkgoes and willows as shade trees. 7. The beautiful scenery which was preferred as the place for Ahoi was basically with fantastic peaks and precipitous cliffs which forms the distant view harmonized with a waterfall. Broad and flat rocks at the summit of a mountain which commands a bird's-eye view or on a mountain streamside with pine forest, willows and plum trees were chosen as the optimal places for Ahoi. 8. Pine trees were presumed to be more preferable than other species in the garden, especially an single planted old pine tree accented symbolism. 9. Portable tea braziers for boiling tea were adopted in all four types of the gardens. 10. The gardens mixed with auspicious landscape elements were the places of the arts for an unworldliness Ahoi through GeumGiSeoHwa(enjoying strings, go, writing and painting) and boiling tea.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.57-81
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• 2008

Knowledge is an essential strategic weapon for sustaining competitive advantage and is the key determinant for organizational growth. When knowledge is shared and disseminated throughout the organization, it increases an organization's value by providing the ability to respond to new and unusual situations. The growing importance of knowledge as a critical resource has forced executives to pay attention to their organizational knowledge. Organizations are increasingly undertaking knowledge management initiatives and making significant investments. Knowledge sourcing is considered as the first important step in effective knowledge management. Most firms continue to make an effort to realize the benefits of knowledge management by using various knowledge sources effectively. Appropriate knowledge sourcing strategies enable organizations to create, acquire, and access knowledge in a timely manner by reducing search and transfer costs, which result in better firm performance. In response, the knowledge management literature has devoted substantial attention to the analysis of knowledge sourcing strategies. Many studies have categorized knowledge sourcing strategies into intemal- and external-oriented. Internal-oriented sourcing strategy attempts to increase firm performance by integrating knowledge within the boundary of the firm. On the contrary, external-oriented strategy attempts to bring knowledge in from outside sources via either acquisition or imitation, and then to transfer that knowledge across to the organization. However, the extant literature on knowledge sourcing strategies focuses primarily on large organizations. Although many studies have clearly highlighted major differences between large and small firms and the need to adopt different strategies for different firm sizes, scant attention has been given to analyzing how knowledge sourcing strategies affect firm performance in small firms and what are the differences between small and large firms in the patterns of knowledge sourcing strategies adoption. This study attempts to advance the current literature by examining the impact of knowledge sourcing strategies on small firm performance from a holistic perspective. By drawing on knowledge based theory from organization science and complementarity theory from the economics literature, this paper is motivated by the following questions: (1) what are the adoption patterns of different knowledge sourcing strategies in small firms (i,e., what sourcing strategies should be adopted and which sourcing strategies work well together in small firms)?; and (2) what are the performance implications of these adoption patterns? In order to answer the questions, this study developed three hypotheses. First hypothesis based on knowledge based theory is that internal-oriented knowledge sourcing is positively associated with small firm performance. Second hypothesis developed on the basis of knowledge based theory is that external-oriented knowledge sourcing is positively associated with small firm performance. The third one based on complementarity theory is that pursuing both internal- and external-oriented knowledge sourcing simultaneously is negatively or less positively associated with small firm performance. As a sampling frame, 700 firms were identified from the Annual Corporation Report in Korea. Survey questionnaires were mailed to owners or executives who were most erudite about the firm s knowledge sourcing strategies and performance. A total of 188 companies replied, yielding a response rate of 26.8%. Due to incomplete data, 12 responses were eliminated, leaving 176 responses for the final analysis. Since all independent variables were measured using continuous variables, supermodularity function was used to test the hypotheses based on the cross partial derivative of payoff function. The results indicated no significant impact of internal-oriented sourcing strategies while positive impact of external-oriented sourcing strategy on small firm performance. This intriguing result could be explained on the basis of various resource and capital constraints of small firms. Small firms typically have restricted financial and human resources. They do not have enough assets to always develop knowledge internally. Another possible explanation is competency traps or core rigidities. Building up a knowledge base based on internal knowledge creates core competences, but at the same time, excessive internal focused knowledge exploration leads to behaviors blind to other knowledge. Interestingly, this study found that Internal- and external-oriented knowledge sourcing strategies had a substitutive relationship, which was inconsistent with previous studies that suggested complementary relationship between them. This result might be explained using organizational identification theory. Internal organizational members may perceive external knowledge as a threat, and tend to ignore knowledge from external sources because they prefer to maintain their own knowledge, legitimacy, and homogeneous attitudes. Therefore, integrating knowledge from internal and external sources might not be effective, resulting in failure of improvements of firm performance. Another possible explanation is small firms resource and capital constraints and lack of management expertise and absorptive capacity. Although the integration of different knowledge sources is critical, high levels of knowledge sourcing in many areas are quite expensive and so are often unrealistic for small enterprises. This study provides several implications for research as well as practice. First this study extends the existing knowledge by examining the substitutability (and complementarity) of knowledge sourcing strategies. Most prior studies have tended to investigate the independent effects of these strategies on performance without considering their combined impacts. Furthermore, this study tests complementarity based on the productivity approach that has been considered as a definitive test method for complementarity. Second, this study sheds new light on knowledge management research by identifying the relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies and small firm performance. Most current literature has insisted complementary relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies on the basis of data from large firms. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, this study identifies substitutive relationship between knowledge sourcing strategies using data from small firms. Third, implications for practice highlight that managers of small firms should focus on knowledge sourcing from external-oriented strategies. Moreover, adoption of both sourcing strategies simultaneousiy impedes small firm performance.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.25-37
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• 2005

Objective : To estimate the magnitude of psychosocial distress and examine eligible factors associated with the development of psychosocial distress in Korean employees, using a nationwide sample. Methods : A total of 6,977 workers were recruited from 245 companies. A structured questionnaire was used to assess sociodemographics, health-related behaviors, job characteristics, social support at work, personality traits (locus of control, type A behavior pattern), self-esteem, and psychosocial distress. Results : The results showed that 23 % of workers were categorized as high stress, 73% as moderate, and 5% as normal. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that psychosocial distress was more common in younger workers, both male and female. Regular exercise was negatively associated with increase of psychosocial distress. In job characteristics, as expected, low decision latitude, high job insecurity, and low social support at work were related to high psychosocial distress. Personality traits such as locus of control and type A behavior pattern, and self-esteem were more powerful predictors of psychosocial distress than general characteristics, health-related behavior, and job characteristics. There were some gender differences. While men who are less educated and single (unmarried, divorced, and separated) experienced higher levels of psychosocial distress than those who are educated and married, women who feel high job demand experienced higher levels of psychosocial distress than those who feel low job demand. Conclusions : The proportion of the high stress group was higher than expected, and psychosocial factors like social support and personality characteristics (e. g. locus of control, type A behavior pattern and self-esteem) were more significant factors for psychosocial distress than other variables. This finding suggests that some psychosocial factors, especially inadequate social support, low self-esteem and lack of internal locus of control for the development of psychosocial distress, will also operate as an intervention strategy in the worksite stress reduction program. It is strongly required that worksite stress reduction programs should be established in at both occupational and level as well as in individual levels.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.489-496
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• 2011

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of stocking density on the eating and ruminating behavior of growing Hanwoo steer (Bos taurus coreanae). A total of thirty growing Hanwoo steers were divided into four stocking density groups (G1: 1 head/32 $m^2$, G2: 2 heads/32 $m^2$, G3: 3 heads /32 $m^2$, G4: 4 heads/32 $m^2$) with 3 replicates (12 pens). The results of eating behaviors for 48 hours are summarized as follows: Total intake was higher in 2G, 3G and 4G than in 1G, but not significantly different among thetreatments. Intake of roughage was the highest in 2G (3.32 kg), while 1G (2.85 kg) was the lowest (P<0.05). Eating time of concentrate was highly in the order of 1G > 2G > 3G > 4G (P<0.05). But eating time (concentrate + roughage) and ruminating time were not significantly difference among the treatments. Resting time (standing + lying) was the highest in 4G (P<0.01), and lying time was the highest in 2G. Chewing time (Eating + ruminating) was higher in 3G than in 1G, 2G, and 4G (P<0.05). Number of bolus, number of total chews, ruminating time per bolus and number of bolus per minute were not significantly difference among the treatments. But number of chews per bolus was significantly lower in 1G than those of the other treatments (p<(0.05). Number of urinating was in the order of 1G > 4G > 2G > 3G (P<0.05). However, stocking density had no effect on drinking and defecating. Eating rate and chewing efficiency were the highest in 4G (P<0.01, 0.05), but ruminating efficiency was not significantly difference among the treatments.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.271-280
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• 2013

This study aims to analyze the effects of tooth-brushing facilities (TBF) at middle schools that installed TBF in 2012 as part of the oral health project in Seongdong-gu, Seoul. The subjects were the first graders at A middle school that installed TBF previously and B middle school that installed TBF in 2012. The results are as follows: DMFT, DMFS and CPI didn't show significant difference by schools (p>0.05), but code (0) was higher and code (2) was lower in female students than male students (p<0.05). As to PHP index, the students at A school with TBF indicated better oral hygiene (p<0.01). In the research on before and after installing TBF, the oral hygiene was improved significantly more after the installation than before (p <0.01). In the comparison on the oral health-related behavior, the percentage of not brushing after lunch was higher B school than A school and the frequency of toothbrushing after lunch was higher A school than B school (p<0.01). About the reasons why not to brush after lunch, there was difference in 'lack of the place' as A school showed 2.6% while B school without TBF indicated 14.2% (p<0.01). About the changes of the oral health-related behavior before and after TBF installation, the percentage of not brushing after lunch increased from 78.7% to 83.8% after the installation. The average frequency of tooth-brushing after lunch for one week also decreased from 0.50 to 0.34 (p>0.05). Among the reasons why not to brush after lunch, 'lack of the place' significantly reduced, but 'because other friends don't do it' increased greatly after the installation (p <0.05). Only with the improvement of oral health knowledge, we cannot expect either clinical or behavioral significance. Not only schools but policies of governmental agencies and financial support, cooperation of community-related groups for program development and evaluation will contribute altogether to helping teenagers to habitualize proper oral health management.

• Clean Technology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.212-220
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• 2018

Oxy-fuel combustion is considered as a promising greenhouse gas reduction technology in power plant. In this study, the behaviors of NO and $SO_2$ were investigated under the condition that in-furnace $deNO_x$ and $deSO_x$ methods are applied in oxy-fuel circulating fluidized bed combustion condition. In addition, the generation trends of $SO_3$, $NH_3$ and $N_2O$ were observed. For the purpose, limestone and urea solution were directly injected into the circulating fluidized bed combustor. The in-furnace $deSO_x$ method using limestone could reduce the $SO_2$ concentration in exhaust gas from ~403 to ~41 ppm. At the same experimental condition, the $SO_3$ concentration in exhaust gas was also reduced from ~3.9 to ~1.4 ppm. This trend is mainly due to the reduction of $SO_2$. The $SO_2$ is the main source of the formation of $SO_3$. The negative effect of $CaCO_3$ in limestone, however, was also appeared that it promotes the NO generation. The NO concentration in exhaust gas reduced to ~26 - 34 ppm by appling selective non-catalytic reduction method using urea solution. The $NH_3$ concentration in exhaust gas was appeared up to ~1.8 ppm during injection of urea solution. At the same time, the $N_2O$ generation also increased with increase of urea solution injection. It seems that the HNCO generated from pyrolysis of urea converted into $N_2O$ in combustion atmosphere. From the results in this study, the generation of other pollutants should be checked as the in-furnace $deNO_x$ and $deSO_x$ methods are applied.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of obesity and stress on oral disease in Korean adults by using the data of the Fifth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The subjects of this study are 4,627 adults at the age of 19 to 64, and the data were analyzed by using SPSS Windows ver.18.0. The results are as follows: Obesity was higher in men and the age of 40 to 64 than the other. And the group with lower education or lower income level tended to show significantly higher obesity (p<0.05). As for stress, women, the age of 19 to 39 and the subjects with higher academic career tended to indicate significantly higher stress (p<0.05). As for the effects of obesity on oral disease, there were no significant difference between body mass index (BMI) or waist-hip ratio (WHR) and oral disease but there was statistically significant difference between stress and temporomandibular joint disorder (TMD) (p<0.05). Even when the subjects with stress were obese or abdominally obese, there was no significant difference in oral disease (p>0.05). As to correlation among variables, there were correlations between BMI and WHR, stress and TMD, masticatory problems and periodontal disease or TMD (p<0.05). About the effects of general characteristics, obesity, and stress on oral disease, age was the variable influencing TMD, and age and abdominal obesity were the variables influencing masticatory problems (p<0.05). In this society, the environment surrounding individuals is fairly complex, and the concept of health including quality of life has more complex meaning than in the past. Various factors are influencing obesity and stress, and they are also influencing oral health and behaviors. Accordingly, it will be needed not only to make efforts to reduce obesity and stress but also to employ approaches from different perspectives to improve oral health.

• Korean Journal of Community Nutrition
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• v.8 no.6
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• pp.889-900
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• 2003

This study was carried out to obtain information regarding eating habits, including health related behavior and health food consumption patterns. The subjects of this study were 149 men and 152 women residing in the Ulsan area. We obtained results by means of a questionnaire and an interview, and these were analyzed using the SPSS package program. The results of this study are summarized as follows The average age of the men was 47.6 $\pm$ 7.3 years and of the women was 47.3 $\pm$ 7.6 years old. The average height and weight of the men were 169.4 $\pm$ 5.5 cm and 67.7 $\pm$ 8.2 kg, respectively. Those of the women were 157.6 $\pm$ 5.0 cm and 58.2 $\pm$ 7.5 kg, respectively. The BMI values of all the subjects ranged from 20.0 to 25.0, all within the normal levels. In the case of dietary patterns, 24.3% of the total population always skipped a meal. In particular, 15.9% of the total population skipped breakfast. No time to eat, no appetite, having no taste, and having poor health were themain reasons for skipping meals. With regard to health care, there was a significant difference between the men and the women with respect to smoking and drinking (p<0.001). Of the total population, 40.5% hardly exercised (less than once a week), 26.2% exercised occasionally, 13.6% frequently exercised, and 19.6% exercised almost every day. A total of 60.7% responded that they were not interested in their health. The mean eating habit score of the subjects was 65.6 $\pm$ 9.9. The women had a higher eating habit score than the men (64.0 $\pm$ 9.6 for the men and 67.2 $\pm$ 9.9 for the women). Except for one group above 60 years, the older group had a higher eating habit score than the younger one. The group having a higher income and a more specialized career had a higher eating habit score than the one having a lower income and a less specialized career. There was also a marital difference. The group of single subjects showed a lower eating habit score than the married group. The group having a higher eating habit score drank, smoked and went out for meals less, and exercised more than the group having lower scores. They also were more concerned about their health. In the older group, there were more diabetic and hypertensive individuals. The subjects who had a higher BMI index were more likely to be patients with hypertension, especially in the men's group. Those who had a higher BMI index and hypertension simultaneously took a variety of medicines and foods for promoting health. Those who worried a lot about their health and had health problems tended to take special foods for their health. Patients usually took tonics. Special foods for health included Chinese medicines, tonic foods, vitamin or mineral supplements and manufactured health food supplements. Preferences for them depended on the sex and age of the subject. In the case of tonic foods, the men liked them more than the women. Foods other than tonic foods were favorites with the women. This study may provide basic information on the eating habits and health related behaviors of middle-aged people. However, further studies are needed to improve the eating habits and to change the nutritional attitudes, so that people can make better choices of health foods.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.34 no.2 s.103
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• pp.177-188
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• 2004

This study is aimed at providing the variables associated with adolescent compliance In orthodontic treatment, and identifies the salient predictors of cooperative behaviors over the course of treatment. Orthodontic attitude scale, orthodontic locus of control scale and demographics data were obtained for 60 adolescent orthodontic patients who had been in treatment a minimum of 10 months. This data was then analyzed in relation to their sex, school age and treatment compliance. The following results were obtained. 1. The scoring of external-powerful others-parents, subscale of the Orthodontic Locus of Control scale, found a statistically significant difference between sex differences (p<0.05). The score of boys was higher than that of girls. 2. The external-powerful others-parents score from the Orthodontic Locus of Control scale showed a significantly positive correlation (p<0.05) with the level of compliance. 3. The salient factors associated with compliance were the adolescent patients' own cognition and decisions. 4. There was a statistically significant correlation between the length of treatment and patient compliance (p<0.05). Thus, there was a substantial decrease in the cooperation of orthodontic patients over time. 5. Other independent variables including age, sex, family environment, religion, academic standing, parents' occupation and education, and brushing frequency were investigated and did not yield any significant relationships. Patient compliance is a critical factor in the efficacy of orthodontic treatment. Individuals vary greatly in their perceptions and attitudes of orthodontic treatment, sociodemographic environments and personality characteristics. In assessing the level of compliance attainable by each individual patient it is advisable To pay sufficient attention not only to the technical matters but also to the psychologic aspects of the treatment progress.