• Title/Summary/Keyword: Variable working conditions

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Safety Accident Prevention Activities & Actual Conditions According to Physical Education Teacher's Value Orientation (체육교사의 가치정향에 따른 안전사고 예방활동 및 실태)

  • Jeong, Suk-Bum;Park, Young-Soo
    • The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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    • v.4
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    • pp.79-95
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    • 2003
  • This dissertation aims to analyze various safety accidents taking place during physical education class according to physical education teacher's value orientation, to identify teacher's value orientation that can minimize safety accidents, and to provide basic materials for safe and smooth class management. For this purpose, data have been collected from 261 physical education teachers at some middle and high schools in G City in Kyung-Ki Province and Busan Metropolitan City. The materials were treated as follows: The variables on demographic characteristics of physical education teachers are determined by t-test ; The analysis of one-way ANOVA and relationship between value orientation and safety accident prevention activities was conducted through Pearson's linear correlation analysis and multiple regression; The analysis of the relationship between value orientation and actual conditions of safety accidents was conducted through logistic regression. First, there is almost no awareness difference of physical education teachers' value orientation according to demographical variables. The value orientation physical education teachers consider to be the most important is, however, mainly 'mastery of disciplinary lesson.' There is a statistically significant difference in safety accident prevention activities according to demographical variables. Teachers' focuses in class contents showed a significant difference according to teaching experience and working area, while the dependency on facility has a significant difference according to teaching experience and school type. Second, there is no correlation between physical education teacher's value orientation and safety accident prevention activities because there is virtually no statistically significant difference between them. It means that safety accident prevention activities are not related with on which teachers place emphasis among mastery of disciplinary lesson, social reconstruction, self-realization, ecological integration and value orientation on learning process. Third, the analysis of safety accident prevention activities according to physical education teachers' value orientation revealed that the lower value orientation in social reconstruction is, the more safety accidents teachers experience. It is also found that crashes among students, ball games and leg injuries are inter-related with social reconstruction in value orientation, over-motivation and unskilled motor function ; athletic sports with value orientation on learning process and safety prevention training ; unskilled motor functions with value orientation in ecological integration and disobedience to teacher's directions ; winter accidents with mastery of disciplinary lesson in value orientation. In conclusion, the research indicates that physical education teacher's value orientation according to demographical variables didn't show any significant difference, while one according to safety accident prevention activities showed significant difference. Besides, physical education teachers' value orientation is not related to safety accident prevention activities, but the relationship between value orientation and actual conditions of safety accidents showed correlations according to each variable. Especially, teachers with lower value orientation in social reconstruction experienced more safety accidents. Therefore, physical education teachers can manage physical education class more safely with more emphasis on value orientation in social reconstruction.

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Related Factors to Visual Display Terminal Syndrome in Employees of A General Hospital in one Metropolitan City (한 광역시 종합병원 근로자의 VDT 증후군 자각증상에 대한 관련요인 연구)

  • Yoo, Se-Jong;Hong, Jee-Young;Bae, Seok-Hwan
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.297-303
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    • 2011
  • The existing studies of VDT syndrome have been researched only about for nurse groups without radiological technologists. The target of this study was workers who perform VDT task in general hospital placed in Daejun City such as insurance judgement, patient affairs, medical record management, medical computing service, hospital administration, and radiological sections. This study was conducted at October 15, 2009 to November 2, 2009 using structured questionnaire. Results of group A (age 20-29, less than 5 years experience at clinical site, normal staff, and unmarried group) showed significant skin and psychological conditions among recognition symptoms of VDT syndrome. Group B (age 30-39, 6-10 years experience at clinical site, managing staff, and married group) tends to be similar at orbital, whole body and muscles' frame response among recognition symptoms of VDT syndrome. Results of "Multiple Linear Regression" with dependent variable that is scores of recognition symptoms of VDT syndrome are as follows. The factors which influences for orbital-related problem is gender, health cares and obstacles during daily life. The factors which influences for whole body-related is exercise, stress and recognition for health condition and the factors which influences muscles' frame-related is 6-10 years experience at clinical site, human relationship, health cares and obstacles during daily life. These are proved to be similar by statistic analysis. There is small difference at recognition symptom of VDT syndrome between the radiological technologist and other groups in general hospital. Yet, as the working circumstance of radiological technologist gradually changes to VDT environment, the recognition symptom of VDT syndrome became conscious. This can be prevented by regular job rotation, which will escape the continuous repetition of working pattern.

The Effect of Lifestyle Habits and Nutrient Intake Conditions of Female Shift Workers at General Hospitals on Bone Mineral Density Values (종합병원 교대근무 여성들의 생활습관 및 영양섭취상태가 골밀도 값에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Young-Ran;Lee, Tae-Yong;Park, Young-Sun;Cheon, Hae-Kyung
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.35 no.1
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    • pp.9-15
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    • 2012
  • The purpose of this study is to provide preliminary data for bone disease prevention by examining the correlation between bone mineral density, and lifestyle and nutritional status of female shift workers, at general hospitals with an irregular life cycle. The subjects for this study were 232 female shift workers, over 30 years old, who worked at a general hospital more than 5 years. From the subjects, who understood the purpose of this study and decided to be participated, we measured serum albumin, total brotein, total cholesterol, hematocrit, hemoglobin, calcium, phosphorus from blood test, and obtained bone mineral density. To analyze the effectiveness of the variables for explanation power, we established the studied values as independent variables, bone minral density as a dependent variable. Exercise, the number of drinking, calcium, and phosphorus were selected as significant variables and the explanation power was 10.2%. The bone mineral density were significantly higher at the subjects who had exercise, higher calcium and phosphorus possession, and drank alcohol than the opposite cases. Regular exercise, and 1:1 intake of calcium and phosphorous were important to prevent osteoporosis for the subjects who were working three shifts which cause irregular lifestyle.

A Study on Balanced -type Oseillating Mole-Drainer(III)-Model Test for Draft Force, Torque, Power and Moment (평행식 진동탄환 암거 천공기의 연구(III)-견인력, 토크, 동력 및 모멘크에 관한 모형시험-)

  • 김용환
    • Journal of Biosystems Engineering
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    • v.1 no.1
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    • pp.1-6
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    • 1976
  • This paper is the third one of the study on balanced type oscillating mole-drainer, the first one was presented in No 9. Gyeongsang College Report and the second one in Vol. 17, No.4 of the KSAE. In the first part of this study, the characteristics of traction forces between the nonoscillating earth working equipments and oscillating ones was compared. A model of the balanced type oscillating mole-drainer, which composed of a mechanism that may reduce the machine vibration, was designed following the dimensional analysis and similitude technique. The model test was carried out to clarify the balancing mechanism of the oscillating parts and other parts of the machine. In the light of the results from the model tests, a prototype machine was made for experimental purpose. Results from the field test by a reported in the near future. In the second report, the model tests were carried out under the same soil conditions, i.e, . oscillating frequency, running velocity, and oscillating amplitude, etc. It was clear that use of balanced type oscillating model could substantially reduce the vibration of the whole system of the machine, when compared with the nonoscillating type model. In this paper(the third report), results of investigation on the traction force, power requirement, and moment. etc, is presented. Analysis of variance technique was used for analyzing the effect of the frequency, amplitude, and running velocity on the draft force, torque, power requirements, and moments. The results obtained from the model tests are as follows, 1) By practicing a balanced-type oscillating mole-drainer, it was possible to reduce the traction resistance by 55.1-61. 2 percent of traction resistance, however, was 1.75 - 1.95 times greater than the value of resistance which was induced by use of a mole-drainer with single bullet. The resistance of rear shank against soil was considered as a main causing factor of the above results. 2) As the oscillation frequency was increased, the traction resistance was decreased. Considering on the effect of oscillation the greater the amplitude, and the slower the running velocity was, the greater the reduction ratio of traction resistance was. 3) The ratio of the traction resistance of oscillating mole-drainer to that of non-oscillating one could be represented as a function of dimensionless variable (V/$Af$). The results from the tests were well agreed with the reported results from the experim ents on oscillation plow or hoe. 4) By taking a lower value of (V/$Af$), reducing the traction resistance was possible. This fact meant, however, that the efficiency of mole drain practice would be lower. 5) It was experimentally confirmed under the same condition of soil that the variable (R/$rD1^3$) could be represented as a function of a variable($V^2/gD$) when a non\ulcornerocillating mole-drainer was used. 6) When a oscillating mole-drainer was used, the variable(R/$rD_1^{3}$) could be represented as a function of two variables ($v^2/gD_1$) and (V^2/gD_1$). 7) The torque was not affected by a change of frequency. However, a relation of proportionality existed between torque and amplitude, running velocity, and ratio of bullet diameter. When a balanced type oscillating mole-drainer with two bullets was used, torque was increased by 52.8-78. 4 percent and total power requirement was also increased. 8) Total power requirement was increased linearly in accordance with the increasing frequency, 41.96 percent of total power was used for oscillating action. The magnitude of total power requirement was 1. 8-9. 4 times greater than that of a non-oscillating mechanism. In the view point of power requirement, it was not advisable to increase the frequency, amplitude, running velocity, and ratio of bullet diameter at the same time. 9) Only the positive moment occured in the rear shank. Change of the diameter of a rear bullet, could not affect the balancing against the soil resistance. It was necessary for rear bullet to have a large resistance against soil only when the rear bullet was in backward motion. 10) Within an extent of the experimental base, optimum limits for several design factors were A=0.5cm, $f$=22.5Hz, V=O. 05m/sec, and $\lambda$=1.0 By adapting these values traction resistance was reduced by 40 percent and vibration acceleration wa s reduced by 60 percent. Even though the total , power requirements for operating a balanced type oscillation mechanism was greater ~than that of non-oscillating one, using a oscillating mechanism would be more effective. Because a balanced type oscillating mechanism is used, tractive resistance will be reduced and then the lighter . tractive equipment could be used.

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Evaluation of Mechanical Test Characteristics of Fillet Welding (필릿 용접의 기계적 시험 특성 평가)

  • Cho, Byung-Jun;Lee, Soung-Jun;Rhim, Jong-Guk
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.21 no.2
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    • pp.535-541
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    • 2020
  • FCAW is used mainly in the welding of carbon steel and alloy steel because it can be welded in all positions and can obtain excellent quality at sites with variable working conditions. Recently, many studies in Korea have estimated the fatigue strength, residual stress, and deformation, and to develop a fillet welding process. On the other hand, there have been few studies of the mechanical properties based on the strength, macro and magnetic particle test results for fillet welding. This study shows the following results through fillet welding, macro testing and strength testing using SM490A (solid-structure rolled steel) for thick plates using SS400 (rolled steel) for the upper plate and FCAW. The hardness test, macro test and magnetic particle test were then conducted. The hardness tests showed that all result values were smaller than the KS B 0893 standard values of 350Hv. The macro-test showed that each type of welded part was in a normal organic state and that there were no internal errors, bubbles, or impurities on the front of the welded part. Therefore, there were no concerns about lamination. The magnetic particle examination showed no problems.

A Study on Job Stress, Fatigue and Job Satisfaction of 119 Emergency Medical Technician (119구급대원의 업무스트레스와 피로 및 직무만족도에 관한 연구)

  • Park, Dae-Sung
    • The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.71-86
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    • 2004
  • This study selected emergency medical technicians at 24 fire police boxes in Jeonnam in order to examine the relationship between job stress, fatigue and job satisfaction of 119 emergency medical technicians. Data were collected from Apr. 10 to May 9, 2004, questionnaires were mailed and returned by mail. Total 109 questionnaires were distributed and 89 questionnaires were collected and 80 except 9 omitting answers and showing inappropriate answers were used for final analysis. The results of this study are as follows. A. The total mean of areas composing job stress in the degree of job stress of 119 emergency medical technicians was over the average as 2.54 (SD .44) of 4 full marks. According to the degree of job stress by each area, the highest area of job stress was crisis situation (2.98), followed by role conflict as professional job (2.58), social factors (2.57), involvement in organization (2.55). To the contrary, the areas of the lowest job stress were professional knowledge and technique (2.35), psychological burden of medical limitation (2.38), conflicts in personal relationship and services (2.45) and improper treatment (2.53). B. The degree of fatigue of 119 emergency medical technicians by areas was over mean as 2.09(SD .49) of 4 full scores and physical fatigue was highest (2.18), followed by mental fatigue (2.11) and neurosensory fatigue (1.99). C. The degree of job satisfaction of 119 emergency medical technicians was 2.71 of 5 full scores and working condition area (3.70) showed the highest job satisfaction, followed by requirement of organization (2.85) and the lowest job satisfaction area was job itself (2.18), followed by desire for job (2.49). D. According to differences in demographical characteristics of 119 emergency medical technicians, there was no variable of statistical difference at job stress and job satisfaction in significance level .05, but fatigue showed statistical difference at final education (F=2.393, p=.046). E. According to differences related to job characteristics of 119 emergency medical technicians, job stress showed statistical differences at motif of current services (F=4.935, p=.003), fatigue showed those at health conditions (F=2.732, p=.008), job satisfaction at overtime (F=3.038, p.034) and the greatest reason of having job (F=3.217, p=.017), F. As a result of analyzing correlations between job stress. fatigue and job satisfaction of the subject, job stress showed positive correlations (r=.411, p=.000) with fatigue and negative correlation (r=-.267, p=.008) with job satisfaction. Fatigue showed negative correlation (r=-.287, p=.005) with job satisfaction. Therefore, the hypothesis of this study. "There will be relationship between degree of stress, fatigue and job satisfaction of subjects." was supported.

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The Effect of Dental Hygienist Prosthetic Medical Service on Dental Satisfaction and Dental Loyalty (치과위생사의 보철 의료서비스가 치과 만족 및 애호도에 미치는 영향)

  • Song, Kwui-Sook;Ryu, Da-Young;Lee, Su-Jung
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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    • v.22 no.1
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    • pp.713-718
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    • 2021
  • This study was conducted to clarify the role and importance of dental hygienists in improving patient satisfaction in dental medical institutions, and to improve the social position, working conditions, and environment of dental hygienists. This study evaluated the impact of dental hygienists on dental satisfaction, revisits, and doctor recommendations for patients who had received prosthodontic treatment at dentistry in the last 10 years. This study analyzed the data from 166 survey questionnaires from June 1, to July 2, 2020. For data analysis, the SPSS Ver 23.0 program was used to calculate frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation of the variables, Pearson correlation analysis, and multiple regression analysis. As a result, the average quality of medical services provided by dental hygienists among prosthetics was 4.05, the average dental satisfaction was 4.27, the average revisit was 3.97, and the average recommendation was 4.01. As a result of Pearson's correlation analysis, there was a significant positive correlation between each variable (P<0.01). As a result of multiple regression analysis, the level of knowledge appeared as a factor affecting dental satisfaction (P<0.05). The factors influencing both the revisits and the intention to recommend were the level of knowledge and the level of education (P<0.05).

An Analysis of the Moderating Effects of User Ability on the Acceptance of an Internet Shopping Mall (인터넷 쇼핑몰 수용에 있어 사용자 능력의 조절효과 분석)

  • Suh, Kun-Soo
    • Asia pacific journal of information systems
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.27-55
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    • 2008
  • Due to the increasing and intensifying competition in the Internet shopping market, it has been recognized as very important to develop an effective policy and strategy for acquiring loyal customers. For this reason, web site designers need to know if a new Internet shopping mall(ISM) will be accepted. Researchers have been working on identifying factors for explaining and predicting user acceptance of an ISM. Some studies, however, revealed inconsistent findings on the antecedents of user acceptance of a website. Lack of consideration for individual differences in user ability is believed to be one of the key reasons for the mixed findings. The elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and several studies have suggested that individual differences in ability plays an moderating role on the relationship between the antecedents and user acceptance. Despite the critical role of user ability, little research has examined the role of user ability in the Internet shopping mall context. The purpose of this study is to develop a user acceptance model that consider the moderating role of user ability in the context of Internet shopping. This study was initiated to see the ability of the technology acceptance model(TAM) to explain the acceptance of a specific ISM. According to TAM. which is one of the most influential models for explaining user acceptance of IT, an intention to use IT is determined by usefulness and ease of use. Given that interaction between user and website takes place through web interface, the decisions to accept and continue using an ISM depend on these beliefs. However, TAM neglects to consider the fact that many users would not stick to an ISM until they trust it although they may think it useful and easy to use. The importance of trust for user acceptance of ISM has been raised by the relational views. The relational view emphasizes the trust-building process between the user and ISM, and user's trust on the website is a major determinant of user acceptance. The proposed model extends and integrates the TAM and relational views on user acceptance of ISM by incorporating usefulness, ease of use, and trust. User acceptance is defined as a user's intention to reuse a specific ISM. And user ability is introduced into the model as moderating variable. Here, the user ability is defined as a degree of experiences, knowledge and skills regarding Internet shopping sites. The research model proposes that the ease of use, usefulness and trust of ISM are key determinants of user acceptance. In addition, this paper hypothesizes that the effects of the antecedents(i.e., ease of use, usefulness, and trust) on user acceptance may differ among users. In particular, this paper proposes a moderating effect of a user's ability on the relationship between antecedents with user's intention to reuse. The research model with eleven hypotheses was derived and tested through a survey that involved 470 university students. For each research variable, this paper used measurement items recognized for reliability and widely used in previous research. We slightly modified some items proper to the research context. The reliability and validity of the research variables were tested using the Crobnach's alpha and internal consistency reliability (ICR) values, standard factor loadings of the confirmative factor analysis, and average variance extracted (AVE) values. A LISREL method was used to test the suitability of the research model and its relating six hypotheses. Key findings of the results are summarized in the following. First, TAM's two constructs, ease of use and usefulness directly affect user acceptance. In addition, ease of use indirectly influences user acceptance by affecting trust. This implies that users tend to trust a shopping site and visit repeatedly when they perceive a specific ISM easy to use. Accordingly, designing a shopping site that allows users to navigate with heuristic and minimal clicks for finding information and products within the site is important for improving the site's trust and acceptance. Usefulness, however, was not found to influence trust. Second, among the three belief constructs(ease of use, usefulness, and trust), trust was empirically supported as the most important determinants of user acceptance. This implies that users require trustworthiness from an Internet shopping site to be repeat visitors of an ISM. Providing a sense of safety and eliminating the anxiety of online shoppers in relation to privacy, security, delivery, and product returns are critically important conditions for acquiring repeat visitors. Hence, in addition to usefulness and ease of use as in TAM, trust should be a fundamental determinants of user acceptance in the context of internet shopping. Third, the user's ability on using an Internet shopping site played a moderating role. For users with low ability, ease of use was found to be a more important factors in deciding to reuse the shopping mall, whereas usefulness and trust had more effects on users with high ability. Applying the EML theory to these findings, we can suggest that experienced and knowledgeable ISM users tend to elaborate on such usefulness aspects as efficient and effective shopping performance and trust factors as ability, benevolence, integrity, and predictability of a shopping site before they become repeat visitors of the site. In contrast, novice users tend to rely on the low elaborating features, such as the perceived ease of use. The existence of moderating effects suggests the fact that different individuals evaluate an ISM from different perspectives. The expert users are more interested in the outcome of the visit(usefulness) and trustworthiness(trust) than those novice visitors. The latter evaluate the ISM in a more superficial manner focusing on the novelty of the site and on other instrumental beliefs(ease of use). This is consistent with the insights proposed by the Heuristic-Systematic model. According to the Heuristic-Systematic model. a users act on the principle of minimum effort. Thus, the user considers an ISM heuristically, focusing on those aspects that are easy to process and evaluate(ease of use). When the user has sufficient experience and skills, the user will change to systematic processing, where they will evaluate more complex aspects of the site(its usefulness and trustworthiness). This implies that an ISM has to provide a minimum level of ease of use to make it possible for a user to evaluate its usefulness and trustworthiness. Ease of use is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the acceptance and use of an ISM. Overall, the empirical results generally support the proposed model and identify the moderating effect of the effects of user ability. More detailed interpretations and implications of the findings are discussed. The limitations of this study are also discussed to provide directions for future research.

The Effect of the Gap between College Students' Perception of the Importance of Coffee Shops and Their Satisfaction after Patronizing Coffee Shops on Their Purchasing Behavior (대전원교학생대가배점중요성적감지화타문광고가배점지후적만의도지간적차거대타문구매행위적영향(大专院校学生对咖啡店重要性的感知和他们光顾咖啡店之后的满意度之间的差距对他们购买行为的影响))

  • Lee, Won-Ok
    • Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.1-10
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    • 2009
  • The purpose of this study was to categorize the gap between coffee shop 'importance' (as perceived by customers before patronizing the coffee shop) and 'satisfaction' (perception of customers after patronizing the coffee shop) as positive or negative and to analyze the effect of these gaps on purchasing behavior. To do this, I used the gap between importance and satisfaction regarding the choice of a coffee shop as the explanatory variable and performed an empirical analysis of the direction and size of the effect of the gap on purchasing behavior (overall satisfaction, willingness-to-revisit) by applying the Ordered Probit Model (OPM). A previous study that used IPA to evaluate the effects of gaps estimated the direction and size of a quadrant but failed to analyze the effect of gaps on customers. In this study, I evaluated the effects of positive and negative gaps on customer satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Using OPM, I quantified the effect of positive and negative gaps on overall customer satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Per-head expenditure, frequency of visits, and coffee-purchasing place had the most positive effects on overall customer satisfaction. Frequency of visits, followed by per-head expenditure and then coffee-purchasing place, had the most positive impact on willingness-to-visit. Thus per-head expenditure and frequency of visits had the greatest positive effects on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. This finding implies that the higher the actual satisfaction (gap) of customers who spend KRW5,000 or more once or more per week at coffee shops is, the higher their overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit are. Despite the fact that economical efficiency had a significant effect on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit, college and university students still use coffee shops and are willing to spend KRW5,000 because they do not only purchase coffee as a product itself, but use the coffee shop for other activities, such as working, meeting friends, or relaxing. College and university students also access the Internet in coffee shops via personal laptops, watch movies, and study; thus, coffee shops should provide their customers with the appropriate facilities and services. The fact that a positive gap for coffee shop brand had a positive effect on willingness-to-revisit implies that the higher the level of customer satisfaction, the greater the willingness-to-revisit. A negative gap for this factor, on the other hand, implies that the lower the level of customer satisfaction, the lower the willingness-to-revisit. Thus, the brand factor has a comparatively greater effect on satisfaction than the other factors evaluated in this study. Given that the domestic coffee culture is becoming more upscale and college/university students are sensitive to this trend, students are attentive to brands. In most upscale coffee shops in Korea, the outer wall is built out of glass that can be opened, the interiors are exotic with an open kitchen. These upscale coffee shops function as landmarks and match the taste of college/university students. Coffee shops in Korea have become a cultural brand. To make customers feel that coffee shops are upscale, good quality establishments and measures to provide better services in terms of brand factor should be instituted. The intensified competition among coffee shop brands in Korea as a result of the booming industry indicates that provision of additional services is needed to differentiate competitors. These customers can also use a scanner free of charge. Another strategy that can be used to boost brands could be to provide and operate a seminar room for seminars and group study. If coffee shops adopt these types of strategies, college/university students would be more likely to consider the expenses they incur worthwhile and, subsequently, they would be more likely to be satisfied with the brands of these coffee shops, with an associated increase in their willingness-to-revisit. Gender and study year had the most negative effects on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Female students were more likely to be satisfied and be willing to return than male students, and third and fourth-year students were more likely to be satisfied and willing-to-return than first or second-year students. Students who drink coffee, read books, and use laptops alone at coffee shops are easily noticeable. High-grade students tend to visit coffee shops alone in order to use their time efficiently for self-development and to find jobs. The economical efficiency factor had the greatest effect on overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit in terms of a positive gap. The higher the actual satisfaction (gap) of students with the price of the coffee, the greater their overall satisfaction and willingness-to-revisit. Economical efficiency with a negative gap had a negative effect on willingness-to-revisit, which implies that a less negative gap will result in a greater willingness-to-revisit. Amid worsening market conditions, coffee shops located around colleges/universities are using strategies, such as a point or membership card, strategic alliances with credit-card companies, development of a set menu or seasonal menu, and free coffee-shot services to increase their competitive edge. Product power also had a negative effect in terms of a negative gap, which indicates that a higher negative gap will result in a lower willingness-to-revisit. Because there are many more customers that enjoy coffee in this decade, as compared to previous decades, the new generation of customers, namely college/university students, want various menu items in addition to coffee, and coffee shops should, therefore, add side menu items, such as waffles, rice cakes, cakes, sandwiches, and salads. For example, Starbucks Korea is making efforts to enhance product power by selling rice cakes flavored in strawberry, wormwood, and pumpkin, and providing coffee or cream free of charge. In summary, coffee shops should focus on increasing their economical efficiency, brand, and product power to enhance the satisfaction of college/university students. Because shops adjacent to colleges or universities enjoy a locational advantage, providing differentiated services in terms of economical efficiency, brand, and product power, is likely to increase customer satisfaction and return visits. Coffee shop brands should, therefore, be innovative and embrace change to meet their customers' desires. Because this study only targeted college/university students in Seoul, comparative studies targeting diverse regions and age groups are required to generalize the findings and recommendations of this study.

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An Empirical Study in Relationship between Franchisor's Leadership Behavior Style and Commitment by Focusing Moderating Effect of Franchisee's Self-efficacy (가맹본부의 리더십 행동유형과 가맹사업자의 관계결속에 관한 실증적 연구 - 가맹사업자의 자기효능감의 조절효과를 중심으로 -)

  • Yang, Hoe-Chang;Lee, Young-Chul
    • Journal of Distribution Research
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.49-71
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    • 2010
  • Franchise businesses in South Korea have contributed to economic growth and job creation, and its growth potential remains very high. However, despite such virtues, domestic franchise businesses face many problems such as the instability of franchisor's business structure and weak financial conditions. To solve these problems, the government enacted legislation and strengthened franchise related laws. However, the strengthening of laws regulating franchisors had many side effects that interrupted the development of the franchise business. For example, legal regulations regarding franchisors have had the effect of suppressing the franchisor's leadership activities (e.g. activities such as the ability to advocate the franchisor's policies and strategies to the franchisees, in order to facilitate change and innovation). One of the main goals of the franchise business is to build cooperation between the franchisor and the franchisee for their combined success. However, franchisees can refuse to follow the franchisor's strategies because of the current state of franchise-related law and government policy. The purpose of this study to explore the effects of franchisor's leadership style on franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. We classified leadership styles according to the path-goal theory (House & Mitchell, 1974), and it was hypothesized and tested that the four leadership styles proposed by the path-goal theory (i.e. directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented leadership) have different effects on franchisee's commitment. Another purpose of this study to explore the how the level of franchisee's self-efficacy influences both the franchisor's leadership style and franchisee's commitment in a franchise system. Results of the present study are expected to provide important theoretical and practical implications as to the role of franchisor's leadership style, as restricted by government regulations and the franchisee's self-efficacy, which could be needed to improve the quality of the long-term relationship between the franchisor and franchisee. Quoted by Northouse(2007), one problem regarding the investigation of leadership is that there are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are people who have tried to define it. But despite the multitude of ways in which leadership has been conceptualized, the following components can be identified as central to the phenomenon: (a) leadership is a process, (b) leadership involves influence, (c) leadership occurs in a group context, and (d) leadership involves goal attainment. Based on these components, in this study leadership is defined as a process whereby franchisor's influences a group of franchisee' to achieve a common goal. Focusing on this definition, the path-goal theory is about how leaders motivate subordinates to accomplish designated goals. Drawing heavily from research on what motivates employees, path-goal theory first appeared in the leadership literature in the early 1970s in the works of Evans (1970), House (1971), House and Dessler (1974), and House and Mitchell (1974). The stated goal of this leadership theory is to enhance employee performance and employee satisfaction by focusing on employee motivation. In brief, path-goal theory is designed to explain how leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are best suited to subordinates' needs and to the situation in which subordinates are working (Northouse, 2007). House & Mitchell(1974) predicted that although many different leadership behaviors could have been selected to be a part of path-goal theory, this approach has so far examined directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership behaviors. And they suggested that leaders may exhibit any or all of these four styles with various subordinates and in different situations. However, due to restrictive government regulations, franchisors are not in a position to change their leadership style to suit their circumstances. In addition, quoted by Northouse(2007), ssubordinate characteristics determine how a leader's behavior is interpreted by subordinates in a given work context. Many researchers have focused on subordinates' needs for affiliation, preferences for structure, desires for control, and self-perceived level of task ability. In this study, we have focused on the self-perceived level of task ability, namely, the franchisee's self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1977), self-efficacy is chiefly defined as the personal attitude of one's ability to accomplish concrete tasks. Therefore, it is not an indicator of one's actual abilities, but an opinion of the extent of how one can use that ability. Thus, the judgment of maintain franchisee's commitment depends on the situation (e.g., government regulation and policy and leadership style of franchisor) and how it affects one's ability to mobilize resources to deal with the task, so even if people possess the same ability, there may be differences in self-efficacy. Figure 1 illustrates the model investigated in this study. In this model, it was hypothesized that leadership styles would affect the franchisee's commitment, and self-efficacy would moderate the relationship between leadership style and franchisee's commitment. Theoretically, quoted by Northouse(2007), the path-goal approach suggests that leaders need to choose a leadership style that best fits the needs of subordinates and the work they are doing. According to House & Mitchell (1974), the theory predicts that a directive style of leadership is best in situations in which subordinates are dogmatic and authoritarian, the task demands are ambiguous, and the organizational rule and procedures are unclear. In these situations, franchisor's directive leadership complements the work by providing guidance and psychological structure for franchisees. For work that is structured, unsatisfying, or frustrating, path-goal theory suggests that leaders should use a supportive style. Franchisor's Supportive leadership offers a sense of human touch for franchisees engaged in mundane, mechanized activity. Franchisor's participative leadership is considered best when a task is ambiguous because participation gives greater clarity to how certain paths lead to certain goals; it helps subordinates learn what actions leads to what outcome. Furthermore, House & Mitchell(1974) predicts that achievement-oriented leadership is most effective in settings in which subordinates are required to perform ambiguous tasks. Marsh and O'Neill (1984) tested the idea that organizational members' anger and decline in performance is caused by deficiencies in their level of effort and found that self-efficacy promotes accomplishment, decreases stress and negative consequences like depression and emotional instability. Based on the extant empirical findings and theoretical reasoning, we posit positive and strong relationships between the franchisor's leadership styles and the franchisee's commitment. Furthermore, the level of franchisee's self-efficacy was thought to maintain their commitment. The questionnaires sent to participants consisted of the following measures; leadership style was assessed using a 20 item 7-point likert scale developed by Indvik (1985), self-efficacy was assessed using a 24 item 6-point likert scale developed by Bandura (1977), and commitment was assessed using a 6 item 5-point likert scale developed by Morgan & Hunt (1994). Questionnaires were distributed to Korean optical franchisees in Seoul. It took about 20 days to complete the data collection. A total number of 140 questionnaires were returned and complete data were available from 137 respondents. Results of multiple regression analyses testing the relationships between the each of the four styles of leadership shown by the franchisor as independent variables and franchisee's commitment as the dependent variable showed that the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.13, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.07, p<.001)were significant. However, when participants divided into high and low self-efficacy groups, results of multiple regression analyses showed that only the relationship between achievement-oriented leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.14, p<.001) was significant in the high self-efficacy group. In the low self-efficacy group, the relationship between supportive leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.17, p<.001),and the relationship between participative leadership style and commitment ($\beta$=.10, p<.001) were significant. The study focused on the franchisee's self-efficacy in order to explore the possibility that regulation, originally intended to protect the franchisee, may not be the most effective method to maintain the relationships in a franchise business. The key results of the data analysis regarding the moderating role of self-efficacy between leadership behavior style as proposed by path-goal and commitment theory were as follows. First, this study proposed that franchisor should apply the appropriate type of leadership behavior to strengthen the franchisees commitment because the results demonstrated that supportive and participative leadership styles by the franchisors have a positive influence on the franchisee's level of commitment. Second, it is desirable for franchisor to validate the franchisee's efforts, since the franchisee's characteristics such as self-efficacy had a substantial, positive effect on the franchisee's commitment as well as being a meaningful moderator between leadership and commitment. Third, the results as a whole imply that the government should provide institutional support, namely to put the franchisor in a position to clearly identify the characteristics of their franchisees and provide reasonable means to administer the franchisees to achieve the company's goal.

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