• Title/Summary/Keyword: Tactics

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The Causes Analysis for the Number of Patients Waiting in General X-ray Room (Focus on Utilization of Quality Improvement (QI)) (일반촬영실의 환자대기건수에 대한 원인별 분석 - QI 활용을 중심으로 -)

  • Dong, Kyung-Rae;Chung, Woon-Kwan;Kim, Chang-Bok;Park, Yong-Soon;Kim, Ho-Sung;Im, In-Chul;Lee, Chang-Lae;Shin, Gyoo-Seul
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.337-346
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    • 2008
  • A questionaire survey was conducted for patients who had been examined at the Department of Radiology to investigate the items that need to be improved. Brainstorming was also conducted by team members to suggest the tactics that can efficiently perform the QI activity by selecting the most frequently answered topics for the reduction of waiting time of x-ray examination. From September 2006 to November 2007, number of patients before and after conducting QI was compared for 3 months by each category differentiated by types of detailed causes. A patient case was set as one shooting for one patient. After conducting QI, the waiting cases before conducting QI were evaluated for the method of improvement for 3 month through the QI team discussion and conducted by following the improvement method for the next 1 month and the waiting cases were measured and the difference before and after the QI activity was compared in percentage. 1. When patient waiting cases were compared before and after conducting QI activity against the causes of repetition, it resulted in 3.9% of reduction effect. 2. When patient waiting cases were compared before and after conducting QI activity against the causes for the lack of guiding, it resulted in 1.1% of reduction effect. 3. When patient waiting cases were compared before and after conducting QI activity against the causes of miss-inputting prescription, it resulted in 1.1% of reduction effect. 4. When patient waiting cases were compared before and after conducting QI activity against the causes for emergency patients, patients with acute pain and discomfort patients, it resulted in 12.0% of reduction effect. 5. When patient waiting cases were compared before and after conducting QI activity against the causes for shooting overlapping of outpatients and hospitalized patients, it resulted in 4.7% of reduction effect. There are many factors to reduce the patient waiting cases in radiography. The first step is for radiology department to find these factors through QI, to improve them, which is the reason why the QI team is organized to perform the QI activities.

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The Tobacco Industry's Abuse of Scientific Evidence and Activities to Recruit Scientists During Tobacco Litigation (담배소송 중 담배회사의 과학적 근거 오용과 과학자 포섭 활동)

  • Lee, Sungkyu
    • Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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    • v.49 no.1
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    • pp.23-34
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    • 2016
  • South Korea's state health insurer, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS), is in the process of a compensation suit against tobacco industry. The tobacco companies have habitually endeavored to ensure favorable outcomes in litigation by misusing scientific evidence or recruiting scientists to support its interests. This study analyzed strategies that tobacco companies have used during the NHIS litigation, which has been receiving world-wide attention. To understand the litigation strategies of tobacco companies, the present study reviewed the existing literature and carried out content analysis of petitions, preparatory documents, and supporting evidence submitted to the court by the NHIS and the tobacco companies during the suit. Tobacco companies misrepresented the World Health Organization (WHO) report's argument and misused scientific evidence, and removed the word "deadly" from the title of the citation. Tobacco companies submitted the research results of scientists who had worked as a consultant for the tobacco industry as evidence. Such litigation strategies employed by the tobacco companies internationally were applied similarly in Korean lawsuits. Results of tobacco litigation have a huge influence on tobacco control policies. For desirable outcomes of the suits, healthcare professionals need to pay a great deal of attention to the enormous volume of written opinions and supporting evidence that tobacco companies submit. They also need to face the fact that the companies engage in recruitment of scientists. Healthcare professionals should refuse to partner with tobacco industry, as recommended by Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.

Retrospective Evaluation of Discrepancies between Radiological and Pathological Size of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Masses

  • Tian, Fei;Wu, Jian-Xiong;Rong, Wei-Qi;Wang, Li-Ming;Wu, Fan;Yu, Wei-Bo;An, Song-Lin;Liu, Fa-Qiang;Feng, Li;Liu, Yun-He
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.21
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    • pp.9487-9494
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    • 2014
  • Background: The size of a hepatic neoplasm is critical for staging, prognosis and selection of appropriate treatment. Our study aimed to compare the radiological size of solid hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) masses on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with the pathological size in a Chinese population, and to elucidate discrepancies. Materials and Methods: A total of 178 consecutive patients diagnosed with HCC who underwent curative hepatic resection after enhanced MRI between July 2010 and October 2013 were retrospectively identified and analyzed. Pathological data of the whole removed tumors wereassessed and differences between radiological and pathological tumor size were identified. All patients were restaged using a modified Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) staging system postoperatively according to the maximum diameter alteration. The lesions were classified as hypo-staged, iso-staged or hyper-staged for qualitative assessment. In the quantitative analysis, the relative pre and postoperative tumor size contrast ratio ($%{\Delta}size$) was also computed according to size intervals. In addition, the relationship between radiological and pathological tumor diameter variation and histologic grade was analyzed. Results: Pathological examination showed 85 (47.8%) patients were overestimated, 82 (46.1%) patients underestimated, while accurate measurement by MRI was found in 11 (6.2%) patients. Among the total subjects, 14 (7.9%) patients were hypo-staged and 15 (8.4%) were hyper-staged post-operatively. Accuracy of MRI for calculation and characterized staging was related to the lesion size, ranging from 83.1% to 87.4% (<2cm to ${\geq}5cm$, p=0.328) and from 62.5% to 89.1% (cT1 to cT4, p=0.006), respectively. Overall, MRI misjudged pathological size by 6.0 mm (p=0.588 ), and the greatest difference was observed in tumors <2cm (3.6 mm, $%{\Delta}size=16.9%$, p=0.028). No statistically significant difference was observed for moderately differentiated HCC (5.5mm, p=0.781). However, for well differentiated and poorly differentiated cases, radiographic tumor maximum diameter was significantly larger than the pathological maximum diameter by 3.15 mm and underestimated by 4.51 mm, respectively (p=0.034 and 0.020). Conclusions: A preoperative HCC tumor size measurement using MRI can provide relatively acceptable accuracy but may give rise to discrepancy in tumors in a certain size range or histologic grade. In pathological well differentiated subjects, the pathological tumor size was significantly overestimated, but underestimated in poorly differentiated HCC. The difference between radiological and pathological tumor size was greatest for tumors <2 cm. For some HCC patients, the size difference may have implications for the decision of resection, transplantation, ablation, or arterially directed therapy, and should be considered in staging or selecting the appropriate treatment tactics.

A Verification on the Effectiveness of Middle Managers' Emotional Leadership in Food Service Management Companies (위탁급식업체 중간관리자의 감성리더십 효과성 검증)

  • Kim, Hyun-Ah;Jung, Hyun-Young
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Food Science and Nutrition
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    • v.36 no.4
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    • pp.488-498
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    • 2007
  • The purposes of this study were to: a) provide evidences concerning the effects of emotional leadership b) examine the impacts of emotional leadership on employee-related variables, 'job satisfaction', 'organizational commitment', 'organizational performance' and 'turnover intention', and c) identify a conceptual framework underlying emotional leadership. A survey was conducted from August 23 to November 3, 2005 to collect data from mid-level managers in food service company headquarters (N=219). Statistical analyses were completed using SPSS Win (12.0) for descriptive, reliability, factor and correlation analyses and AMOS (5.0) for confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The main results of this study were as follows. First, the managers gave the highest point to their leaders in the emotional leadership competence 'organizational awareness : reading the currents, decision networks, and politics at the organizational level' and gave the lowest point in the emotional leadership competence 'influence: wielding effective tactics for persuasion'. Second, the means of job satisfaction was above the midpoint (3 points). Employees' job satisfaction with 'coworkers' was relatively high. However, the extents of satisfaction with 'payroll' 'promotion', and 'work environment' were relatively low. Third, the organizational commitment was above the midpoint (3 points). In the organizational commitment, 'loyalty' factor was higher than 'commitment' factor. Fourth, the means of organizational performance was above the midpoint. The highest organizational performance variable was 'internal efficiency; trying to reduce cost' and the lowest organizational performance variable was 'internal fairness ; equitable treatment and all are treated with respect with no regard to status and grade'. Fifth, most respondents intended on 'thinking of quitting ; towards turnover process'. Sixth, the test of hypothesis using structural equation modeling found that emotional leadership produced p[Isitive effects on job attitude and job performance. Emotional leadership enhanced job satisfaction and organizational commitment, and in turn, employees' attitude positive effects on organizational performance; emotional leadership also had a direct impact on organizational performance

Efficacy of UN's Sanctions on North Korea's Nuclear and North Korea's Regime Survival Strategy (유엔의 북핵 대북제재조치의 실효성과 북한의 체제생존전략)

  • KIM, JOO-SAM
    • Korea and Global Affairs
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    • v.2 no.1
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    • pp.69-92
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    • 2018
  • North Korea conducted a total of six nuclear tests from the 1st test of 2006 to September, 2017. North Korea developed an armed forces security strategy at the level of regime protection and defense to respond to U.S. hostile policy. However, it is certain that strategic goals of North Korea's nuclear test were to overcome a crisis in North Korea's regime through US-North Korea negotiation and complete nuclear armed forces for socialist unification on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea's continuous nuclear test is a direct factor in threatening peace on the Korean Peninsula and an indirect factor in security dynamics of Northeast Asia. The U.N. Security Council has enforced sanctions against North Korea through six resolutions against North Korea's reckless nuclear test for the past 10 years. However, Kim Jong-Un's regime is in a position to stick to simultaneous pursuit of nuclear and economic development in spite of anti-North sanction of international society including U.N. and U.S.A. It is understood that North Korea was stimulated to conduct intense nuclear test as U.N. and U.S.A's anti-North sanction was not effective on North Korea. Full-scale and local wars are expected as military options, one of anti-North sanctions of the Trump administration. The Trump administration has attempted diplomatic pressure strategy as a secondary boycott unlike previous administrations. Nevertheless, North Korea has stood against U.N. and U.S.A's anti-North sanction with brinkmanship tactics, announcing full-scale military confrontation against U.S. It is judged that North Korea will pursue simultaneous nuclear weapons and economic development in terms of regime survival. North Korea will have less strategic choices in that its regime may collapse because of realistic national strategy between U.S.A. and China.

Compilation of Books on Military Arts and Science and Ideology of Military Science in the early Joseon Dynasty (조선(朝鮮) 초기(初期)의 병서(兵書) 편찬(編纂)과 병학(兵學) 사상(思想))

  • Yun, Muhak
    • (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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    • no.49
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    • pp.325-355
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    • 2012
  • This research aims to generalize the thoughts of military science of the intellectuals through the books on military arts and science, which were published in the early Joseon Dynasty. In the early Joseon dynasty, it was in a position to establish the foundation in the new monarch internally, and, at the same time, to overcome foreign powers on both northern and southern borders externally. Thus, the books on military arts and science should have to be published under a premise of such situations. Accordingly, the books on military arts and science of those days took account of political stability having reflected the activities not only as the founder of Joseon but also as the military officer in the late Goryeo along with the books' own purpose to found military arts and sciences. The books on military arts and science that published in the early Joseon Dynasty were written mostly based on Chinese military books and its annotations, except some descriptions of the history of war. However, the intellectuals at that time endeavored to redefine military arts and science from the perspective of Confucianism having evaluated Chinese military science books that were biased to boost Machiavellian tactics. As a result of this, the geographical distinctions between China and Korea were the start of an argument for the military arts and science. There were also disputes over the relationships between the military science and the Yin-Yang School, and between the military science and Confucian school. Organizing our country's own history of war for the first time in the early Joseon Dynasty is worth for putting a high evaluation. However, it cannot help but to point out the limits of the books that there are noticeable descriptions about the factors related to toadyism, and that there are no descriptions about the wars against Japanese raiders. The books on military arts and science in the early Joseon Dynasty put emphasis on the commander's leadership that should be good at both literary and martial arts, as well as the harmony in military-to-military relations. After all, the intellectuals in the early Joseon Dynasty had linked the military arts and science to the sages of Confucian school under a premise that scholarship is to be used in combination with martial arts. And, as the nexus between the two, they noted the items of virtue, such as humaneness and righteousness (仁義); ritual and music (禮樂); loyalty and filial piety (忠孝); three fundamental principles (三綱); five moral disciplines (五倫). It can be said that this point is the typical features of the military arts and science in the early Joseon Dynasty, which cannot be found in Chinese military classics.

This Study of the Arms Used in the Three Kingdoms (삼국시대(三國時代) 병기체제(兵器體制)의 연구(硏究))

  • Kim, sung-tae
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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    • v.34
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    • pp.20-58
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    • 2001
  • In order to unravel the characteristics of arms used in the 'Three Kingdoms,' Kokuryo, Silla and Paikje. the classification and the developing procedures of the arms should be first discussed. At first, the basic arms of the soldiers of Three Kingdoms were iron swords, iron spearheads, and bows. During that period, swords attached a ring pommel were commonly used. But after 5A. D. a sword with a decoration pommel appeared. Infantry generally used iron spearheads. From the late 4A. D. the long spearheads were broadly used in cavalry battles. In the late 6A. D. infantry mainly used long spearheads, and this resulted in the foundation of long spearheads units. There were two kinds of bows: Short Bow whose arch is small and Long Bow whose arch is long. It is known that the Short Bow was widely used in Kokuryo and Paikje up to 5A. D. In the early era, infantry used Long Bow, yet it was vastly used after 6A. D. when a castle's strategical value was great and defending a castle was. significant. Above mentioned, as basic combat weapons, iron spearhead and bow were fundamental. In particular, the spearhead was the essential weapon to a soldier. Yet, arrow gun and hook-shape cutters were important weapons. Especially, after 6A.D., when a castle became strategically pivotal in military, the arrow gun became the important weapon. This resulted in the foundation of arrow gun units. Hook-shape cutters were used to snatch horsemen or to climb up to fall the castle. Yet, the cutter was not the Three Kingodoms' basic weapon. In addition, the three stages of arms development in the Three Kingdoms are formation stage, development stage, and settlement stage. The formation stage was the period when premitive military unit appeared in the Three Kingdoms. It ranged from 1B. C. to the mid 3A. D. At that time according to regions. there were two weapon systems operating: North area including Kokuryo and the northern part of Paikje and South area including Silla, Kaya and the southern part of Paikje. ln North area a sword with a ring attached at the end of the holder, iron spear with neck and mid-size flat holder and iron arrowhead with an extension to fix, were used. In this period, during a war calvary units were mostly used and their weapon systems seemed possibly to succeed in that of Kochosun. In the development stage, when LoLang's influence on surroundings became weak, Koguryo, Paikjae and Silla had directly contacted each other. In the late 3A.D. to the early 6A.D., Silla achieved a drastic improvement in weapon system. This was the period when Kokuryo played a leading role in arms race. Kokuryo's arms manufacturing techniques passed onto Silla, Kaya and Paikje. In combat strategy a joint operation between infantry and calvary prevailed even if their military tactics were different. In a calvary battle heavily armed horsemen played import roles at this period. The horsemen and even horses were heavily guarded with iron armors. After all, the appearance of fully armed horsemen implies the very need of powerful destructive forces in weapon system. At that time, basic weapons were a big sword with a ring attached at the end of the holder, swallow's tail-shape spear with neck, and iron spearhead with neck and an extension. The settlement stage began at the mid 6A.D., when it was the revolutionary period in the arms development history. Of course, actual proofs and picture documents were not sufficient enough to penetrate full scale of the weapon system. But, according to historical circumstances and historic records, it is very certain that this period was the peak in arms development. In this period special military units, such as infantry-calvary companies, Archery units and Long spear units, that executed particular duties with special weapons, were founded. This became the characteristics of the settlement stage.

A Study on the Consciousness Survey of Improvement of Emergency Rescue Training -Based on the Fire Fighting Organizations in Gangwon Province- (긴급구조훈련 개선에 관한 의식조사 연구 -강원도 소방조직을 중심으로-)

  • Choi, Yunjung;Koo, Wonhoi;Baek, Minho
    • Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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    • v.15 no.3
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    • pp.440-449
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    • 2019
  • Purpose: Fire-fighting organizations are the very first agencies that take actions at a disaster scene, and emergency rescue training is carried out for prompt and systematic response. However, there is a need for a change due to the limitations in emergency rescue trainings such as perfunctory trainings or trainings without considering regional or environmental characteristics. Method: This study is to conduct theoretical review with regard to emergency rescue training and present a measure to improve the emergency rescue training through attitude survey targeting fire-fighting organizations in Gangwon area. Result: Facilities that cause difficulties when doing emergency rescue activity were mostly hazardous material storage and processing facilities. In terms of the level of emergency rescue and response task, most respondents answered that the emergency rescue was insufficient. The respondents answered that the effectiveness of emergency rescue training was helpful, but some responses showed that the training was not helpful because of scenario-based training, seeming training, similar training carried out every year, unrealistic training, and lack of competent authorities' interest and perfunctory participations. Most respondents answered for the appropriateness of emergency rescue training and evaluation that they were satisfied, however, they were not satisfied with the evaluation methods irrelevant to the type of training, evaluation methods requiring unnecessary training scale, and evaluation methods leading perfunctory participations of competent authorities. Lastly, respondents mostly answered that training reflecting various damage situations are necessary regarding the demand on the improvement of emergency rescue training. Conclusion: The improvement measures for emergency rescue training are as follows. First, it is necessary to set and prepare various training contents in accordance with regional characteristics by reviewing major disasters occurred in the region. Second, it is necessary to revise the emergency rescue training guidelines and manuals for appropriate training plan for each fire station, provide education and training for working-level staff members, and establish training in a way that types, tactics, and strategies of emergency rescue training could be utilized practically. Third, it is necessary to prepare a scheme that can lead participation and provide incentive or penalty from the planning stage of training in order to increase the participation of supporting and competent authorities when an actual disaster occurs. Fourth, it is necessary to establish support arrangements and cooperative systems by authority through training by fire stations or zones in preparation for disaster situations that may occur simultaneously. Fifth, it is necessary to put emphasis on the training process rather than the result for emergency rescue training and evaluation, pay attention to the identification of supplement points for each disaster situation and make improvements. Especially, type or form of training should be considered rather than evaluating the execution status of detailed processes, and the evaluation measure that can consider the completeness (proficiency) of training and the status of role performance rather than the scale of training should be prepared. Sixth, type and method of training should be improved in accordance with the characteristics of each fire station by identifying the demand of working-level staff members for an efficient emergency rescue training.

Military Activity and Combat in Hapcheon Area during the Imjin Invasion Period (임진왜란시기 합천지역의 의병 활동과 전투)

  • Kwak, Nak-hyun
    • (The)Study of the Eastern Classic
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    • no.70
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    • pp.257-301
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    • 2018
  • The purpose of the study is to examine righteous army activity and combat in Hapcheon during the Imjin invasion period. The resulting conclusions are as follows. First, Chung In-hong raised a righteous army in Hapcheon and Kim Myeon raised an army in Goryeong. Chung In-hong commanded the army and fought against Japanese army with a leadership of knowing the enemy and himself, and Kim Myeon commanded the army and fought against Japanese military with a leadership of harmony. Second, battles of Chung In-hong's righteous army are the first Mugye battle, the ambush battle in Sawon-dong, the Chogye Majin battle, the Aneon battle, and the third Seongju Castle battle. Battles of Kim Myeon's righteous army are the Yeongang battle, the Gaesanpo battle, the second Mugye battle, the Ucheok-hyeon battle, the Jirye battle, and the Sarangam battle. Battles that Chung In-hong and Kim Myeon united and fought are the first and second Seongju Castle battles. In Jeongyu Jaeran, Chung In-hong played a role of Jodosa who takes charge of provisions in the right area of Gyeongsang. In addition, Hapcheon was the access road and transport route where Japanese army entered Jeolla-do. Third, participation and role of Ming troops are part of restraint device against Japanese army with military tactics of ii chei(using foreigners to control foreigners) to remove Japanese army from Joseon and defend Yodong. After a victory of Li Rusong in Pyeongyang Castle in January, 1593(the 26th year of Seongjo), Ming troops pursued practical interest through peace talks rather than active battles. When there was practically Siege of Jinju, Yujeong troops of Ming entered with hand-to-hand martial arts of Sacheon soldiers in late June, 1593, but did not participate because they should wait for orders of Gyeongnyak Song Eung-chang and Admiral Li Rusong. Fourth, in the Imjin invasion period, Joseon suffered terrible damage such as ruin of the whole country by invasion of Japanese army and in need of aid of military rice from Ming troops, but righteous armies and the royal forces in each area cooperated so defeated Japanese army. It is understood through a case of Hapcheon in the right area of Gyeongsang. Especially, Joseon did not succumb to pressure of Ming troops that used full powers to two aspects such as settlement and battle with Japan during the war, and did not lose national confidence and pride by showing a fighting will to fight against Japanese army to the end with independence. Such a spiritual culture originated from homeland protection and loyalty to the king, and is national spirit of resistance that sublimates the united mind and spirit of community to protect a country against foreign invasion.

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
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.32-43
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    • 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.

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