• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.113-145
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• 2009

Recently, due to the globalization of the IT(Information Technology) market, devices and systems designed in one country are used in other countries as well. This phenomenon is becoming the key factor for increased interest on cross-cultural, or cross-national, research within the IT area. However, as the IT market is becoming bigger and more globalized, a great number of IT practitioners are having difficulty in designing and developing devices or systems which can provide optimal experience. This is because not only tangible factors such as language and a country's economic or industrial power affect the user experience of a certain device or system but also invisible and intangible factors as well. Among such invisible and intangible factors, the cultural characteristics of users from different countries may affect the user experience of certain devices or systems because cultural characteristics affect how they understand and interpret the devices or systems. In other words, when users evaluate the quality of overall user experience, the cultural characteristics of each user act as a perceptual lens that leads the user to focus on a certain elements of experience. Therefore, there is a need within the IT field to consider cultural characteristics when designing or developing certain devices or systems and plan a strategy for localization. In such an environment, existing IS studies identify the culture with the country, emphasize the importance of culture in a national level perspective, and hypothesize that users within the same country have same cultural characteristics. Under such assumptions, these studies focus on the moderating effects of cultural characteristics on a national level within a certain theoretical framework. This has already been suggested by cross-cultural studies conducted by scholars such as Hofstede(1980) in providing numerical research results and measurement items for cultural characteristics and using such results or items as they increase the efficiency of studies. However, such national level culture has its limitations in forecasting and explaining individual-level behaviors such as voluntary device or system usage. This is because individual cultural characteristics are the outcome of not only the national culture but also the culture of a race, company, local area, family, and other groups that are formulated through interaction within the group. Therefore, national or nationally dominant cultural characteristics may have its limitations in forecasting and explaining the cultural characteristics of an individual. Moreover, past studies in psychology suggest a possibility that there exist different cultural characteristics within a single individual depending on the subject being measured or its context. For example, in relation to individual vs. collective characteristics, which is one of the major cultural characteristics, an individual may show collectivistic characteristics when he or she is with family or friends but show individualistic characteristics in his or her workplace. Therefore, this study acknowledged such limitations of past studies and conducted a research within the framework of 'theoretically integrated model of user satisfaction and emotional attachment', which was developed through a former study, on how the effects of different experience elements on emotional attachment or user satisfaction are differentiated depending on the individual cultural characteristics related to a system or device usage. In order to do this, this study hypothesized the moderating effects of four cultural dimensions (uncertainty avoidance, individualism vs, collectivism, masculinity vs. femininity, and power distance) as suggested by Hofstede(1980) within the theoretically integrated model of emotional attachment and user satisfaction. Statistical tests were then implemented on these moderating effects through conducting surveys with users of four digital devices (mobile phone, MP3 player, LCD TV, and refrigerator) in three countries (US, Germany, and Russia). In order to explain and forecast the behavior of personal device or system users, individual cultural characteristics must be measured, and depending on the target device or system, measurements must be measured independently. Through this suggestion, this study hopes to provide new and useful perspectives for future IS research.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.55-62
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• 2016

Purpose - Average using time of smart-phone for Korean people is 3 hours 39 minutes and most people who are using a computer at home and their workplace can be affected over force to neck and shoulder due to unstable body posture. musculoskeletal disorders which caused by unstable body posture can affect strongly to decrease work efficiency. So this research is designed to measure the effect of using computer & smart-phone on decreased work efficiency due to musculoskeletal disorders and mediating effect between decreased work efficiency and musculoskeletal disorders. Research Design, Data, and Methodology - The author has developed a questionnaire with 6 hypothesis on the basis of previous research result with 5 constructs. The questionnaires were also made by interview and E-mail. 300 copies of questionnaires were distributed and 282 questionnaire were used for the analysis as valid data responses. SPSS ver.21.0 were used and made Cronbach's α and reliability test, correlation, Baron & Kenny 3 step mediated regression analysis. Result - Cronbach's α shows 0.770~0.954 and C.R. is 0.963~0.997 which is higher than 0.7. and AVE was 0.867~0.933. So the data are all acceptable condition. Using for a long time of a computer & smart-phone has a positive effect on musculoskeletal disorders. This means, it can cause musculoskeletal disorders if people use a computer & smart-phone for a long time due to unstable body posture. And musculoskeletal disorders can effect strongly decrease work efficiency. This study also found out that a long time of using computer can cause musculoskeletal disorders rather than using smart-phone a long time. To check mediate effect of musculoskeletal disorders between using a computer & smart-phone and Decreased Work Efficiency, author used 3-step mediated regression analysis of Baron & Kenny (1986). Using a computer for a long time mediate partially and using a smart-phone for a long time mediate completely. This means that using a smart-phone a long time is not the actual reason to decrease work efficiency. But using level of smart-phone is increasing rapidly day by day. So we need to make additional research about this matter seriously. Conclusion - Nowadays, people can not live on without a computer & smart-phone even a moment. But, using a computer for a long time will affect to cause musculoskeletal disorders and it will effect strongly to decrease work efficiency. Before, we thought over that musculoskeletal disorders were diseases of elder people. But, we found out from this study that musculoskeletal disorders can be happen to any people, even children, or workers in heavy industry or engaged in brain work. So we need to be careful when we use a computer for a long time. People also need to be careful to keep correct body posture when using both a computer and smart-phone since a smart-phone became more popular and using time level became longer. Due to increased income and living standard of people, physical growth of young people is so rapid. But the physical environment of society is not suitable for them since it can not follow up the speed of growth. Suitable work table is very important to prevent musculoskeletal disorder which can affect decrease work efficiency. For a person, a society or country, increased productivity is very important since it can directly connected to the job satisfaction. Education and reeducation for the people is also important, but to teach them how to keep good condition of health will be more important since it can increase the quality of work efficiency and quality of life. Computer and Smart-phone is one the best invention of modern society, but it can cause mental and physical disease which can affect decrease work efficiency and productivity. So it is necessary to observe attentively for the situation continually.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.55-92
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• 2010

In terms of labor market accomplishments, such as income, size of the company, and the matching quality between one's job and college major (specialization), a very large discrepancy is observed between the graduates from colleges located in Seoul and those outside Seoul. But, when the department average score of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) at the time of college entrance is controlled for, the discrepancy is found to be reduced to a considerable degree. In the case of wage gap, at least two third can be explained by the SAT score gap. The remaining wage gap seems to reflect the characteristics of workplace. In other words, graduates with high SAT scores enter colleges located in Seoul and thus tend to find better jobs leading to earning differences. This result that confirms the importance of aptitude test scores suggests that in the labor market, one of the major reasons behind a lower accomplishment of the graduate from local colleges is due to a lower competitiveness of local colleges in attracting the brightest students. But, this should not be viewed as only an internal problem of local colleges. This is because the growth of local economies tends to haul the advancement of local colleges in that area rather than being the other way around. The agglomeration effect in Seoul where headquarters of large corporations and financial institutions gather is the factor that has elevated the status of colleges located in Seoul since this provides highly preferred job choices of graduates. When the competitiveness of college is significantly influenced by exogenous factors, such as the vicinity to Seoul, the effort being made by colleges alone would not be enough to improve the situation. However, the central government, too, is not in the position to carry out countermeasure policies for such problems. The regional development strategy boosted through supportive policies for local colleges, such as financial support, is not based on the persuasive and empirical grounds. It is true that college education is universal and that the government''s intervention in assisting local colleges to secure basic conditions, such as tenure faculty and adequate facilities is necessary. However, the way of intervention should not be a support-only type. In order to improve the efficiency and effect of financial support, restructuring programs, including the merger and integration of insolvent colleges, should be underway prior to providing support. In addition, when the policy is focused on education recipients-local college students, and not on education providers-local colleges, the importance of regional gap in compulsory education (elementary and junior high schools) turns out to be much important as the gap between metropolitan area colleges and local colleges. Considering the educational gap before college entrance shown from the discrepancies of aptitude test scores among different regions, the imbalance between regions in terms of human resources is apparently derived from compulsory education, and not from college education. Therefore, there is a need to double the policy efforts to reduce the educational gap among different regions. In addition, given the current situation where it is difficult to find appropriate ex post facto policy measures to solve the problem of income gap between the graduates from metropolitan colleges and local colleges, it can be said that improving the environment for compulsory education in local areas is a growing necessity for bridging the educational gap among different regions.

• Journal of dental hygiene science
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.142-149
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• 2016

The number of male dental hygienists has been continuously increasing in dental services. The purpose of this study aimed to identify the relationship between job stress, job satisfaction, and turnover intention in male dental hygienists and to provide basic data to improve their job satisfaction. The study population was 110 Korean male dental hygienists working for dental clinics or hospitals. The data were collected from November 10 to December 7, 2015. After an explanation about the objective of the study, 110 questionnaires were distributed via email, and 97 responses were analyzed using SPSS. Overall averages of job stress, job satisfaction and turnover intention in male dental hygienists were 3.05, 2.92, and 3.47 out of 5, respectively. Some sub-factors of job stress, including interpersonal relationships at the workplace and future prospects of dental clinics, were proven to have statistically significant negative influence on job satisfaction (p<0.001). Regression analysis was performed with job stress and job satisfaction as independent variables and turnover intention as a dependent variable. Results showed that job stress had a positive effect on turnover intention (p<0.01) while job satisfaction had a negative effect on turnover intention (p<0.001). Job satisfaction was revealed to have statistically significant negative influence on turnover intention (p<0.001). Some of sub-factors of job stress, including work environment and future prospects of dental clinics and professional position, had a positive effect on turnover intention (p<0.05). The study showed that higher job stress led to higher turnover intention, and higher job satisfaction led to lower turnover intention. Accordingly, job stress and job satisfaction are critical factors for turnover intention in male dental hygienists.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.97-117
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• 2017

This research highlights the process of adopting cloud computing technology from users' perspective. Concentrating on perceived mechanism from employees side that lead to job performance at work. Cloud computing, the new player in our modern business environment, authors employ diffusion of innovation theory to capture how this new technology affect employees in workplace in terms of job performance. Education for this new system and managerial support by firm were used as moderating variable to test dependent variable, job performance. Research was done through survey from total 284 people working in metropolitan area at South Korea. The result shows that cloud computing system affect positively on work efficiency, and the extent of diffusion factors that influence from the most to least are as follow: 1. Users' Skill, 2. System Quality, 3. Information Quality, 4. Group Awareness, 5. Attitude towards New System. To test diffusion factors of cloud computing and job performance, South Korean people actually felt that cloud computing help their job performance and the extent of diffusion factors that influence from the most to least are as follow: 1. Users' Skill, 2. System Quality, 3. Information Quality, 4. Attitude towards New System, 5. Group Awareness. As for diffusion factors of cloud computing and productivity, result proved that cloud computing really helps firms, and the extent of diffusion factors that influence from the most to least are as follow: 1. Information Quality, 2. Attitude towards New System, 3. Group Awareness, 4. System Quality, 5. Users' Skill. Two moderating variables, employee education and managerial support were tested to prove whether these two variables affect the job performance and the result displays positive affect for both two factors. To conclude, adopting cloud computing helps firms by increase employees' work efficiency and job performance. In order to accelerate the process employees education really matters because users' skill is the most crucial among diffusion factors.

• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

Customized cosmetics are continuously mentioned as a trend in the cosmetics industry to respond to the recent rapid changes in the social environment and pursue individuality and diversity. Accordingly, four types of liposome essence corresponding to skin types were prepared by varying the ratio of liposome formulation and essence formulation as a customized cosmetic base that can be easily mixed and applied at the workplace. The volatilization residues of four types of liposome essence were measured and the nanoparticle size, polydispersity index, zeta potential and viscosity according to time for 90 d were measured, and Turbiscan was measured as a method for evaluating the stability of a colloidal dispersion system. In addition, a simple usability evaluation was performed for four types of liposome essence corresponding to the skin type. As a result, the amount of volatile residue in the four types of liposome essence was increased in dry products rather than oily ones, and the particle size showed a tendency to increase with time in the range of 165 to 175 nm, increasing up to 31.5%, and the polydispersity index was 0.23 to 0.26. There was little change with time, and the zeta potential was -74 to -72 mV, showing a slight decrease with time, but there was little change to the extent of a maximum decrease of 14.0%. Viscosity showed a decreasing trend with time in the range of 2,580 ~ 3,290 cps, showing a maximum decrease of 17.5%. In the turbiscan measurement, all of the turbiscan stability index, a measure of stability, were less than 1.0, indicating dispersion stability. In the overall simple usability satisfaction evaluation for skin types (6 points), products for oily skin (5.33 ± 0.75 points) > products for medium dry skin (5.13 ± 0.95 points) > products for dry skin (5.03 ± 0.96 points) > products for oily skin (4.80 ± 1.04 points) points) were evaluated in order. The four types of liposome essence corresponding to skin types with different ratios of liposome formulation and essence formulation were physically stable, and the possibility of application as a customized cosmetic base according to skin type was confirmed.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.37 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2022

Despite the recent increase in the consumption level of the processed meat-byproducts, the health and safety issue has consistently been raised in the processes of production, distribution and consumption. The purpose of this study is to analyze and evaluate the microbiological hazard elements in the Korean sausage, "Sundae," to present not only the safety standard of meat by-product vendors based on HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point), but also the quality control criteria and sanitary arrangements of small manufacturers. For the study, the microbiological hazards in 24 raw materials, 7 manufacturing processes, 40 facilities and tools, 17 workplace environment, and 12 workers were analyzed. The analysis revealed the hazardous elements in the initial stages with 6.28 and 4.07 log CFU/g of total aerobic count and coliforms, respectively, detected from the porcine blood and 3.23 log CFU/g of coliforms from the porcine small intestines. The result also showed that the total aerobic counts and coliforms in the process of mixing and filling process exceeds the standards in the hygiene guidelines by Natick with the total aerobic counts of 5.23, 5.45 log CFU/g, and the coliforms of 3.25, and 3.31 log CFU/g, respectively. Although the detected total aerobic count and the coliforms in the filling and washing rooms exceeded the standards, it was found that the total aerobic count was significantly reduced by 98% after cleaning and disinfecting and no coliforms was detected in any process thereafter. In order to achieve high level of safety in the manufacturing processes of Sundae, the separation of washing and disinfection room from the other sections and the sanitation control of the workers must be preceded, along with strict monitoring in the storage and distribution processes. The study raises necessity for additional studies for the safety evaluation of the processed meat-byproducts and further researches on the validity of the critical limits.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.183-200
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• 2024

Recently, with the MZ generation's entry into society and the social participation of the female population, conflicts are occurring between workplace groups that value WLB and existing groups that emphasize collaboration due to differences in work orientation. Public institutions and companies that utilize work-life balance support systems show differences in job Commitment depending on the nature of the work and the activation of the support system. Accordingly, it is necessary to verify the effectiveness of the WLB support system actually operated by the company and present universally valid standards. The purpose of this study is, first, to verify the effectiveness of the support system for work-life balance and to find practical consensus amid changes in policies and perceptions of the working environment. Second, the influence of work-life balance level and job immersion according to work characteristics was analyzed to verify the mutual influence in order to establish standards for WLB operation that reflects work characteristics. For the study, a 2X2 matrix model was used to analyze the impact of work-life balance and work characteristics on job commitment, and four hypotheses were established. First, analysis of the job involvement level of conflict-type group members, second, analysis of the job involvement level of leading group members, third, analysis of the job involvement level of agreeable group members, and fourth, analysis of the job involvement level of cooperative group members. To conduct this study, an online survey was conducted targeting employees working in public institutions and large corporations. The survey was conducted for a total of 9 days from October 23 to 31, 2023, and 163 people responded, and the analysis was based on a valid sample of 152 people, excluding 11 copies that were insincere responses or gave up midway. As a result of the study's hypothesis testing, first, the conflict type group was found to have the lowest level of job engagement at 1.43. Second, the proactive group showed the highest level of job engagement at 4.54. Third, the conformity group showed a slightly lower level of job involvement at 2.58. Fourth, the cooperative group showed a slightly higher level of job involvement at 3.80. The academic implications of the study are that it subdivides employees' personalities into factors based on the level of work-life balance and nature of work. The practical implications of the study are that it analyzes the effectiveness of WLB support systems operated by public institutions and large corporations by grouping them.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.115-139
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• 2008

Since financial crisis of IMF resulted in intensive competitiveness and adverse management environment, many hotel industries have responded it with restructuring. Since this restructuring is accompanied by reduction of employees, hence comes the recognition of justice in the procedure of restructuring. When the surviving employees in the restructuring process recognize unfairness in the procedure and practical operations, organization effectiveness can not be maintained due to losing trust of their employers. In this paper I will examine the relationship between validity of restructuring and compensatory programs for layoffs and surviving employees' trust of the employers. Also I will find out the relationship between remaining employees' trust of the employers and their job satisfaction and organization commitment. Through this relationship, we can prepare an alternative to reduce negative effect of restructuring. The hypotheses of this study are proposed as follows: H1: The higher surviving employees' recognition of procedural justice in restructuring process is, the higher their trust with a manager of the company is. H2: The higher surviving employees' recognition of distributive justice in restructuring process is, the higher their trust with a manager of the company is. H3: The higher surviving employees' recognition of procedural justice in restructuring process is, the higher their job satisfaction is. H4: The higher surviving employees' recognition of distributive justice in restructuring process is, the higher their job satisfaction is. H5: The higher surviving employees' recognition of procedural justice in restructuring process is, the higher their organization commitment is. H6: The higher surviving employees' recognition of distributive justice in restructuring process is, the higher their organization commitment is. H7: The higher surviving employees' trust with a manager of the company in restructuring process is, the higher their job satisfaction is. H8: The higher surviving employees' trust with a manager of the company in restructuring process is, the higher their organization commitment is. For the purposes of this study, employees working in luxury hotels located in Seoul were targeted. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to those who consented with the investigation after explaining the purpose of the survey. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 450 questionnaire were returned to the researcher for analysis. 430 of the returned questionnaires were used for analysis. As for the education for this survey, 250 junior college graduates or under (58.1%), 143 college graduates (33.3%) and 37 graduate school graduates (8.6%). As for the marital status, 315 persons (73.3%) are single and 115 are married (26.7%). As for the monthly income, 49 people (11.48%) are less than 2 million won, 148 (34.4%) are between 2 million and less than 2.5 million won, 153 (35.6%) are between 2.5 million to less than 3 million won, 80 (18.6%) are more than 3 million won. As for the workplace, 293 people (68.1%) work for the F&B department, 73 (17.0%) for rooms department, 41 (9.5%) for operation/ marketing department, 23 (5.3%) for account/ general affair department. As for the period of employment, 85 people (19.8%) are less than 5 years, 150 (34.9%) are between 6 to 9 years, 143 (33.3%) are between 10 to 14 years. and 52 (3.%) are more than 15 years. An exploratory factor analysis was used to survey validity and reliability of calculating tool on perceived values. This study used correlation between individual items and whole items and Cronbach's alpha value of multiple-item scale which is usually used to assess scale and reliability. Reliability of conceptual sub-dimension was assessed by basing on repeated procedure of correlation between individual items and whole items and factor loading. 1. Verification of correlation between validity of restructuring and trust This research showed that procedural and distributive justice of restructuring affects trust positively. The path coefficient between procedural justice of restructuring and trust is 0.719(t=10.135, p=0.000), and thereby the higher procedural justice results in higher trust. The path coefficient between distributive justice of restructuring and trust is 0.160(t=3.291, p=0.001), and thereby the higher distributive justice results in higher trust. Hence H1 and H2 are accepted. 2. Verification of correlation between validity of restructuring and job satisfaction The path coefficient between procedural justice of restructuring and job satisfaction is 0.179(t=2.202, p=0.028), and thereby the higher procedural justice results in higher job satisfaction. The path coefficient between distributive justice of restructuring and job satisfaction is 0.074(t=1.620, p=0.105), and thereby distributive justice of restructuring has no relationship with job satisfaction. Hence H3 is accepted, but H4 is removed. 3. Verification of correlation between validity of restructuring and organization commitment The path coefficient between procedural justice of restructuring and organization commitment is 0.188(t=2.466, p=0.014), and thereby the higher procedural justice results in higher organization commitment. The path coefficient between distributive justice of restructuring and organization commitment is 0.118(t=2.720, p=0.007), and thereby the higher distributive justice results in higher organization commitment. Hence H5 and H6 are accepted. 4. Verification of correlation between trust and job satisfaction The path coefficient between trust and job satisfaction is 0.610(t=6.736, p=0.000), and thereby the correlation has a meaningful result. Since the higher trust of the employer results in higher job satisfaction, H7 is accepted. 5. Verification of correlation between trust and organization commitment The path coefficient between procedural justice of restructuring and job satisfaction is 0.446(t=5.547 p=0.000), and thereby the higher trust of the employer results in higher organization commitment. Hence H8 is accepted. This research aimed to help the employers of hotel industries by analyzing the effects of validity of restructuring on employees' trust, job satisfaction and organization commitment. The research found that employer's validity of restructuring has significant affects on the degree of employee's trust with a manager, thereby reducing the negative effects of restructuring and enhancing organization commitment and job satisfaction. The principal purpose of this research is to confirm the correlation between employees' perceived validity of restructuring and their trust with a manager. Also whether this correlation results in competitive edge of the company is also investigated. It is also pointed out that employees had to participated the procedure of restructuring, sharing the philosophy and reason of restructuring. This participation and furthermore compensatory methods can reduce employees' anxiety of organization operations. Variable of trust appeared to have impact on intermediation effect between perceived variable of validity and job satisfaction, organization commitment, so that increase of trust with a manager plays an crucial role in increasing organization effectiveness. Since this research did not cover whole hotel industries which underwent restructuring, it showed a limit. Unlike previous studies which dealt with validity and trust of superior bosses, this research focussed on employers. Also the organization citizenship which is not considered in this study will be dealt with in the future study.