• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.156-172
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• 2007

The high-tech industry is the economic lifeline for Taiwan. Its characteristics are short product life cycle, rapid changes in the market, and a high obsolescence rate for new products. Under globalization, the high-tech industry has adopted Information Technology (IT) to shorten the manufacturing process, reduce costs and conduct product research and development (R&D) to increase the core competence of enterprises and achieve the goal of sustainable operations. Enterprises should actively strengthen their integration with internal and external resources and lead in R&D management to increase industrial operating performance. Effectively managing operations and R&D management evaluation in Taiwan's High-tech Industry has become a critical subject. This study adopted 4 major Balanced Scorecard (BSC) perspectives to establish the Total Performance Evaluation Indicators for the R&D management department in Taiwan's High-tech Industry. The Analytic Network Process (ANP) was applied to evaluate the overall performance of the R&D management department. The research framework is divided into 2 phases. The first phase is combined with the 4 major perspectives, Financial, Customer, Internal Business Process and Learning and Growth, as the related indicators for each measurement perspective. The Key Performance Indicators (KPI) were selected using Factor Analysis to identify the key factor from the complicated indicators. The relationship between the characteristics of each BSC's evaluation perspective is dependence and feedback. This study applied ANP to conduct the calculation and adjustment of correlation between each KPI, and determine on their relative weights for the objective KPI. The "Financial Perspective" for R&D management department in Taiwan's High-tech Industry focused on the budget achievement rate of R&D management. The weight indicator value is (0.05863). The "Customer Perspective" focused on problem-solving satisfaction. The weight value of this indicator is (0.17549). The "Internal Business Process Perspective" focused on the quantity and quality of R&D. The weight value of this indicator is (0.13506). The "Learning and Growth Perspective" focused on improving competence in the research personnel's professional techniques. The weight value of this indicator is (0.02789). From the total weighting indicators, the order of the Performance Indicators for the R&D management department in Taiwan's High-tech Industry is: (1) Customer Perspective; (2) Internal Business Process Perspective; (3) Financial Perspective; and (4) Learning and Growth Perspective.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Environmental Restoration Technology
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.97-114
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• 2019

This study aims to analyze the effect of urban ecosystem restoration projects by evaluating the short-term restoration performance of the project sites, from both qualitative and quantitative evaluations. In this study, for the qualitative evaluation, we derived the evaluation frame from previous studies and literature. For the quantitative evaluation, the changes in ecological connectivity after the restoration project were described using landscape permeability and network analysis. In addition, changes in habitat quality after the restoration project were evaluated by using InVEST Habitat Quality Model. These evaluations were applied to the three natural madang (ecological restoration) projects and two ecosystem conservation cooperation projects. As a result, three categories, 10 indicators, and 13 sub-indicators were derived from literature as the evaluation frame for this study. In the case of quantitative evaluation of restoration performance, habitat quality increased by 45% and ecological connectivity by 37% in natural-madang, and habitat quality by about 12% and ecological connectivity by about 19% in ecosystem conservation cooperation projects. This implies that the ecological restoration project can increase the ecological connectivity and the habitat quality of degraded sites even in a short period of time by improving the land-cover and land use. The results by applying the evaluation frame indicated that ecological and environmental factors and the ecological functions were improved by the restoration works, even though the magnitude of performances were diverse depending on the specific evaluation items, project type, and site characteristics. This study clarified that the success of ecological restoration project should be assessed by both of the short-term and long-term goals, which can be achieved by the maintenance and sustainable management, respectively.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.934-942
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• 2019

Previous studies on dry aged beef, which substantially increases the value of low-grade raw beef and non-preferred cuts, are currently limited to the observation of aged beef changes in laboratory settings or under particular aging conditions, whereas the factors influencing aging have so far been underexplored. Herein, we attempt to establish a technique for distinguishing between fresh and aged beef by observing changes in quality during beef aging. Specifically, we analyzed the effect of time on the quality of aged beef sourced from three Korean manufacturers and identified quality indicators that can be used to distinguish between fresh and aged beef, regardless of supplier. Storage/trimming/aging/cooking losses, moisture/fat/protein/collagen contents, and water holding capacity were tested as potential indicators, among other parameters. As a result, the quality of dry aged beef was shown to be supplier-dependent, which made the identification of factors for the above origin-independent discrimination difficult. Nevertheless, as storage loss, water holding capacity, and cooking loss significantly changed with dry aging time in all cases, these parameters were concluded to be potentially suited for discrimination purposes. The insights gained in this work may help promoting further research in this field and contribute to the development of a standard for consistent aged beef production.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.11-26
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• 2016

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which has continuously evaluated the performance of healthcare systems, has recently invested much effort into hospital performance measurement. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the hospital performance measurement programs operated by international organizations or at the national level based on the OECD's hospital performance project. Health Insurance Review & Assessment service (HIRA)'s quality assessment was analyzed based on the analytical framework of the OECD's hospital performance project. The hospital performance measurement programs of WHO, Canada, Australia, United States and United Kingdom are briefly explored, in view of the conceptual framework, key performance dimensions and indicators that are currently in use. The OECD suggested seven key dimensions of hospital performance: timeliness, efficiency, continuity, effectiveness and appropriateness, staff orientation, patient orientation and safety. The analysis of the quality assessment program of HIRA, which operates 36 diseases and procedures and 347 indicators, shows that the numbers of indicators are relatively small in the areas of safety, patient centeredness and efficiency. Continuity of care and staff orientation are not fully developed also, but the situations are similar in other countries. In conclusion, hospital performance measurement using stable and comprehensive data should be developed to improve overall system performance, and discussions on a conceptual framework that can lay out directions and key performance domains need to take into place.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.7-17
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• 2017

Loan consultants assist clients with loan application processing and loan decisions. Their duties may include contacting people to ask if they want a loan, meeting with loan applicants and explaining different loan options. We studied the efficiency of service quality of loan consultants contracted to a bank in Korea. They do not work as a team, but do work independently. Since he/she is not an employee of the bank, the consultant is paid solely in proportion to how much he/she sell loans. In this study, a consultant is considered as a decision making unit (DMU) in the DEA (Data Envelopment Analysis) model. We use a principal component analysis-data envelopment analysis (PCA-DEA) model integrated with Shannon's Entropy to evaluate quality efficiency of the consultants. We adopt a three-stage process to calculate the efficiency of service quality of the consultants. In the first stage, we use PCA to obtain 6 synthetic indicators, including 4 input indicators and 2 output indicators, from survey results in which questionnaire items are constructed on the basis of SERVQUAL model. In the second stage, 3 DEA models allowing negative values are used to calculate the relative efficiency of each DMU. In the third stage, the weight of each result is calculated on the basis of Shannon's Entropy theory, and then we generate a comprehensive efficiency score using it. An example illustrates the proposed process of evaluating the relative quality efficiency of the loan consultants and how to use the efficiency to improve the service quality of the consultants.

• International Journal of Quality Innovation
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.87-98
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• 2007

A COQ model plays an important role in the total quality cost survey. Based on the methodology of continuous quality improvement, a dynamic COQ model for different quality level is developed in this paper. A quality level is defined by Six Sigma level that can be measured by two indicators. The relationships among the four major quality costs are analyzed. Finally, the curves of total quality costs for different quality level are presented.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.22 no.12
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• pp.1709-1717
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• 2009

This review presents a series of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to assist Asian smallholder dairy farmers in identifying the possible causes for their poor farm performance and profitability. When assessing farm profitability, these indicators can be split into two types, those diagnosing problems with feeding management and those indicating poor herd management. As home grown forage is generally cheaper to source than purchased forage, the more produced on farm, the better. Too many stock on limited land is a common feature on Asian dairy small holdings. Unlike other classes of livestock, milking cows have very high nutrient requirements, therefore high quality forages and concentrates are essential for profitable dairying. Milk income less feed cost is one of the simplest and easy to measure indicators of farm profitability and is also quick to respond to small changes in farm practices. Problems with herd management can be diagnosed using measures such as the proportion of cows actually milking in the herd or their peak yield and persistency of production. There are also simple indicators of herd reproductive performance and of health and growth of young stock that assist in searching for the underlying causes of poor farm profitability.

• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.143-170
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• 2018

Objective: The purpose of this study was to develop assessment indicators and to verify the validity and reliability of the developed assessment indicators. Methods: A Delphi survey, focus group interviews, and content verification were conducted in order for experts to develop an evaluation index of the strengths of the day care center. A main survey was conducted on 438 daycare center principals and teachers to test their item quality, validity and reliability. Results: The final assessment indicators consisted of three areas, seven assessment criteria, 19 evaluation factors, 41 assessment items and a five-point rubric rating scale. As for the common strengths indicators, there were three assessment areas, five assessment criteria, 12 assessment elements and 22 assessment items. In regard to the selective strengths indicators, there were 3 assessment areas, 5 assessment criteria, 12 assessment elements and 16 assessment items. Conclusion/Implications: The efforts to confirm the strengths of daycare centers are expected to facilitate the identity building of the daycare center itself and for its organizational members to make a contribution to the qualitative improvement of childcare.

• Youth Facilities and Environment
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.131-141
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to derive and type utilization indexes by comparing public design indicators with preceding studies related to closed school facilities, and to derive preliminary classification systems through a correlation review between indicators. Pre-research was conducted in the scope of academic papers, academic journals, research reports, and special act for promoting the utilization of closed school assets. Public design indicators were set in the scope of domestic design guidelines, the Seoul city public design assessment system, the 'Good Building' designation system, and the UK Design Quality Index (DQI). and the design review of the British architects. First of all, the research method looked at laws, procedures and utilization of closed schools, and reviewed the preceding study and domestic and international public design indicators sequentially. Next, the association was reviewed through a comparison between the preceding study and the public design indicators, and a preliminary classification system for the use of closed schools was derived from this.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.127-136
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• 2012

The challenge facing the Korean National Health Insurance includes what to spend money on in order to elevate the 'value for money.' This article reviewed the changing issues associated with quality of care in the Korean health insurance system and envisioned a picture of an effective pay-for-performance (P4P) system in Korea taking into consideration quality of care and P4P systems in other countries. A review was made of existing systematic reviews and a recent Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development survey. An effective P4P in Korea was envisioned as containing three features: measures, basis for reward, and reward. The first priority is to develop proper measures for both efficiency and quality. For further improvement of quality indicators, an electronic system for patient history records should be built in the near future. A change in the level or the relative ranking seems more desirable than using absolute level alone for incentives. To stimulate medium- and small-scale hospitals to join the program in the next phase, it is suggested that the scope of application be expanded and the level of incentives adjusted. High-quality indicators of clinical care quality should be mapped out by combining information from medical claims and information from patient registries.