• Title/Summary/Keyword: Reduce risks

Search Result 536, Processing Time 0.031 seconds

Numerical Analysis of Collapse Behavior in Industrial Stack Explosive Demolition (산업용 연돌 발파해체에서 붕괴거동에 관한 수치해석적 연구)

  • Pu-Reun Jeon;Gyeong-Jo Min;Daisuke Fukuda;Hoon Park;Chul-Gi Suk;Tae-Hyeob Song;Kyong-Pil Jang;Sang-Ho Cho
    • Explosives and Blasting
    • /
    • v.41 no.3
    • /
    • pp.62-72
    • /
    • 2023
  • The aging of plant structures due to industrialization in the 1970s has increased the demand for blast demolition. While blasting can reduce exposure to environmental pollution by shortening the demolition period, improper blasting design and construction plans pose significant safety risks. Thus, it is vital to consider optimal blasting demolition conditions and other factors through collapse behavior simulation. This study utilizes a 3-D combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM) code-based 3-D DFPA to simulate the collapse of a chimney structure in a thermal power plant in Seocheon, South Korea. The collapse behavior from the numerical simulation is compared to the actual structure collapse, and the numerical simulation result presents good agreement with the actual building demolition. Additionally, various numerical simulations have been conducted on the chimney models to analyze the impact of the duct size in the pre-weakening area. The no-duct, duct, and double-area duct models were compared in terms of crack pattern and history of Z-axis displacement. The findings show that the elapse-time for demolition decreases as the area of the duct increases, causing collapse to occur quickly by increasing the load-bearing area.

Accident Risk Consequences Analysis for Operating a Hydrogen Refueling Station in Urban Railway Site (도심 내 철도부지 수소충전소 운영을 위한 사고 위험 영향 분석)

  • Jae Yong Lee;Deokkyu Youn;Chul-Ho Lee;Jaeyoung Lee
    • Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
    • /
    • v.27 no.4
    • /
    • pp.70-77
    • /
    • 2023
  • In response to climate change, each country is proposing a goal to reduce greenhouse gases in its energy supply and demand plan, and the use of hydrogen gas is a topic that is always prioritized as an energy resource for implementation. A popular way to use this hydrogen gas is the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and expansion of hydrogen charging stations is essential for using these hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. However, there are several limitations to the expansion of hydrogen refueling stations, the most representative of which is resident acceptance. Most of the hydrogen charging stations currently built in Korea are located in the outskirts with low population density, so the inconvenience to hydrogen fuel cell vehicle users has not been resolved, and as a result, there has been no progress in the spread of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. In this paper, we analyzed the consequences of accident damage to determine the risks of constructing a hydrogen charging station on a railroad site frequently used by citizens. The target hydrogen charging station site was a railroad depot in Busan, and there are trains, national highways, and commercial facilities around this site. Assuming the worst-case scenario, we would like to consider the safety of the hydrogen refueling station site by analyzing the area affected by the accident and its consequence.

The Association between Pulmonary Function Test Result and Combustible Cigarette Smoking or Electrical Cigarette Smoking in Korean Adults : Using the 2014-2019 Korean national health and nutrition examination survey data (한국 성인에서 일반담배 또는 가열 전자담배를 이용한 흡연 형태와 폐 기능 검사 결과와의 관련성: 2014-2019년도 국민건강영양조사 자료를 이용하여)

  • Il-hwan Kim;Il-Hyun Lee;Sae-Ron Shin
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
    • /
    • v.12 no.1
    • /
    • pp.27-39
    • /
    • 2024
  • Purpose : Smoking is a major factor in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), but the effect of electrical cigarette smoking on COPD development is still uncertain. This study aimed to compare the functions of airways and lungs exposed to combustible cigarettes and electrical cigarettes based on the pulmonary function test (PFT) results from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Methods : This study used data from 8,942 participants with PFT results out of 47,309 total subjects from the 6th to 8th Korean NHANES (2014-2015, 2016-2018, and 2019, respectively). Individuals with diseases such as cancer, ex-smokers, and dual tobacco users were excluded. The PFT results were analyzed according to the COPD diagnostic criteria. After adjusting for confounding variables, a complex sample generalized linear model ANOVA test was performed to investigate the association between PFT results and combustible smoker or electrical cigarette user groups. Results : In an analysis based on the obstructive ventilatory disorders (forced expiratory volume in 1 second[FEV1]/forced vital capacity[FVC]<.7), combustible cigarette smokers showed a 3.46 times higher risk of COPD compared to non-smokers, while electrical cigarette smokers exhibited no significant difference in terms of COPD-related risks compared to non-smokers. FEV1 showed a negative relation with combustible cigarette smokers as reported elsewhere (B=-.07, p<.001). FEV1/FVC was negatively related to both combustible cigarette smokers (B=-.03, p<.001) and electrical cigarette smokers (B=-.02, p<.001). Conclusion : FEV1/FVC decreases were observed in the long-term exposure to both combustible and electrical cigarettes. The lower FEV1 in the combustible cigarette group implies the worsening of the severity of COPD, suggesting more damage to the airways and lungs in the short term. Therefore, the temporary electrical cigarettes use for the transition period in order to smoking cessation potentially aids to reduce the harmful effect of combustible cigarettes in COPD development.

Groundwater Flow Analysis During Excavation for Underground Tunnel Construction (지하 터널 건설을 위한 굴착 시 지하수 유동 분석)

  • Sungyeol Lee;Wonjin Baek;Jinyoung Kim;Changsung Jeong;Jaemo Kang
    • Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
    • /
    • v.25 no.6
    • /
    • pp.19-24
    • /
    • 2024
  • Urban densification has necessitated the development of subterranean spaces such as subway networks and underground tunnels to facilitate the dispersal and movement of populations. Development of these underground spaces requires excavation from the ground surface, which can induce groundwater flow and potentially lead to ground subsidence and sinkholes, damaging structures. To mitigate these risks, it is essential to model groundwater flow prior to construction, analyze its characteristics, and predict potential groundwater discharge during excavation. In this study, we collected meteorological, topographical, and soil conditions data for the city of ○○, where tunnel construction was planned. Using the Visual MODFLOW program, we modeled the groundwater flow. Excavation sections were set as drainage points to monitor groundwater discharge during the excavation process, and the effectiveness of seepage control measures was assessed. The model was validated by comparing measured groundwater levels with those predicted by the model, yielding a coefficient of determination of 0.87. Our findings indicate that groundwater discharge is most significant at the beginning of the excavation. Additionally, the presence of seepage barriers was found to reduce groundwater discharge by approximately 59%.

A Machine Learning-based Total Production Time Prediction Method for Customized-Manufacturing Companies (주문생산 기업을 위한 기계학습 기반 총생산시간 예측 기법)

  • Park, Do-Myung;Choi, HyungRim;Park, Byung-Kwon
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.27 no.1
    • /
    • pp.177-190
    • /
    • 2021
  • Due to the development of the fourth industrial revolution technology, efforts are being made to improve areas that humans cannot handle by utilizing artificial intelligence techniques such as machine learning. Although on-demand production companies also want to reduce corporate risks such as delays in delivery by predicting total production time for orders, they are having difficulty predicting this because the total production time is all different for each order. The Theory of Constraints (TOC) theory was developed to find the least efficient areas to increase order throughput and reduce order total cost, but failed to provide a forecast of total production time. Order production varies from order to order due to various customer needs, so the total production time of individual orders can be measured postmortem, but it is difficult to predict in advance. The total measured production time of existing orders is also different, which has limitations that cannot be used as standard time. As a result, experienced managers rely on persimmons rather than on the use of the system, while inexperienced managers use simple management indicators (e.g., 60 days total production time for raw materials, 90 days total production time for steel plates, etc.). Too fast work instructions based on imperfections or indicators cause congestion, which leads to productivity degradation, and too late leads to increased production costs or failure to meet delivery dates due to emergency processing. Failure to meet the deadline will result in compensation for delayed compensation or adversely affect business and collection sectors. In this study, to address these problems, an entity that operates an order production system seeks to find a machine learning model that estimates the total production time of new orders. It uses orders, production, and process performance for materials used for machine learning. We compared and analyzed OLS, GLM Gamma, Extra Trees, and Random Forest algorithms as the best algorithms for estimating total production time and present the results.

The Effect of Mutual Trust on Relational Performance in Supplier-Buyer Relationships for Business Services Transactions (재상업복무교역중적매매관계중상호신임대관계적효적영향(在商业服务交易中的买卖关系中相互信任对关系绩效的影响))

  • Noh, Jeon-Pyo
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
    • /
    • v.19 no.4
    • /
    • pp.32-43
    • /
    • 2009
  • Trust has been studied extensively in psychology, economics, and sociology, and its importance has been emphasized not only in marketing, but also in business disciplines in general. Unlike past relationships between suppliers and buyers, which take considerable advantage of private networks and may involve unethical business practices, partnerships between suppliers and buyers are at the core of success for industrial marketing amid intense global competition in the 21st century. A high level of mutual cooperation occurs through an exchange relationship based on trust, which brings long-term benefits, competitive enhancements, and transaction cost reductions, among other benefits, for both buyers and suppliers. In spite of the important role of trust, existing studies in buy-supply situations overlook the role of trust and do not systematically analyze the effect of trust on relational performance. Consequently, an in-depth study that determines the relation of trust to the relational performance between buyers and suppliers of business services is absolutely needed. Business services in this study, which include those supporting the manufacturing industry, are drawing attention as the economic growth engine for the next generation. The Korean government has selected business services as a strategic area for the development of manufacturing sectors. Since the demands for opening business services markets are becoming fiercer, the competitiveness of the business service industry must be promoted now more than ever. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the mutual trust between buyers and suppliers on relational performance. Specifically, this study proposed a theoretical model of trust-relational performance in the transactions of business services and empirically tested the hypotheses delineated from the framework. The study suggests strategic implications based on research findings. Empirical data were collected via multiple methods, including via telephone, mail, and in-person interviews. Sample companies were knowledge-based companies supplying and purchasing business services in Korea. The present study collected data on a dyadic basis. Each pair of sample companies includes a buying company and its corresponding supplying company. Mutual trust was traced for each pair of companies. This study proposes a model of trust-relational performance of buying-supplying for business services. The model consists of trust and its antecedents and consequences. The trust of buyers is classified into trust toward the supplying company and trust toward salespersons. Viewing trust both at the individual level and the organizational level is based on the research of Doney and Cannon (1997). Normally, buyers are the subject of trust, but this study supposes that suppliers are the subjects. Hence, it uniquely focused on the bilateral perspective of perceived risk. In other words, suppliers, like buyers, are the subject of trust since transactions are normally bilateral. From this point of view, suppliers' trust in buyers is as important as buyers' trust in suppliers. The suppliers' trust is influenced by the extent to which it trusts the buying companies and the buyers. This classification of trust using an individual level and an organization level is based on the suggestion of Doney and Cannon (1997). Trust affects the process of supplier selection, which works in a bilateral manner. Suppliers are actively involved in the supplier selection process, working very closely with buyers. In addition, the process is affected by the extent to which each party trusts its partners. The selection process consists of certain steps: recognition, information search, supplier selection, and performance evaluation. As a result of the process, both buyers and suppliers evaluate the performance and take corrective actions on the basis of such outcomes as tangible, intangible, and/or side effects. The measurement of trust used for the present study was developed on the basis of the studies of Mayer, Davis and Schoorman (1995) and Mayer and Davis (1999). Based on their recommendations, the three dimensions of trust used for the study include ability, benevolence, and integrity. The original questions were adjusted to the context of the transactions of business services. For example, a question such as "He/she has professional capabilities" has been changed to "The salesperson showed professional capabilities while we talked about our products." The measurement used for this study differs from those used in previous studies (Rotter 1967; Sullivan and Peterson 1982; Dwyer and Oh 1987). The measurements of the antecedents and consequences of trust used for this study were developed on the basis of Doney and Cannon (1997). The original questions were adjusted to the context of transactions in business services. In particular, questions were developed for both buyers and suppliers to address the following factors: reputation (integrity, customer care, good-will), market standing (company size, market share, positioning in the industry), willingness to customize (product, process, delivery), information sharing (proprietary information, private information), willingness to maintain relationships, perceived professionalism, authority empowerment, buyer-seller similarity, and contact frequency. As a consequential variable of trust, relational performance was measured. Relational performance is classified into tangible effects, intangible effects, and side effects. Tangible effects include financial performance; intangible effects include improvements in relations, network developing, and internal employee satisfaction; side effects include those not included either in the tangible or intangible effects. Three hundred fifty pairs of companies were contacted, and one hundred five pairs of companies responded. After deleting five company pairs because of incomplete responses, one hundred five pairs of companies were used for data analysis. The response ratio of the companies used for data analysis is 30% (105/350), which is above the average response ratio in industrial marketing research. As for the characteristics of the respondent companies, the majority of the companies operate service businesses for both buyers (85.4%) and suppliers (81.8%). The majority of buyers (76%) deal with consumer goods, while the majority of suppliers (70%) deal with industrial goods. This may imply that buyers process the incoming material, parts, and components to produce the finished consumer goods. As indicated by their report of the length of acquaintance with their partners, suppliers appear to have longer business relationships than do buyers. Hypothesis 1 tested the effects of buyer-supplier characteristics on trust. The salesperson's professionalism (t=2.070, p<0.05) and authority empowerment (t=2.328, p<0.05) positively affected buyers' trust toward suppliers. On the other hand, authority empowerment (t=2.192, p<0.05) positively affected supplier trust toward buyers. For both buyers and suppliers, the degree of authority empowerment plays a crucial role in the maintenance of their trust in each other. Hypothesis 2 tested the effects of buyerseller relational characteristics on trust. Buyers tend to trust suppliers, as suppliers make every effort to contact buyers (t=2.212, p<0.05). This tendency has also been shown to be much stronger for suppliers (t=2.591, p<0.01). On the other hand suppliers trust buyers because suppliers perceive buyers as being similar to themselves (t=2.702, p<0.01). This finding confirmed the results of Crosby, Evans, and Cowles (1990), which reported that suppliers and buyers build relationships through regular meetings, either for business or personal matters. Hypothesis 3 tested the effects of trust on perceived risk. It has been found that for both suppliers and buyers the lower is the trust, the higher is the perceived risk (t=-6.621, p<0.01 for buyers; t=-2.437, p<0.05). Interestingly, this tendency has been shown to be much stronger for buyers than for suppliers. One possible explanation for this higher level of perceived risk is that buyers normally perceive higher risks than do suppliers in transactions involving business services. For this reason, it is necessary for suppliers to implement risk reduction strategies for buyers. Hypothesis 4 tested the effects of trust on information searching. It has been found that for both suppliers and buyers, contrary to expectation, trust depends on their partner's reputation (t=2.929, p<0.01 for buyers; t=2.711, p<0.05 for suppliers). This finding shows that suppliers with good reputations tend to be trusted. Prior experience did not show any significant relationship with trust for either buyers or suppliers. Hypothesis 5 tested the effects of trust on supplier/buyer selection. Unlike buyers, suppliers tend to trust buyers when they think that previous transactions with buyers were important (t=2.913 p<0.01). However, this study did not show any significant relationship between source loyalty and the trust of buyers in suppliers. Hypothesis 6 tested the effects of trust on relational performances. For buyers and suppliers, financial performance reportedly improved when they trusted their partners (t=2.301, p<0.05 for buyers; t=3.692, p<0.01 for suppliers). It is interesting that this tendency was much stronger for suppliers than it was for buyers. Similarly, competitiveness was reported to improve when buyers and suppliers trusted their partners (t=3.563, p<0.01 for buyers; t=3.042, p<0.01 for suppliers). For suppliers, efficiency and productivity were reportedly improved when they trusted buyers (t=2.673, p<0.01). Other performance indices showed insignificant relationships with trust. The findings of this study have some strategic implications. First and most importantly, trust-based transactions are beneficial for both suppliers and buyers. As verified in the study, financial performance can be improved through efforts to build and maintain mutual trust. Similarly, competitiveness can be increased through the same kinds of effort. Second, trust-based transactions can facilitate the reduction of perceived risks inherent in the purchasing situation. This finding has implications for both suppliers and buyers. It is generally believed that buyers perceive higher risks in a highly involved purchasing situation. To reduce risks, previous studies have recommended that suppliers devise risk-reducing tactics. Moving beyond these recommendations, the present study uniquely focused on the bilateral perspective of perceived risk. In other words, suppliers are also susceptible to perceived risks, especially when they supply services that require very technical and sophisticated manipulations and maintenance. Consequently, buyers and suppliers must solve problems together in close collaboration. Hence, mutual trust plays a crucial role in the problem-solving process. Third, as found in this study, the more authority a salesperson has, the more he or she can be trusted. This finding is very important with regard to tactics. Building trust is a long-term assignment; however, when mutual trust has not been developed, suppliers can overcome the problems they encounter by empowering a salesperson with the authority to make certain decisions. This finding applies to suppliers as well.

  • PDF

Early Results of Aortic Valve-sparing Procedures in Patients with Annuloaortic Ectasia (대동맥륜대동맥확장(Annuloaortic Ectasia) 환자에서 대동맥판막을 보존하면서 시행된 대동맥근부 및 상행대동맥 치환술의 단기 성적)

  • Sung Kiick;Park Kay-Hyun;Lee Young Tak;Jun Tae-Gook;Yang Ji-Hyuk;Kim Su Wan;Kim Jin Sun;Cho Sung Woo;Kim Si Wook;Choi Jin Ho;Park Pyo Won
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
    • /
    • v.38 no.7 s.252
    • /
    • pp.483-488
    • /
    • 2005
  • Aortic valve-sparing procedures could reduce valve-related morbidity, but may increase operative risks; therefore, these procedures could not be performed routinely. We attempted to find out the early results while focusing on the operative risks associated with these procedures in our hospital. Material and Method: From May 1996 to July 2003, 26 patients underwent these procedures including 15 patients with Marfan syndrome and 1 patient with Behcet disease. There were 17 men and 9 women with mean age of $37.9\pm19.2$ years (range: 6 months-74 years). Ten patients had ascending aortic dissection, 18 patients had more than moderate degree of aortic valve insufficiency (AI). Two types of valve-sparing procedures were performed: valve reimplantation in 14 and root remodeling in 12 patients. Associated procedures were performed as follows: aortic valve plasty in 6, mitral valve plasty in 5, hemi-arch replacement in 4, total arch replacement in 2, coronary artery bypass surgery in 1 and Maze procedure in 1 patient(s). Result: In four patients, valve-sparing procedures were converted to Bentall procedures during operation. Including these patients, there was no operative deaths, 3 patients underwent re-operation due to bleeding, 1 patient had permanent pacemaker. The median duration of ICU stay was 45.5 hours, the median duration of hospital stay was 10.5 days. In 22 patients excluding 4 converted patients, intraoperative transesophageal echocardiogram (TEE) showed less than mild degree of AI in all except one who had not received intra-operative TEE in the beginning and showed moderate degree of AI at discharge. The mean duration of follow-up was $21.2\pm27.4$ months. All patients were alive except one who died during other departmental surgery. In 3 patients, more than moderate degree of AI was recurred, but there were no reoperation. Conclusion: Aortic valve-sparing procedures could be performed relatively safely in selected patients who had annuloaortic ectasia.

A Study on Risk Parity Asset Allocation Model with XGBoos (XGBoost를 활용한 리스크패리티 자산배분 모형에 관한 연구)

  • Kim, Younghoon;Choi, HeungSik;Kim, SunWoong
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • v.26 no.1
    • /
    • pp.135-149
    • /
    • 2020
  • Artificial intelligences are changing world. Financial market is also not an exception. Robo-Advisor is actively being developed, making up the weakness of traditional asset allocation methods and replacing the parts that are difficult for the traditional methods. It makes automated investment decisions with artificial intelligence algorithms and is used with various asset allocation models such as mean-variance model, Black-Litterman model and risk parity model. Risk parity model is a typical risk-based asset allocation model which is focused on the volatility of assets. It avoids investment risk structurally. So it has stability in the management of large size fund and it has been widely used in financial field. XGBoost model is a parallel tree-boosting method. It is an optimized gradient boosting model designed to be highly efficient and flexible. It not only makes billions of examples in limited memory environments but is also very fast to learn compared to traditional boosting methods. It is frequently used in various fields of data analysis and has a lot of advantages. So in this study, we propose a new asset allocation model that combines risk parity model and XGBoost machine learning model. This model uses XGBoost to predict the risk of assets and applies the predictive risk to the process of covariance estimation. There are estimated errors between the estimation period and the actual investment period because the optimized asset allocation model estimates the proportion of investments based on historical data. these estimated errors adversely affect the optimized portfolio performance. This study aims to improve the stability and portfolio performance of the model by predicting the volatility of the next investment period and reducing estimated errors of optimized asset allocation model. As a result, it narrows the gap between theory and practice and proposes a more advanced asset allocation model. In this study, we used the Korean stock market price data for a total of 17 years from 2003 to 2019 for the empirical test of the suggested model. The data sets are specifically composed of energy, finance, IT, industrial, material, telecommunication, utility, consumer, health care and staple sectors. We accumulated the value of prediction using moving-window method by 1,000 in-sample and 20 out-of-sample, so we produced a total of 154 rebalancing back-testing results. We analyzed portfolio performance in terms of cumulative rate of return and got a lot of sample data because of long period results. Comparing with traditional risk parity model, this experiment recorded improvements in both cumulative yield and reduction of estimated errors. The total cumulative return is 45.748%, about 5% higher than that of risk parity model and also the estimated errors are reduced in 9 out of 10 industry sectors. The reduction of estimated errors increases stability of the model and makes it easy to apply in practical investment. The results of the experiment showed improvement of portfolio performance by reducing the estimated errors of the optimized asset allocation model. Many financial models and asset allocation models are limited in practical investment because of the most fundamental question of whether the past characteristics of assets will continue into the future in the changing financial market. However, this study not only takes advantage of traditional asset allocation models, but also supplements the limitations of traditional methods and increases stability by predicting the risks of assets with the latest algorithm. There are various studies on parametric estimation methods to reduce the estimated errors in the portfolio optimization. We also suggested a new method to reduce estimated errors in optimized asset allocation model using machine learning. So this study is meaningful in that it proposes an advanced artificial intelligence asset allocation model for the fast-developing financial markets.

The Study on the Estimation of Optimal Debt Ratio in Korean Automobile Industry (국내 자동차산업의 적정부채비율 추정을 위한 실증연구)

  • Seo, Beom;Kim, Il-Gon;Park, Ji-Hun;Im, In-Seob
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
    • /
    • v.19 no.3
    • /
    • pp.301-308
    • /
    • 2018
  • This study explores an analytical mathematical model designed to estimate the optimal debt ratio of the Korean automobile industry, which has a more significant effect on the national economy than that of other industries, and attempts to estimate the optimal debt ratio based on objective data. The analytical model is based on ROA and ROE which uses the debt ratio as an independent variable and employs ROS, TAT, and NFCL as the related parameters. Regarding the NFCL, the optimal debt ratio is usually defined as the debt ratio that maximizes the ROA and ROE and is calculated using analytical procedures, such as by adding an equation that considers the debt ratio and the linearity relationship to the analytical model. This is because the optimal debt ratio can be calculated reliably by making use of an estimated value within a certain range, which is derived from more than two calculations rather than a single estimation starting from one calculation formula. In this study, for the estimation of the optimal debt ratio, the ROA and ROE are expressed as a quadratic equation with the debt ratio as the independent variable. Using this analysis procedure, the optimal debt ratio obtained using the data from the Korean automobile industry over a sixteen year period, which would optimize the profitability of the Korean automobile industry, was found to be 188% of the debt ratio in the ROA and 213% of the debt ratio in the ROE. This result was obtained by overcoming the problem of the reliability of the estimation value in spite of the limitations of the logical theory of this study, and can be interpreted as meaning that maintaining a debt ratio of 188% to 213% can enhance the profitability and reduce the risks in the Korean automobile industry. Furthermore, this indicates that the existing debt ratio of the Korean automobile industry is lower than the optimal value within the estimated range. Consequently, it is necessary for corporations to change their future debt ratio policies, given that the purpose of debt ratio management is to maintain safety and increase profitability, and to take into account the characteristics of the specific industry.

Understanding the Mismatch between ERP and Organizational Information Needs and Its Responses: A Study based on Organizational Memory Theory (조직의 정보 니즈와 ERP 기능과의 불일치 및 그 대응책에 대한 이해: 조직 메모리 이론을 바탕으로)

  • Jeong, Seung-Ryul;Bae, Uk-Ho
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
    • /
    • v.22 no.2
    • /
    • pp.21-38
    • /
    • 2012
  • Until recently, successful implementation of ERP systems has been a popular topic among ERP researchers, who have attempted to identify its various contributing factors. None of these efforts, however, explicitly recognize the need to identify disparities that can exist between organizational information requirements and ERP systems. Since ERP systems are in fact "packages" -that is, software programs developed by independent software vendors for sale to organizations that use them-they are designed to meet the general needs of numerous organizations, rather than the unique needs of a particular organization, as is the case with custom-developed software. By adopting standard packages, organizations can substantially reduce many of the potential implementation risks commonly associated with custom-developed software. However, it is also true that the nature of the package itself could be a risk factor as the features and functions of the ERP systems may not completely comply with a particular organization's informational requirements. In this study, based on the organizational memory mismatch perspective that was derived from organizational memory theory and cognitive dissonance theory, we define the nature of disparities, which we call "mismatches," and propose that the mismatch between organizational information requirements and ERP systems is one of the primary determinants in the successful implementation of ERP systems. Furthermore, we suggest that customization efforts as a coping strategy for mismatches can play a significant role in increasing the possibilities of success. In order to examine the contention we propose in this study, we employed a survey-based field study of ERP project team members, resulting in a total of 77 responses. The results of this study show that, as anticipated from the organizational memory mismatch perspective, the mismatch between organizational information requirements and ERP systems makes a significantly negative impact on the implementation success of ERP systems. This finding confirms our hypothesis that the more mismatch there is, the more difficult successful ERP implementation is, and thus requires more attention to be drawn to mismatch as a major failure source in ERP implementation. This study also found that as a coping strategy on mismatch, the effects of customization are significant. In other words, utilizing the appropriate customization method could lead to the implementation success of ERP systems. This is somewhat interesting because it runs counter to the argument of some literature and ERP vendors that minimized customization (or even the lack thereof) is required for successful ERP implementation. In many ERP projects, there is a tendency among ERP developers to adopt default ERP functions without any customization, adhering to the slogan of "the introduction of best practices." However, this study asserts that we cannot expect successful implementation if we don't attempt to customize ERP systems when mismatches exist. For a more detailed analysis, we identified three types of mismatches-Non-ERP, Non-Procedure, and Hybrid. Among these, only Non-ERP mismatches (a situation in which ERP systems cannot support the existing information needs that are currently fulfilled) were found to have a direct influence on the implementation of ERP systems. Neither Non-Procedure nor Hybrid mismatches were found to have significant impact in the ERP context. These findings provide meaningful insights since they could serve as the basis for discussing how the ERP implementation process should be defined and what activities should be included in the implementation process. They show that ERP developers may not want to include organizational (or business processes) changes in the implementation process, suggesting that doing so could lead to failed implementation. And in fact, this suggestion eventually turned out to be true when we found that the application of process customization led to higher possibilities of failure. From these discussions, we are convinced that Non-ERP is the only type of mismatch we need to focus on during the implementation process, implying that organizational changes must be made before, rather than during, the implementation process. Finally, this study found that among the various customization approaches, bolt-on development methods in particular seemed to have significantly positive effects. Interestingly again, this finding is not in the same line of thought as that of the vendors in the ERP industry. The vendors' recommendations are to apply as many best practices as possible, thereby resulting in the minimization of customization and utilization of bolt-on development methods. They particularly advise against changing the source code and rather recommend employing, when necessary, the method of programming additional software code using the computer language of the vendor. As previously stated, however, our study found active customization, especially bolt-on development methods, to have positive effects on ERP, and found source code changes in particular to have the most significant effects. Moreover, our study found programming additional software to be ineffective, suggesting there is much difference between ERP developers and vendors in viewpoints and strategies toward ERP customization. In summary, mismatches are inherent in the ERP implementation context and play an important role in determining its success. Considering the significance of mismatches, this study proposes a new model for successful ERP implementation, developed from the organizational memory mismatch perspective, and provides many insights by empirically confirming the model's usefulness.

  • PDF