• Title/Summary/Keyword: University-Industry Collaboration

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Understanding the Relationship between Value Co-Creation Mechanism and Firm's Performance based on the Service-Dominant Logic (서비스지배논리하에서 가치공동창출 매커니즘과 기업성과간의 관계에 대한 연구)

  • Nam, Ki-Chan;Kim, Yong-Jin;Yim, Myung-Seong;Lee, Nam-Hee;Jo, Ah-Rha
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.177-200
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    • 2009
  • AIn the advanced - economy, the services industry hasbecome a dominant sector. Evidently, the services sector has grown at a much faster rate than any other. For instance, in such developed countries as the U.S., the proportion of the services sector in its GDP is greater than 75%. Even in the developing countries including India and China, the magnitude of the services sector in their GDPs is rapidly growing. The increasing dependence on service gives rise to new initiatives including service science and service-dominant logic. These new initiatives propose a new theoretical prism to promote the better understanding of the changing economic structure. From the new perspectives, service is no longer regarded as a transaction or exchange, but rather co-creation of value through the interaction among service users, providers, and other stakeholders including partners, external environments, and customer communities. The purpose of this study is the following. First, we review previous literature on service, service innovation, and service systems and integrate the studies based on service dominant logic. Second, we categorize the ten propositions of service dominant logic into conceptual propositions and the ones that are directly related to service provision. Conceptual propositions are left out to form the research model. With the selected propositions, we define the research constructs for this study. Third, we develop measurement items for the new service concepts including service provider network, customer network, value co-creation, and convergence of service with product. We then propose a research model to explain the relationship among the factors that affect the value creation mechanism. Finally, we empirically investigate the effects of the factors on firm performance. Through the process of this research study, we want to show the value creation mechanism of service systems in which various participants in service provision interact with related parties in a joint effort to create values. To test the proposed hypotheses, we developed measurement items and distributed survey questionnaires to domestic companies. 500 survey questionnaires were distributed and 180 were returned among which 171 were usable. The results of the empirical test can be summarized as the following. First, service providers' network which is to help offer required services to customers is found to affect customer network, while it does not have a significant effect on value co-creation and product-service convergence. Second, customer network, on the other hand, appears to influence both value co-creation and product-service convergence. Third, value co-creation accomplished through the collaboration of service providers and customers is found to have a significant effect on both product-service convergence and firm performance. Finally, product-service convergence appears to affect firm performance. To interpret the results from the value creation mechanism perspective, service provider network well established to support customer network is found to have significant effect on customer network which in turn facilitates value co-creation in service provision and product-service convergence to lead to greater firm performance. The results have some enlightening implications for practitioners. If companies want to transform themselves into service-centered business enterprises, they have to consider the four factors suggested in this study: service provider network, customer network, value co-creation, and product-service convergence. That is, companies becoming a service-oriented organization need to understand what the four factors are and how the factors interact with one another in their business context. They then may want to devise a better tool to analyze the value creation mechanism and apply the four factors to their own environment. This research study contributes to the literature in following ways. First, this study is one of the very first empirical studies on the service dominant logic as it has categorized the fundamental propositions into conceptual and empirically testable ones and tested the proposed hypotheses against the data collected through the survey method. Most of the propositions are found to work as Vargo and Lusch have suggested. Second, by providing a testable set of relationships among the research variables, this study may provide policy makers and decision makers with some theoretical grounds for their decision making on what to do with service innovation and management. Finally, this study incorporates the concepts of value co-creation through the interaction between customers and service providers into the proposed research model and empirically tests the validity of the concepts. The results of this study will help establish a value creation mechanism in the service-based economy, which can be used to develop and implement new service provision.

A Plan to Strengthen the Role of Citizens as Co-Creators of Smart City Services - Focused on the Development of Function Issue Card Technology - (스마트도시서비스 공동창의자로서의 시민 역할 강화 방안 - 기능카드 기법 개발을 중심으로 -)

  • JI, Sang-Tae;PARK, Jun-Ho;PARK, Joung-Woo;NAM, Kwang-Woo
    • Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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    • v.24 no.2
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    • pp.1-11
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    • 2021
  • Lately, the Korean Government has gradually expanded participation by local residents who are users of the area in the smart city project for the construction of region specialization smart city service (hereinafter called "Smart Service") and the enhancement in the citizen's awareness. However, due to the lack of information on smart service-related technology, there has been a limitation in getting the specific opinion of citizens in the process of designing the Smart Service. In this study, reports made by 4 four local governments which were selected for implementation of 2019 "Smart Town Challenge Projects" were reviewed to diagnose the actualization level of the smart service suggested by citizens through the living lab. The analysis results show that though the smart service plan was established by using diverse design thinking methodology through the living lab, there was a limitation in having citizens design the specific functions of the smart service. So, this study suggests the function issue card technique which can be used by modulating and freely combining four elements such as information collection, processing, supplying method and technique of the smart service and the service contents. This function issue card technique was directly applied to the living lab of the smart city project to verify its effectiveness. It was found that through this technique, citizens can combine the functions and contents of the smart service to materialize smart services at the level of detailed functions. The function issue card technique suggested in this study is expected to contribute to the actualization of opinions for the role of citizens as co-creators in solving local problems in the citizen participation type smart city plan in the future, thus helping the design of the regional specialization smart service.

A Study on Intelligent Value Chain Network System based on Firms' Information (기업정보 기반 지능형 밸류체인 네트워크 시스템에 관한 연구)

  • Sung, Tae-Eung;Kim, Kang-Hoe;Moon, Young-Su;Lee, Ho-Shin
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.24 no.3
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    • pp.67-88
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    • 2018
  • Until recently, as we recognize the significance of sustainable growth and competitiveness of small-and-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), governmental support for tangible resources such as R&D, manpower, funds, etc. has been mainly provided. However, it is also true that the inefficiency of support systems such as underestimated or redundant support has been raised because there exist conflicting policies in terms of appropriateness, effectiveness and efficiency of business support. From the perspective of the government or a company, we believe that due to limited resources of SMEs technology development and capacity enhancement through collaboration with external sources is the basis for creating competitive advantage for companies, and also emphasize value creation activities for it. This is why value chain network analysis is necessary in order to analyze inter-company deal relationships from a series of value chains and visualize results through establishing knowledge ecosystems at the corporate level. There exist Technology Opportunity Discovery (TOD) system that provides information on relevant products or technology status of companies with patents through retrievals over patent, product, or company name, CRETOP and KISLINE which both allow to view company (financial) information and credit information, but there exists no online system that provides a list of similar (competitive) companies based on the analysis of value chain network or information on potential clients or demanders that can have business deals in future. Therefore, we focus on the "Value Chain Network System (VCNS)", a support partner for planning the corporate business strategy developed and managed by KISTI, and investigate the types of embedded network-based analysis modules, databases (D/Bs) to support them, and how to utilize the system efficiently. Further we explore the function of network visualization in intelligent value chain analysis system which becomes the core information to understand industrial structure ystem and to develop a company's new product development. In order for a company to have the competitive superiority over other companies, it is necessary to identify who are the competitors with patents or products currently being produced, and searching for similar companies or competitors by each type of industry is the key to securing competitiveness in the commercialization of the target company. In addition, transaction information, which becomes business activity between companies, plays an important role in providing information regarding potential customers when both parties enter similar fields together. Identifying a competitor at the enterprise or industry level by using a network map based on such inter-company sales information can be implemented as a core module of value chain analysis. The Value Chain Network System (VCNS) combines the concepts of value chain and industrial structure analysis with corporate information simply collected to date, so that it can grasp not only the market competition situation of individual companies but also the value chain relationship of a specific industry. Especially, it can be useful as an information analysis tool at the corporate level such as identification of industry structure, identification of competitor trends, analysis of competitors, locating suppliers (sellers) and demanders (buyers), industry trends by item, finding promising items, finding new entrants, finding core companies and items by value chain, and recognizing the patents with corresponding companies, etc. In addition, based on the objectivity and reliability of the analysis results from transaction deals information and financial data, it is expected that value chain network system will be utilized for various purposes such as information support for business evaluation, R&D decision support and mid-term or short-term demand forecasting, in particular to more than 15,000 member companies in Korea, employees in R&D service sectors government-funded research institutes and public organizations. In order to strengthen business competitiveness of companies, technology, patent and market information have been provided so far mainly by government agencies and private research-and-development service companies. This service has been presented in frames of patent analysis (mainly for rating, quantitative analysis) or market analysis (for market prediction and demand forecasting based on market reports). However, there was a limitation to solving the lack of information, which is one of the difficulties that firms in Korea often face in the stage of commercialization. In particular, it is much more difficult to obtain information about competitors and potential candidates. In this study, the real-time value chain analysis and visualization service module based on the proposed network map and the data in hands is compared with the expected market share, estimated sales volume, contact information (which implies potential suppliers for raw material / parts, and potential demanders for complete products / modules). In future research, we intend to carry out the in-depth research for further investigating the indices of competitive factors through participation of research subjects and newly developing competitive indices for competitors or substitute items, and to additively promoting with data mining techniques and algorithms for improving the performance of VCNS.

Assessment of Strategy and Achievements of Eco Industrial Park (EIP) Initiative in Korea (우리나라 생태산업단지 구축사업의 추진전략과 성과평가)

  • Park, Jun-Mo;Kim, Hyeong-Woo;Park, Hung-Suck
    • Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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    • v.36 no.12
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    • pp.803-812
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    • 2014
  • This study assesses the strategy and performance of Eco-industrial Park (EIP) initiative implemented by Korea Industrial Complex Corporation (KICOX) with the support of Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE), Korea since 2005 to 2013 and recommends future directions. After the concept of EIP based on industrial symbiosis (IS) is introduced, the background and implementation procedure of the EIP initiative are described. Then, economic and environmental achievement was assessed. During the project periods (2005-2013), 449 industrial symbiosis project were explored, among which 296 projects have been implemented. Among (Of these 296 projects,) them, 244 projects have been completed in which 118 projects have been commercialized which shows 48% commercialization rate of the completed projects. Through these commercialized projects, around 311.1 billion won/year of economic benefits and reduction of waste by-products of 828,113 tons/year, wastewater of 215,517 tons/year, reduction in energy consumption of 250,475 toe/year and GHG emission reduction of 1,107,189 $tCO_2/year$ were achieved. This results confirmed that EIP initiative based on industrial symbiosis can enhance eco-efficiency of industrial parks and harmonize economy and environment. However, there are obstacles like absence of interagency coordination and cooperation, laws and institutional barriers, increased demand for local governments, funding for project investment. Thus, to utilize EIP initiative as a strategic tool for competiveness and environmental management of industrial parks, it needs intergovernmental collaboration and interdisciplinary approach to lower barrier in implementation.

Effects of Leaders' Creativity on Employees' Job Satisfaction and Innovation Behavior: Focusing on the Mediating Effect of Positive Psychological Capital and Creative Self-efficacy and the Moderated Mediating Effect of Team Cohesiveness (리더의 창의성이 종업원의 직무만족과 혁신행동에 미치는 영향: 긍정심리자본과 창의적 자기효능감의 매개효과와 팀응집성의 조절된 매개효과를 중심으로)

  • Kim, Ji Woong;Kang, Min Jung
    • Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.165-182
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    • 2022
  • This study focused on whether employees' perceived leader's creativity has a significant effect on employees' job satisfaction and innovative behavior. In addition, this study analyzed the mediating effect of positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy in the relationship between perceived leader creativity and employee satisfaction with the job or innovation behavior, and analyzed the moderated mediating effect of team cohesion. This study conducted confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis for each factor using the measurement tool verification method using the SmartPLS 3.0 structural equation model, and empirically analyzed the research model. As a result, it was found that the creativity of employees' perceived leaders did not directly significantly affect employees' job satisfaction and innovation behavior. However, it was found that positive psychological capital significantly mediated the relationship between perceived leader creativity and job satisfaction or innovative behavior. In addition, positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy have a complete double-mediation relationship between the employees' perceived leader's creativity and employees' innovative behavior. However, positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy don't have a double-mediation relationship between the employee's perceived leader's creativity and employees' job satisfaction. Finally, Team cohesion was found to moderate the relationship between perceived leader creativity, positive psychological capital (or creative self-efficacy). However, the research model that the moderated mediating effect of team cohesion on the relationship between leader's creativity, the mediating variables(positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy), and job satisfaction (or innovative behavior) was significant only for groups with high team cohesiveness. This study examined the needs of the times for the importance of creativity of perceived leaders and analyzed the relationship between factors influencing job satisfaction and innovation behavior of organizational members. The study is meaningful in that it suggested a plan to establish a specific organizational strategy to enhance positive psychological capital and creative self-efficacy.

Investigation of Measurement Feasibility of Large-size Wastes Based on Unmanned Aerial System (UAS 기반 대형 폐기물 발생량 측정 가능성 모색)

  • Son, Seung Woo;Yu, Jae Jin;Jeon, Hyung Jin;Lim, Seong Ha;Kang, Young Eun;Yoon, Jeong Ho
    • Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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    • v.33 no.5_3
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    • pp.809-820
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    • 2017
  • Efficient management of large-size wastes generated from disasters etc. is always in demand. Large-size wastes are closely connected to the environment, producing adverse effects on the air quality, water quality, living environment and so on. When large-size wastes are generated, we must be able to estimate the generated amount in order to transfer them to a temporary trans-shipment site, or to properly treat them. Currently, we estimate the amount of generated large-size wastes by using satellite images or unit measure for wastes; however, the accuracy of such estimations have been constantly questioned. Therefore, the present study was performed to establish three-dimensional spatial information based on UAS, to measure the amount of waste, and to evaluate the accuracy of the measurement. A measurement was made at a waste site by using UAS, and the X, Y, Z RMSE values of the three-dimensional spatial information were found to be 0.022 m, 0.023 m, and 0.14 m, all of which show relatively high accuracy. The amount of waste measured using these values was computed to be approximately $4,273,400m^3$. In addition, the amount of waste at the same site was measured by using Terrestrial LiDAR, which is used for the precise measurement of geographical features, cultural properties and the like. The resulting value was $4,274,188m^3$, which is not significantly different from the amount of waste computed by using UAS. Thus, the possibility of measuring the amount of waste using UAS was confirmed, and UAS-based measurement is believed to be useful for environmental control with respect to disaster wastes, large-size wastes, and the like.

How to improve the accuracy of recommendation systems: Combining ratings and review texts sentiment scores (평점과 리뷰 텍스트 감성분석을 결합한 추천시스템 향상 방안 연구)

  • Hyun, Jiyeon;Ryu, Sangyi;Lee, Sang-Yong Tom
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.219-239
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    • 2019
  • As the importance of providing customized services to individuals becomes important, researches on personalized recommendation systems are constantly being carried out. Collaborative filtering is one of the most popular systems in academia and industry. However, there exists limitation in a sense that recommendations were mostly based on quantitative information such as users' ratings, which made the accuracy be lowered. To solve these problems, many studies have been actively attempted to improve the performance of the recommendation system by using other information besides the quantitative information. Good examples are the usages of the sentiment analysis on customer review text data. Nevertheless, the existing research has not directly combined the results of the sentiment analysis and quantitative rating scores in the recommendation system. Therefore, this study aims to reflect the sentiments shown in the reviews into the rating scores. In other words, we propose a new algorithm that can directly convert the user 's own review into the empirically quantitative information and reflect it directly to the recommendation system. To do this, we needed to quantify users' reviews, which were originally qualitative information. In this study, sentiment score was calculated through sentiment analysis technique of text mining. The data was targeted for movie review. Based on the data, a domain specific sentiment dictionary is constructed for the movie reviews. Regression analysis was used as a method to construct sentiment dictionary. Each positive / negative dictionary was constructed using Lasso regression, Ridge regression, and ElasticNet methods. Based on this constructed sentiment dictionary, the accuracy was verified through confusion matrix. The accuracy of the Lasso based dictionary was 70%, the accuracy of the Ridge based dictionary was 79%, and that of the ElasticNet (${\alpha}=0.3$) was 83%. Therefore, in this study, the sentiment score of the review is calculated based on the dictionary of the ElasticNet method. It was combined with a rating to create a new rating. In this paper, we show that the collaborative filtering that reflects sentiment scores of user review is superior to the traditional method that only considers the existing rating. In order to show that the proposed algorithm is based on memory-based user collaboration filtering, item-based collaborative filtering and model based matrix factorization SVD, and SVD ++. Based on the above algorithm, the mean absolute error (MAE) and the root mean square error (RMSE) are calculated to evaluate the recommendation system with a score that combines sentiment scores with a system that only considers scores. When the evaluation index was MAE, it was improved by 0.059 for UBCF, 0.0862 for IBCF, 0.1012 for SVD and 0.188 for SVD ++. When the evaluation index is RMSE, UBCF is 0.0431, IBCF is 0.0882, SVD is 0.1103, and SVD ++ is 0.1756. As a result, it can be seen that the prediction performance of the evaluation point reflecting the sentiment score proposed in this paper is superior to that of the conventional evaluation method. In other words, in this paper, it is confirmed that the collaborative filtering that reflects the sentiment score of the user review shows superior accuracy as compared with the conventional type of collaborative filtering that only considers the quantitative score. We then attempted paired t-test validation to ensure that the proposed model was a better approach and concluded that the proposed model is better. In this study, to overcome limitations of previous researches that judge user's sentiment only by quantitative rating score, the review was numerically calculated and a user's opinion was more refined and considered into the recommendation system to improve the accuracy. The findings of this study have managerial implications to recommendation system developers who need to consider both quantitative information and qualitative information it is expect. The way of constructing the combined system in this paper might be directly used by the developers.

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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