• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.17-35
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• 2017

This study investigates the determinants of strategic positional change. Specifically, the study suggests performance feedback affects to a firm's strategic repositioning. Performance feedback is a concept that a firm decides whether success or not by comparing its performance relative to its aspiration level. Prior studies successively discover diverse behaviors. The study suggests three unexplored relationships between performance gaps and strategic positioning. First, when a firm's performance is below relative to its aspiration level, that firm's strategic position will be deviate from the industry norm. Second, as the degree of industrial density increases, the tendency that a firm's strategic position becomes deviate from the industry norm decreases. Third, when the degree of reference group's performance decreases, the tendency that a firm's strategic position becomes deviate from the industry norm decreases. For empirical analysis, this study examines data of 538 firms that in North America crude petroleum and natural gas industry. The result reveals that the direction of a firm's strategic change is shaped when firms' performance is below relative to aspiration level. Also, this relationship is moderated as industrial density changes or when reference groups' performance decreases. This study contributes to the current literature by explaining how a firms' strategic position is decided. Also, this study reveals that reference groups' performance could affect to organizational choice.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.298-313
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• 2022

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: The effectiveness of natural compounds in improving athletic ability has attracted attention in both sports and research. Gynostemma pentaphyllum (Thunb.) leaves are used to make traditional herbal medicines in Asia. The active components of G. pentaphyllum, dammarane saponins, or gypenosides, possess a range of biological activities. On the other hand, the anti-fatigue effects from G. pentaphyllum extract (GPE) and its effective compound, gypenoside L (GL), remain to be determined. MATERIALS/METHODS: This study examined the effects of GPE on fatigue and exercise performance in ICR mice. GPE was administered orally to mice for 6 weeks, with or without treadmill training. The biochemical analysis in serum, glycogen content, mRNA, and protein expressions of the liver and muscle were analyzed. RESULTS: The ExGPE (exercise with 300 mg/kg body weight/day of GPE) mice decreased the fat mass percentage significantly compared to the ExC mice, while the ExGPE showed the greatest lean mass percentage compared to the ExC group. The administration of GPE improved the exercise endurance and capacity in treadmill-trained mice, increased glucose and triglycerides, and decreased the serum creatine kinase and lactate levels after intensive exercise. The muscle glycogen levels were higher in the ExGPE group than the ExC group. GPE increased the level of mitochondrial biogenesis by enhancing the phosphorylation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) protein and the mRNA expression of nuclear respiratory factor 1, mitochondrial DNA, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-δ, superoxide dismutase 2, and by decreasing the lactate dehydrogenase B level in the soleus muscle (SOL). GPE also improved PGC-1α activation in the SOL significantly through AMPK/p38 phosphorylation. CONCLUSIONS: These results showed that GPE supplementation enhances exercise performance and has anti-fatigue activity. In addition, the underlying molecular mechanism was elucidated. Therefore, GPE is a promising candidate for developing functional foods and enhancing the exercise capacity and anti-fatigue activity.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.311-316
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• 2016

Vietnam is one of Asia's fastest developing economies. A long coastline of nearly 3,500 km provides a comparative advantage for Vietnam in developing a seaport system. Despite accounting for only about 30% of Vietnam's traffic volume, the Northern seaports have rapidly developed over the years. However, the location of the container terminals close to the common hinterland are a cause of fierce competition among container terminals. To outperform rivals and improve competitiveness, it is essential to identify the competitive positions of container terminals. This study analyzes the competitive positioning of container terminals in the northern region of Vietnam between 2005 and 2014 by applying the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix in order to assist terminal operators and policy makers to generate strategic planning as well as to improve priorities for development. Otherwise, the period from 2005-2014 aims to clarify the static and dynamic positioning of container terminals. The results demonstrate that the Hai Phong terminal dominates the market, but the Nam Hai Dinh Vu and Dinh Vu terminals are considered as "star" performers. Quang Ninh, Doan Xa, and Transvina are losing their competitive positions in Northern Vietnam.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.10-19
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• 2012

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the priorities among the environmental factors on, and to build core strategies for fostering Korean medical tourism. Methods: We used an A'WOT hybrid method which combined SWOT with Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), that is, the strategic factors in each strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats group were selected by medical tourism experts' opinion, and then the importance of the factors in each SWOT group were pair-wise compared. Results: The results presented that the opportunities and the strengths groups are relatively more important than the other groups. The key competitive factors include high-quality human resources of traditional medicine, modernized system of Korean medical institutions, and local governments' willpower to promote herbal industries. Conclusions: Based on the results of analysis, it is suggested for government to build a timely strategic plan, to enhance cooperative activities with the private sector, to organize local resources, and to provide marketing support.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.93-107
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• 2014

Purpose - The pool of entrepreneurs with progressive qualities such as creativity and innovation was considered concurrently with such factors as work and capital that stimulate economic development and growth. This study aims to present a model to support the development of a strategic approach for achieving an overall academic entrepreneurship system in Iran. Research design, data, and methodology - The research design of this study is based on applied research because of its objectives, using principles and techniques formulated for basic research to solve operational and real organizational issues. This design also drives the method used, describing and interpreting the findings. Secondary data (library research) was used for this study's data collection. Because of this research's essential characteristics, no hypothesis is launched, and no research setting, questionnaire design, population or population sampling, validity or reliability tests, or statistical analysis are needed. Results and Conclusions - The model is created using a strategic approach acting in an octal setting comprising social, cultural, legal, economic, political, technological, competitive, and natural environments to present a conceptual framework for future studies.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.173-185
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• 2022

For the smooth implementation and success of smart city projects, it is necessary to recognize that there is a difference in the perception of value judgments or strategic goals among major stakeholders in the planning process. And it is necessary to aim the values and goals of smart cities through reconciliation of these differences. The two major stakeholders in the smart city development project are citizens group and government officials group. Government officials are in charge of establishing and implementing policies for smart city projects, and their value judgments and perceptions influence the policy direction. In these respects, government officials can be an important stakeholder group. Citizens are a group that includes ordinary residents and business owners who live in smart cities and are the ultimate users of infrastructure and facilities. This study investigated the importance perceptions of citizens and government officials, who are the major stakeholders, about the core values and strategic goals that the smart city project aims. Responses were collected using a structured questionnaire to which the AHP methodology was applied. And the priority of perceptions for constituent items was compared for each stakeholder group. Through the comparative analysis results, it was empirically confirmed that there is a difference in the values and goals pursued by the smart city project between stakeholder groups. As an empirical study on the stakeholders of the smart city project, this study is meaningful in contributing to the theoretical development in that it suggests that the conceptual structural model of the smart city strategy system presented in previous studies can be applied in practice.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.20 no.8
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• pp.15-23
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• 2022

This thesis investigated and studied the effect of CEO's values, consultant's competency, and value alignment with workers on the success and performance of strategic consulting. With 180 copies of data from the questionnaire, factor analysis, reliability and validity analysis were performed, and structural equations for the final research model were performed. As a result of the analysis, it was found that innovation performance and management capability had a significant effect on value consistency. It was confirmed that the value consistency had a significant effect on the degree of completion and utilization, and the degree of completion and utilization had a significant effect on satisfaction and contribution to management performance.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.210-212
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• 2015

The growth-share matrix is a portfolio planning tool developed by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to assist competitive positioning in the international market including those in the construction industry. This matrix is helpful in balancing the firm's cash-flow, and it can suggest strategic directions for each business unit. However, its effectiveness and applicability have long been debated in the academic field due to the complex and unique industrial context of construction. To solve the dispute, this research clarifies the applicability of theories underlying the growth-share matrix to the construction industry. Empirical research based on actual financial data of Korean construction firms is adopted for the statistical analysis including one-way analysis of variance and correlation analysis. The results of this research show that empirical findings on the relationship between performance variables. In this context, this research can provide important insights on the concept of portfolio management in the construction industry.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.97-104
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• 2018

Regarding seaport operation, a higher quality performance and increasing competitiveness are main goals to adapt to the evolution of international trade. This paper discusses about the competition among Southern Vietnam seaports concerning the strategic positioning analysis, by applying BCG method. This technique describes the performance of business based on two variables such as relative market share and average growth rate. The finding shows up different performances of 21 seaports and how the strategic positioning of each port changes in the period 2007-2016. After analyzing, this research pointed out the growth in strategic positioning of ports in Cai Mep-Thi Vai complex, gradually replacing Ho Chi Minh City-Dong Nai-Binh Duong and becoming the transportation hub of Southern Vietnam. Also, The results obtained would be helpful for port administrators and operators to establish short and long-term strategies to improve competitiveness in the future.

• World Technopolis Review
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.81-95
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• 2013

This paper seeks to build on previous work conducted by Porter, Devol, Florida, Bahrami and Evans, Wennberg and Lindqvist, and others contained in the literature, to construct a new way of looking at innovation cluster development. It seeks to describe the key elements contained in the research that serve as building blocks for innovation clustering, adding analysis dimensions that aim to further illuminate understanding of this process. It compares those building block characteristics to the innovation topography of U.S. urban centers, to shed light on a new framework through which urban innovation cluster formation can be considered. It identifies three building block analysis categories: 1) Technological Capability and Capacity (TCC); 2) Intellectual Propulsion Capacity (IPC); and 3) Structural Creative Inspiration (SCI). These three pillars form the architecture for creation of a Strategic Innovation Network (SIN), upon which clustering can be systematically analysed and built. The purpose of the SIN is to optimally organize and connect all available resources that include physical, financial, and human, such that innovation clustering is inspired, encouraged, nurtured, and ultimately constructed as fully functioning socio-economic organisms that provide both local and regional benefits. It is designed to aid both private enterprise and public policy leaders in their strategic planning considerations, and to enhance urban economic development opportunities.