• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.95-116
• /
• 2009

Increasingly the institutional theory has been an important theoretical view of decision making process and IT adoption in many academic researches. This study used the institutional theory as a lens through which we can understand the factors that enable the effective appropriation of advanced information technology. It posits that mimetic, coercive, and normative pressures existing in an institutionalized environment could influence the participation of top managers or decision makers and the involvement of users toward an effective use of IT in their tasks. Since the introduction of IT, organizational members have been using IT in their daily tasks, creating and recreating rules and resources according to their own methods and needs. That is to say, the adaptation process of the IT and outcomes are different among organizations. The previous studies on a diverse use of IT refer to the appropriation of technology from the social technology view. Users appropriate IT through not only technology itself, but also in terms of how they use it or how they make the social practice in their use of it. In this study, the concepts of institutional pressure, appropriation, participation of decision makers, and involvement of users toward the appropriation are explored in the context of the appropriation of the mobile electronic medical record system (M-EMRS) in particularly a hospital setting. Based on the conceptual definition of institutional pressure, participation and involvement, operational measures are reconstructed. Furthermore, the concept of appropriation is measured in the aspect of three sub-constructs-consensus on appropriation, faithful appropriation, and attitude of use. Grounded in the relevant theories to appropriation of IT, we developed a research framework in which the effects of institutional pressure, participation and involvement on the appropriation of IT are analyzed. Within this theoretical framework, we formulated several hypotheses. We developed a second order institutional pressure and appropriation construct. After establishing its validity and reliability, we tested the hypotheses with empirical data from 101 users in 3 hospitals which had adopted and used the M-EMRS. We examined the mediating effect of the participation of decision makers and the involvement of users on the appropriation and empirically validated their relationships. The results show that the mimetic, coercive, and normative institutional pressure has an effect on the participation of decision makers and the involvement of users in the appropriation of IT while the participation of decision makers and the involvement of users have an effect on the appropriation of IT. The results also suggest that the institutional pressure and the participation of decision makers influence the involvement of users toward an appropriation of IT. Our results emphasize the mediating effect of the institutional pressure on the appropriation of IT. Namely, the higher degree of the participation of decision makers and the involvement of users, the more effective appropriation users will represent. These results provide strong support for institutional-based variables as predictors of appropriation. These findings also indicate that organizations should focus on the role of participation of decision makers and the involvement of users for the purpose of effective appropriation, and these are the practical implications of our study. The theoretical contribution of this study is lies in the integrated model of the effect of institutional pressure on the appropriation of IT. The results are consistent with the institutional theory and support previous studies on adaptive structuration theory.

• Journal of Distribution Research
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.65-93
• /
• 2011

This paper aims to explore how relational constructs(supplier's idiosyncratic investment, retailer's dependence, and dyadic communication) impact the buyer's trust across the relationship lifecycle. Companies make great efforts to create trust and maintain long-term relationship with buyers. Buyer and supplier relationships evolve through distinct lifecycles. In each phase, buyers and suppliers exhibit different patterns of behaviour. Also, they have different attitudes toward, and expectation of, one another. In this study, the final outcome investigated is long-term orientation from the buyer's perspective. Data were collected from 296 survey questionnaires of retailers engaging in Crops Protected Material industry in Korea. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to purify the measurement scales. And structural equation analysis and Chow test were used to test the hypotheses. The result indicates that the effect of retailer's dependence on the trust is greatest. Especially, the effect of dependence is growing as the relationship has developed. Supplier's idiosyncratic investment increases trust in the early phase, while it is not found to affect trust in the maturity phase. In the early phase, the determination of trust begins to be increasingly influenced by partner's relationship investment only because other clues are not observed yet. Reciprocal communication has a positive effect on trust, and long-term orientation is directly influenced by retailer's trust. Communication's effect is greater in the build-up phase than in the maturity phase. A limitation of this study is the unequal sample size in each of the relationship phases. Literature has suggested that the effects of relational constructs on outcomes are different across relationship phases. This study shows that different relational constructs have different effects on trust depending upon the relationship phase.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.555-568
• /
• 2016

This study aims to examine the characteristics and meanings of the encounter between Malaysian migration policy and Korean retirement migration in contemporary Malaysia. For this purpose, I describe and analyze the features and implications of migration policy in Malaysia, and understand the cultural characteristics and meanings of migration policy, especially Malaysian migration policy in Malaysia, and examine and explore the characteristics and meanings of retirement migration, especially Korean retirement migration to Malaysia in contemporary Malaysia, in the socio-cultural context. The research outcomes of this study are followings. Firstly, because of the misunderstanding and misuse of MM2H(Malaysia My 2nd Home) program and Malaysian migration policy among Korean retirement migrants in contemporary Malaysia, Korean retirement migration in Malaysia cannot be regarded one of the appropiate and effective migration policy for Koreans. It has been utilized as an instrument of their children's education among Koreans in Malaysia. Secondly, in this regard, it has been increased the number of Koreans to return to Korea without any constructive results in their children's education and their successful retirement lives in Malaysia. It is noted to understand that Korean retirement migration to Malaysia is the movement and migration of the special forms of human migration or human exchange and cooperation in the socio-cultural context. The cultural characteristics and meanings of Korean retirement migration to Malaysia has been one of the important cultural phenomena between Korea and Malaysia in contemporary Malaysia. In this sense, it is expected that this study can be contributed to understand the cultural characteristics and meanings of the encounter and exchange between Malaysian migration policy and Korean retirement migration to Malaysia in contemporary Malaysia, and to enhance the exchange and cooperation between Korea and Malaysia through human exchange and migration, especially Korean retirement migration to Malaysia in contemporary Malaysia.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.53 no.2
• /
• pp.195-202
• /
• 2010

Purpose : Despite recent advances in pulmonary hypertension management and surgery, appropriate guidelines remain to be developed for operability in congenital heart disease with pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH). Our aim was to evaluate clinical outcomes of patients with severe PAH who underwent surgical closure of left-to-right shunt lesions (LRSL) on the basis of pulmonary reactivity. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 21 patients who underwent surgical closure of LRSL with severe PAH (${\geq}8$ Wood unit) from January 1995 to April 2009. The median age at operation was 26 years. Atrial septal defect, ventricular septal defect (VSD), VSD and patent ductus arteriosus (PDA), and PDA was present in 11, 4, 4, and 2 patients, respectively. Results : Operability was based on vasoreactivity of PAH. Of the 21 patients, 5 showed response to pulmonary vasodilator therapy and 8 showed vasoreactivity after balloon occlusion of defects. The remaining 8 patients were considered operable because of significant left-to-right shunt (Qp/Qs ${\geq}1.5$). Five patients underwent total closure of defects and 16 were left with small residual shunts. The median follow-up duration was 32 months. There was no significant postoperative mortality or morbidity. Systolic pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) decreased in all but 2 patients. All patients except 1 showed improvement of New York Heart Association functional class. Conclusion : Closure of LRSL in patients with severe PAH on the basis of pulmonary vasoreactivity seems reasonable. PAP and clinical symptoms improved in most patients. Further research is needed for the evaluation of long-term results.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
• /
• v.47 no.5
• /
• pp.351-363
• /
• 2014

Purpose: The aim of this study was to develop a reliable measurement tool to assess the urban food environment, particularly focusing on food stores in Korea. Methods: The items for the measurement tool were selected through systematic literature reviews and adjusted to the Korean food environment. A total of 25 food stores in an urban area were recruited for the pilot test to evaluate the time required for completion of the survey, ease of response, willingness to participate, difficulties in conducting the survey, and appropriateness, and 34 food stores were recruited for assessment of the reliability of the tool using percent agreement and kappa value. Results: The measurement tool is composed of questions regarding food store characteristics, accessibility, and food availability. On average, 26 minutes was required to survey a single food store, and the subjects and interviewers answered that the process was not difficult for the survey. The percent agreement for the inter-rater and test-retest reliability ranged from 93.9~98.8% and 91.9~97.9, respectively. The kappa values ranged from 0.78 to 0.97, which was very high. Percent agreement and kappa value of food with healthy option were lower than those of the general food in the inter-rater reliability (p = 0.0027, p = 0.0095 respectively) as well as in the test-retest reliability (p = 0.0081, p = 0.0290, respectively), although they were still high enough (86.4~98.0% for percent agreement, 0.64~0.96 for kappa value). Conclusion: The newly developed measurement tool for assessment of food store environment appears to be feasible and reliable; therefore, it can be applied to research on the association between food environment and dietary behaviors as well as health outcomes.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.542-561
• /
• 2000

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among elementary school teachers' high school and college backgrounds in science, their attitudes toward teaching science, their science teaching efficacy beliefs, and their instructional strategies. Both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, were utilized in this study. This paper, however, presents only the results of the quantitative data analysis while expecting to report the qualitative data analysis outcomes afterwards. Four instruments were used to ascertain information concerning teachers' backgrounds in science(the number of high school science courses they took and the grades of courses, the number of college science courses and grades, the number of college science methods courses and grades), attitudes toward teaching science, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs(personal science teaching efficacy and science teaching outcome expectancy), and their instructional strategies(indirect, direct, and mixed methods). A sample of 340 practicing elementary school teachers participated in this study. To determine statistically significant results, Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to relate teachers' backgrounds in science, attitudes toward teaching science, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs and their instructional strategies. The correlation coefficients were statistically significant regarding four variables, teachers' backgrounds in science, attitudes toward teaching science, science teaching self-efficacy beliefs, and instructional strategies investigated in this study. These results can be interpreted that programs of teacher preparations and trainings which include science and science methods courses should help prospective and practicing teachers change in their attitudes and beliefs toward science teaching. It is expected that future studies concerning teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors toward teaching science can help to improve science teacher education in Korea.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.12 no.6
• /
• pp.497-507
• /
• 2012

This study aims to verify how the characteristics of organizational supporting unit affect the effectiveness of company-wide HRD Education & Training program. To achieve this objective, we performed an empirical analysis, with the characteristics of organizational supporting unit comprising supervisor's support, job support, and company support as independent variables, and with the level of reaction stage, learning stage, transfer stage, and result stage as dependent variables. Empirical data was collected during the period from August 16, 2011 to September 9, 2011 by sending out questionnaires to employees of 5 securities firms listed on KOSDAQ where online and offline education & training program is running year-round with headquarter in Seoul. A total of 340 questionnaires were sent out three times for the survey, and total of 164 questionnaires were sampled for the final analysis. According to the outcome of the analysis, regarding the first hypothesis that tries to reveal how the characteristics affect the level of reaction stage, it is verified that all of supervisor's support, job support and company support have positive impact on the level of reaction stage with p value less than 0.01. In regard to the second hypothesis that tries to see how the characteristics affect the level of learning stage, it is confirmed that supervisor's support, job support and company support have significant impact on the level of learning stage with p value less than 0.05 or 0.01, respectively. Concerning the third hypothesis that aims to investigate how the characteristics affect the level of transfer stage, it is appeared that all of supervisor's support, job support and company support have positive impact on the level of transfer stage. And lastly, as for the fourth hypothesis that tries to see how the characteristics affect the level of result stage, it is analyzed that supervisor's support, job support and company support have positive impact on the level of result stage with p value less than 0.01. This study reconfirm the outcomes of previous research, which is that the effectiveness of company-wide education & training program depends not only on the contents and quality of education & training program, but also more importantly on the role of organizational supporting unit, and the working environment where what is learned in classroom can be applied to real business. Companies or experts that run education & training program in real world should recognize that the performance of training is dependent more significantly on the characteristics of organizational supporting unit rather than the design or features of education & training program.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
• /
• v.44 no.7
• /
• pp.1000-1006
• /
• 2015

The adolescent period, during which physical, spiritual, and physiological growth and development occurs, is important for the development of healthy dietary habits. Particularly, eating a regular breakfast improves eating habits and school life in adolescents but few studies have investigated the effects of eating breakfast on these outcomes. Therefore, this research was performed to investigate the effects of eating a regular breakfast provided by the 'Breakfast Club Program' on eating behaviors and school life. A total of 315 high school students were recruited for the program from 10 high schools in nine districts among 25 districts in Seoul during August to December of 2013. The average age was $17.8{\pm}0.8$ years and 38.1% of students were females. Based on 315 subjects, 38.3%, 35.7%, and 17.1% increased their intakes of breakfast (P=0.001), fruit (P=0.033), and milk (P<0.001) up to 5~7 times per week, respectively. The intake frequency of fruit (P<0.001) and eating breakfast (P<0.001) increased noticeably after program participation. Based on 64 students performing dietary record, intakes of cereals (P<0.001), mushrooms (P=0.027), and fruits (P=0.002) increased while intakes of eggs (P=0.001) and fat and oils (P=0.019) decreased after the program. Consumption of energy (P=0.004), plant protein (P=0.012), carbohydrates (P<0.001), dietary fiber (P=0.026), iron from plant sources (P=0.009), potassium (P=0.043), zinc (P=0.013), vitamin $B_1$ (P=0.043), and vitamin C (P<0.001) increased whereas intake of cholesterol (P=0.002) decreased. Regarding school life, the score for 'comfortable and cheerful starting of a day' (P=0.001) and 'healthy starting of a day' (P<0.001) increased significantly. This study indicates that a regular 'Breakfast Club Program' may establish healthy eating habits and school life in teenagers.

• Journal of Korean Home Economics Education Association
• /
• v.31 no.3
• /
• pp.135-153
• /
• 2019

The purpose of this study was to develop teaching-learning plans applying ARCS strategies for food safety education, focusing on units related to the 'food selection and safe cooking'. To achieve this purpose, this study was conducted in the following order of analysis, design, development, assessment I, revision I, assessment II, revision II, and completion. In the analysis stage, 2015 revised curriculum and middle school technology-home economics textbooks(12 kinds) contents of 'food selection and safe cooking' among content elements of core concept 'safety' were analyzed. In the design and development stages, teaching-learning plans, teaching-learning materials, and evaluation rubric for teaching-learning outcomes using the ARCS motivation strategy were developed. In the phases of assessment I and revision I, evaluation items were selected as open-ended questions about food safety education factors and ARCS strategies, and their validities were verified by four experts. The teaching-learning plans for nine lessons were revised based on the feedbacks such as evaluation plans considering the correspondence between instruction and evaluation, strategy to reinforce intrinsic motivation, correction of improper contents composition, and so on. In the phases of assessment II and revision II, the validity of the three items, including relevance of each teaching-learning to food safety education, suitability of learning goals, and appropriateness of motivation strategy, was verified by seven experts. The final teaching-learning plans for 10 lessons were developed by revising and supplementing the data by compiling opinions of the assessment II. It is expected that this study can contribute to food safety education for middle school students, and that teaching-learning plans which apply ARCS strategies for food safety education will be used as good references for school teachers and curriculum developers.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.115-126
• /
• 2009

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of red ginseng on women's health-related quality of life (QOL) and sexual function. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover clinical study was performed. The main efficacy was measured using the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFl) and the 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Twenty-four healthy, married women aged 30-45 years with FSFl scores below 25 were randomly divided into two groups: the red-ginseng group (N=12) and the placebo group (N=12). During the first six-week period (Study 1), each group was given red ginseng or placebo twice a day. Before the start of the second six-week period (Study 2), a crossover design was chosen with a two-week break (washout period). Interchanging the two groups after the washout period, red ginseng and placebo were given to each group. The outcomes were measured before and after each six-week period. Overall, 23 participants completed the study. In Study 1, the changes relative to the baseline in the FSFl total score were 22.50% and 22.99% for red ginseng and placebo, respectively. In Study 2, the relative changes were 8.14% for red ginseng and 6.29% for placebo. The results showed a greater improving trend in Study 1 with respect to all of the participants' sexual functions, but no significant difference was found between the groups (P=0.9567). After taking red ginseng, all the participants exhibited an improving trend in the desire domain of FSFl, but no significant difference was shown. In the measurement of SF-36, no significant difference was likewise shown. After taking red ginseng, though, all the participants exhibited an improving trend in the physical functioning (PF) domain of SF-36, with no significant difference. Moreover, there was no significant adverse event related to red ginseng. The QOL and sexual function of the study participants in the red-ginseng group were mostly improved, but no statistically significant effect of red ginseng was shown. It is supposed that this result was partly due to the affirmative impression of red ginseng in Korea. Thus, it is anticipated that a long-term clinical trial will show a significant effect of red ginseng on the QOL and sexual function.