• The Journal of Economics, Marketing and Management
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.45-55
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• 2023

Purpose: As one of the continuous studies on the offline distribution industry, the purpose of this study is to find ways for offline stores to respond to the growth of online shopping by identifying research trends on department stores. Research design, data and methodology: To this end, this study conducted word frequency analysis, word co-occurrence frequency analysis, BERTopic, LDA, and dynamic topic modeling using Python 3.7 on a total of 551 English abstracts searched with the keyword 'department store' in scienceON as of October 10, 2022. Results: The results of word frequency analysis and co-occurrence frequency analysis revealed that research related to department stores frequently focuses on factors such as customers, consumers, products, satisfaction, services, and quality. BERTopic and LDA analyses identified five topics, including 'store image,' with 'shopping information' showing relatively high interest, while 'sales systems' were observed to have relatively lower interest. Conclusions: Based on the results of this study, it was concluded that research related to department stores has so far been conducted in a limited scope, and it is insufficient to provide clues for department stores to secure competitiveness against online platforms. Therefore, it is suggested that additional research be conducted on topics such as the true role of department stores in the retail industry, consumer reinterpretation, customer value and lifetime value, department stores as future retail spaces, ethical management, and transparent ESG management.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.31-43
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• 2018

Purpose - We examine how a Korean retail firm's social responsibility is related to its financial performances. The traditional view of corporation expects a negative relationship, while the stakeholder theory expects a positive one. Research design, data, and methodology - We adopt the ESG score, published by Korean Corporate Governance Service to measure the level of socially responsible activity for the Korean retail firms. The ordinary least square method is adopted to investigate this relationship. The publicly traded retail firms are examined from 2011 to 2016. Results - We find that the total ESG score is negatively related to ROE but shows no statistically significant relationship with ROA and Tobin's Q value. However, a firm's environmental score is negatively related with both of ROE and ROA. Its social score is no conclusive relationship with the performance measures. The governance score is negatively related to the value of Tobin's Q. Conclusions - This paper generally supports the traditional view of corporate theory, especially in terms of ROE. This evidence is not well aligned with the existing study for Korean corporations generally documenting positive relationships. We find almost no empirical evidence supporting the stakeholder theory of corporation in the Korean retail industry.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.67-76
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• 2019

Purpose - This research examined whether entrepreneurial proclivity of retail employees affects job engagement and satisfaction, which are job-related positive aspects; and whether job engagement affects job satisfaction. Research design, data, and methodology - To accomplish this purpose, data were collected for 224 retail employees working in the distribution industry in the Republic of Korea. Reliability, validity, and hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling, and mediating effects of job engagement between entrepreneurial proclivity and job satisfaction were verified through the bootstrap method by using the process model. Results - The results show that innovativeness and progressiveness in entrepreneurial proclivity positively affected job engagement and job satisfaction, but risk-taking did not affect either job engagement or job satisfaction. Also, this research confirmed that job engagement positively affects job satisfaction. Conclusions - This study contributes to the retail literature by applying the concept of entrepreneurial proclivity in the retail employee context. This study puts forward empirical evidence that identifies the effect of entrepreneurial proclivity as a job resource that influences job engagement and job satisfaction in the JD-R model. Thus, this study surmounts the limitation of prior studies by examining entrepreneurial proclivity from the aspect of retail employees.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.131-138
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aims to fill the existing gap in the existing literature by investigating the mediating effect of psychological empowerment between leadership and motivation for workers at retail stores, and to extend the previous research to determine the preferences of the researchers and practitioners in leadership and employee motivation in retail through a systematic approach. Research design, data and methodology: This study used a systematic approach to the mediation effect of psychological empowerment on the relationship between leadership and employee motivation in retail stores. To ensure completeness, systematization, and transparency, the preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach was applied. Results: The research findings (Total Four Mediating Roles) suggest that psychological empowerment may mediate between leadership and employee motivation. These mediation roles (Empowering Leadership Styles, Organizational Culture and Psychological Empowerment, Customer Psychological Empowerment, and High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and Psychological Empowerment) will help practitioners comprehend how these empowerment and motivation leadership styles are interconnected in the retail industry. Conclusions: The research results indicate that psychological empowerment is essential for employee motivation in the retail sector. Through this knowledge, retail store managers can implement strategies designed to empower employees and create a motivated workforce, bolstering organizational effectiveness.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.77-83
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• 2014

Purpose - The National Agricultural Cooperative Federation of Korea and National Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Korea have prosecuted both financial and retail businesses. As cooperatives are public institutions and receive government support, their sound management is required by the Financial Supervisory Service in Korea. This is mainly managed by CAEL, which is changed by CAMEL. However, NFFC's business section, managing the finance and retail businesses, is unified and evaluated; the CAEL model has an insufficient classification to evaluate the retail industry. First, there is discrimination power as regards CAEL. Although the retail business sector union can receive a higher rating on a CAEL model, defaults have often been reported. Therefore, a default prediction model is needed to support a CAEL model. As we have the default prediction model using a subdivision of indexes and statistical methods, it can be useful to have a prevention function through the estimation of the retail sector's default probability. Second, separating the difference between the finance and retail business sectors is necessary. Their businesses have different characteristics. Based on various management indexes that have been systematically managed by the National Fisheries Cooperative Federation of Korea, our model predicts retail default, and is better than the CAEL model in its failure prediction because it has various discriminative financial ratios reflecting the retail industry situation. Research design, data, and methodology - The model to predict retail default was presented using logistic analysis. To develop the predictive model, we use the retail financial statements of the NFCF. We consider 93 unions each year from 2006 to 2012 to select confident management indexes. We also adapted the statistical power analysis that is a t-test, logit analysis, AR (accuracy ratio), and AUROC (Area Under Receiver Operating Characteristic) analysis. Finally, through the multivariate logistic model, we show that it is excellent in its discrimination power and higher in its hit ratio for default prediction. We also evaluate its usefulness. Results - The statistical power analysis using the AR (AUROC) method on the short term model shows that the logistic model has excellent discrimination power, with 84.6%. Further, it is higher in its hit ratio for failure (prediction) of total model, at 94%, indicating that it is temporally stable and useful for evaluating the management status of retail institutions. Conclusions - This model is useful for evaluating the management status of retail union institutions. First, subdividing CAEL evaluation is required. The existing CAEL evaluation is underdeveloped, and discrimination power falls. Second, efforts to develop a varied and rational management index are continuously required. An index reflecting retail industry characteristics needs to be developed. However, extending this study will need the following. First, it will require a complementary default model reflecting size differences. Second, in the case of small and medium retail, it will need non-financial information. Therefore, it will be a hybrid default model reflecting financial and non-financial information.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2011

Since a distribution market was opened in 1993 after the conclusion of the Uruguay Round (UR), various new businesses emerged in the Korean retail industry, such as convenience shops, supermarkets, specialty stores, non-store marketing methods, and cyber shopping malls, in addition to traditional markets and department stores. Competition among these retail businesses has intensified. According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the growth rate of the total retail industry has shown a 32% increase in the past 5 years. While department stores, supermarkets, specialty stores, and other non-store retailing venues have shown signs of stagnation at a growth rate of 20-30%, which is similar to the growth rate of the entire retail industry, convenience shops and non-store marketing have shown 60-70% growth over the same period. By comparison, the growth rate of cyber shopping malls has nearly tripled. When applying development aspects of retail businesses through the competition to the retail life cycle, mom-and-pop stores and traditional markets have already entered the decline phase as specialty stores reach their maturity phase and demonstrate their limit of growth. Department stores are now in the latter part of the growth phase, which is still considered to have some growth potential. Big super markets are still in the early part of their growth stage although they were introduced 20 years ago. Meanwhile, retail businesses such as convenience stores, supermarkets, mail order houses, and warehouse stores are entering the middle growth phase and are expected to continue with their quantitative growth. At a time when most retail businesses in Korea are in a state of development or in the full growth stage, what kind of new innovative retailing will appear and develop? Moreover, what growth engine will drive it? This study analyzes the appearance of innovative retailing and its development process by establishing a discussable consumer's choice model through the interlocking mutual behavior of differentiated competitiveness and consumers' choice based on an awareness of this issue. The analysis of the results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, if a new vacuum zone emerges at the retail market level, innovative retailing such as low price/low service or high price/high service will emerge simultaneously. Second, if the number of new businesses in the vacuum zone increases, this will create competitiveness among the businesses, and each retailer will develop raising of level. Third, if a new business that raises the level develops, competition between the new and the existing retailer will occur, and an assimilation process between the existing retailing and the new retailing will be unfolded. Fourth, each retailing will promote distribution innovations in order to break the frontier of the existing distribution technology, and other retailing will follow the innovator. On the basis of an analysis of the abovementioned results, this study presents the following three suggestions. First, responding to the consumer's decision-making process on the attributes of retail shops that promote differentiation in strategies, this study established a consumer's choice model that can be discussed in relation to changes in market share. Second, this study provided an analysis of the emerging and developmental processes of innovative retail businesses using a more precise logical structure on the basis of the consumer's choice model described in this study. Third, the development process of retail businesses discussed in this study presented retailing solutions regarding management aspects on how to compose a strong retail mix that can help retail businesses gain competitive advantages in the market.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.221-251
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• 1996

The retail industry of Korea has, owing to the increase of purchasing power of her people and the changing pattern of consumption appetite, marked a considerable development. Nevertheless the retail industry of Korea is still in primitive stage with its smallness of size, density of stores and inefficiency of management compared to those in the developed countries. It is a high time for Korean distribution market to boost its competitive power in the wake of the opening of distribution industry since January of 1996. Accordingly, it should be the goal of these markets to maximize its positive aspects while trying their best to minimize the negative aspect in this transition time for globalization.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.113-121
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• 2023

Purpose: Online distribution channel alludes to the many different digital channels utilized in marketing and distributing goods and services to end users. The present research aims to explore and provide various retail strategy for the success of the art market within online distribution channel. Research design, data and methodology: The current author has conducted and investigate the qualitative textual methodology to take a look at carefully the current and prior literature dataset to achieve the purpose of the present research so that the present author could obtain total 27 relevant prior studies. Results: According to the comprehensive literature investigation, this research has found that there are six kinds of retail strategy for the prosperity of the art market within online distribution channel as follows: (1) Blockchain Technology, (2) Artificial Intelligence (AI), (3) Virtual Reality (VR), (4) Online Market Places, (5) Social Media, and (6) Regulations. Conclusions: The results of this analysis of the relevant literature show that the art market industry needs to adjust to keep up with the quickly shifting landscape of the digital world. In addition, although these technologies can be helpful in addressing difficulties linked to authenticity and transparency, they cannot eliminate the hazards of fraud and misrepresentation.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.11
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• pp.55-65
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• 2014

Purpose - This study aims to investigate the process of political changes in Japan, which has introduced regulatory policies for large-scale retail stores since the 1930s, as well as the examples, and suggests improvement schemes for our policies in Korea, which imposes restrictions on business hours and forced holidays in accordance with the current Distribution Industry Development Act. Research design, data, and methodology - After examining the political change processes related to large-scale retail stores in japan, this study analyzes individually regulated cases based on the ordinances enacted by each local government. Through case analysis in Japan, this study makes political suggestions that may be helpful for our country substantially. Results - Since there is an obvious possibility that our economic restrictions on business hours and mandatory holidays do not coincide with WTO GATS, it is necessary for large-scale distributors to introduce new social and environmental regulations similar to Japan, rather than imposing controls to restrict free competition and also introduce a policy to induce cooperation with small businesses for the advancement of the distribution industry. Thus, it is desirable to take measures on noise, waste, traffic, and parking for the preservation of the living environment in the surroundings when building new large-scale retail stores. It is also important to establish measures to improve the welfare of neighborhood residents and consumers, create a pleasant urban environment, and make it mandatory to make presentations at public hearings among residents. Furthermore, it should be mandatory to establish regional contribution plans when a retail store is established, and take measures to solve various civil complaints or problems that may occur after entering the market. Moreover, it is desirable for large-scale retail stores that entered the market to induce cooperation in performing various activities in the area with a strong sense that they are all members of the local economy. Conclusions - If introducing social regulations like in Japan, there is probably an advantage that the conflicts seen when large-scale retail stores enter the market are absorbed by adjusting the persons concerned within the established institution in order to establish a field to solve such conflicts systematically. In contrast, there are still concerns regarding chaotic operation without any active attempts to have a conversation with large-scale retail stores and local small merchants due to a sharp conflict among the persons concerned, and if it is a briefing session without any decision of the restrictions on their opening itself, there may be doubts with regard to their effectiveness. Moreover, if the de facto opening is restricted by the introduction of such a briefing session procedure, the choice of whether to protect the existing rights of large-scale retail stores might become problematic. However, such problems could be minimized in a way by forming a separate consultative group for all persons concerned including residents, local governments, professionals, civic organizations, small merchants, and massive retail store-related persons.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.49-60
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• 2021

Purpose: This study aims to utilize geographic data to analyze how various retail formats of large-scale stores around the traditional market affect the performance of the traditional market in Seoul, Korea. Research design, data, and methodology: The two types of catchment areas were demarcated (circle of 1km radius and Thiessen polygon) for each traditional market, and the large-scale stores located within each catchment area were identified for 153 traditional markets in Seoul, Korea. Additionally, multiple regression analysis was utilized. Results: The results revealed that the influence on the performance of the traditional markets were different depending on the retail format of the large-scale stores. Large discount stores were found to have a negative effect on the sales and the visitors of traditional markets, whereas complex shopping malls and department stores had a positive effect on the traditional markets. Conclusions: As a result of the differences in the retail format such as product categories and leisure functions, the impact of some large-scale stores on the traditional market may have a greater agglomeration effect than the consumer churn effect. Therefore, it is suggested that in the regulation of these large-scale stores, the differences in retail format should be considered for the future.