• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.21-39
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• 2013

As the utilization of information technology and the turbulence of technological change increase in organizations, the adoption of IT outsourcing also grows to manage IT resource more effectively and efficiently. In this new way of IT management technique, service level management(SLM) process becomes critical to derive success from the outsourcing in the view of end users in organization. Even though much of the research on service level management or agreement have been done during last decades, the performance of the service level management process have not been evaluated in terms of final objectives of the management efforts or success from the view of end-users. This study explores the relationship between SLM maturity and IT outsourcing success from the users' point of view by a analytical case study in four client organizations under an IT outsourcing vendor, which is a member company of a major Korean conglomerate. For setting up a model for the analysis, previous researches on service level management process maturity and information systems success are reviewed. In particular, information systems success from users' point of view are reviewed based the DeLone and McLean's study, which is argued and accepted as a comprehensively tested model of information systems success currently. The model proposed in this study argues that SLM process maturity influences information systems success, which is evaluated in terms of information quality, systems quality, service quality, and net effect proposed by DeLone and McLean. SLM process maturity can be measured in planning process, implementation process and operation and evaluation process. Instruments for measuring the factors in the proposed constructs of information systems success and SL management process maturity were collected from previous researches and evaluated for securing reliability and validity, utilizing appropriate statistical methods and pilot tests before exploring the case study. Four cases from four different companies under one vendor company were utilized for the analysis. All of the cases had been contracted in SLA(Service Level Agreement) and had implemented ITIL(IT Infrastructure Library), Six Sigma and BSC(Balanced Scored Card) methods since last several years, which means that all the client organizations pursued concerted efforts to acquire quality services from IT outsourcing from the organization and users' point of view. For comparing the differences among the four organizations in IT out-sourcing sucess, T-test and non-parametric analysis have been applied on the data set collected from the organization using survey instruments. The process maturities of planning and implementation phases of SLM are found not to influence on any dimensions of information systems success from users' point of view. It was found that the SLM maturity in the phase of operations and evaluation could influence systems quality only from users' view. This result seems to be quite against the arguments in IT outsourcing practices in the fields, which emphasize usually the importance of planning and implementation processes upfront in IT outsourcing projects. According to after-the-fact observation by an expert in an organization participating in the study, their needs and motivations for outsourcing contracts had been quite familiar already to the vendors as long-term partners under a same conglomerate, so that the maturity in the phases of planning and implementation seems not to be differentiating factors for the success of IT outsourcing. This study will be the foundation for the future research in the area of IT outsourcing management and success, in particular in the service level management. And also, it could guide managers in practice in IT outsourcing management to focus on service level management process in operation and evaluation stage especially for long-term outsourcing contracts under very unique context like Korean IT outsourcing projects. This study has some limitations in generalization because the sample size is small and the context itself is confined in an unique environment. For future exploration, survey based research could be designed and implemented.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.37 no.1 s.120
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• pp.16-28
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• 2007

Objective: Evaluation of individual growth is important in orthodontics. The aim of this study was to develop a convenient software that can evaluate current growth status and predict further growth. Methods: Stature data of 2 to 20 year-old Koreans (4893 boys and 4987 girls) were extracted from a nationwide data. Age-sex-specific continuous functions describing percentile growth curves were constructed using natural cubic spline function (NCSF). Then, final stature prediction algorithm was developed and its validity was tested using longitudinal series of stature measurements on randomly selected 200 samples. Various accuracy measurements and analyses of errors between observed and predicted stature using NCSF growth curves were performed. Results: NCSF growth curves were shown to be excellent models in describing reference percentile stature growth curie over age. The prediction accuracy compared favorably with previous prediction models, even more accurate. The current prediction models gave more accurate results in girls than boys. Although the prediction accuracy was high, the error pattern of the validation data showed that in most cases, there were a lot of residuals with the same sign, suggestive of autocorrelation among them. Conclusion: More sophisticated growth prediction algorithm is warranted to enhance a more appropriate goodness of model fit for individual growth.

• Journal of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of Korea CI
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.56-63
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• 2007

In this paper, an eye tracking method is presented using a neural network (NN) and mean-shift algorithm that can accurately detect and track user's eyes under the cluttered background. In the proposed method, to deal with the rigid head motion, the facial region is first obtained using skin-color model and con-nected-component analysis. Thereafter the eye regions are localized using neural network (NN)-based tex-ture classifier that discriminates the facial region into eye class and non-eye class, which enables our method to accurately detect users' eyes even if they put on glasses. Once the eye region is localized, they are continuously and correctly tracking by mean-shift algorithm. To assess the validity of the proposed method, it is applied to the interface system using eye movement and is tested with a group of 25 users through playing a 'aligns games.' The results show that the system process more than 30 frames/sec on PC for the $320{\times}240$ size input image and supply a user-friendly and convenient access to a computer in real-time operation.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

Urban park planning has become difficult due to the lack of municipal funds. Thereupon, a special scheme was imposed for city park planning. Since then, a legal amendment was made for economical improvement and more active participation. However, there are a lot of questions about whether it was a suitable direction for parks and where it should be emphasized for public interest. Base on these concerns, this study examined the basis and characteristics of location, creation, and maintenance of private development parks in Japan, which was the policy model of Korean private parks. Location and space planning of private development parks was made up considering an effective green network and disaster prevention function, and a minimum area was about 1.42ha. The minimum area, 1ha, was established on the basis of considering realistic possibilities, disaster protection, and universal validity. It was also amended to consider the standard of type two mid- to high-rise exclusive residential areas and consultation with regional governance. Finally, it was built on the lowest limit of ordinance of the relevant city; for example, 100% of the floor area ratio, 30% of the building coverage ratio, and the maximum height of 11 stories, etc. For maintenance, private and public sectors were working together. Maintenance fees for 35 years (based on $300yen/m^2$ per month) were paid en bloc by the licensee. However, the city was paid for facilities that accompanied excessive maintenance costs. Meanwhile, it seemed difficult to introduce attractive profit facilities because of the limitations in location, usage permission, and introduction equipment; furthermore, there were problems with management authority, and the burden of expenses was deducted. For creating private Korean parks, this study suggested that we should build priority of creating city parks and select appropriate locations first; also, we need to make criteria for location, creation, and standard management rules that are relevant to the whole nation of Korea.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.135-164
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• 2008

This research is to offer a structured yet practical ex-ante evaluation methodology for IT investment. Benchmarking the best practices of four Korean organizations, we try to integrate core processes, relevant measures, and evaluation dimensions into a consistent and wholesome body of evaluating methodology. The best practices we considered encompass a wide range of business enterprises, including for-profit, non-profit, service-oriented, and manufacturing entities. The proposed methodology consists of three stages; the first stage checks the validity of investments by looking into comprehensiveness of planning, willingness to accomplish, justifiable grounds for the investments, overlapping investments, and obstructing risks; the second do so by putting an IT investment into economic, strategic, and technological perspectives; and the last third would produce a unified quantity that summarizes outcome of the previous stages. Incorporating the proven knowledge, guidelines, and quantifying tools, the methodology could make a valuable reference model for IT evaluation practitioners who have been bedeviled by having to going through such ex-ante evaluations.

• Journal of Gifted/Talented Education
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.237-259
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• 2015

Teachers in music(including Korean traditional music) gifted education are a significant variable in both identifying the giftedness of students and a successful instruction. The purpose of this study is to develop the Scale for Screening the Qualified Teachers for the Gifted in Korean traditional and western Music(SSQTGM), and to examine the validity and reliability of the SSQTGM. To achieve this purpose, this study administered the SSQTGM to 175 teachers of gifted students aged between 13 and 15 in middle schools for the arts. To validate the SSQTGM, I analyzed the criteria of the SSQTGM, and conducted an exploratory and confirmative factor analysis. I also examined an internal consistency. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, I finally collected 41 items of the SSQTGM. Futhermore, I could identify psychological constructs of the qualified teachers for the gifted in Korean traditional and western music. In consequence of the confirmative factor analysis, the model provided a good fit to observe data. As a result of the reliability analysis, the internal consistency of knowledge in the music(korean traditional music) verified cronbach's ${\alpha}=.937$, and the expertise of the class management and instruction verified cronbach's ${\alpha}=.942$. Also, the teachers' aptitude and personality verified cronbach's ${\alpha}=.963$. This result of the construct validation reflects the fact that the SSQTGM is an available scale that can be applied in gifted education field instantly.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.59-70
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• 2016

Purpose - The objectives of this study are described as following. First, the study will establish the concept of Brand Values of Environmentally-friendly agricultural product through theoretical discussion. Second, it shows the effects of Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products brand value on Brand Satisfaction, Brand Trust and Brand Loyalty by empirical investigation. Third, in order to provide the methodology of brand development, literature regarding and questionnaire survey were used such as Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products Brand Value, Brand Satisfaction, Brand Trust and Brand Loyalty. Based up on the results, the research estimates consumers' relative priorities of Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products Brand Value factors in purchase. This research also suggests the consumer oriented new brand development and the progressive direction for the successful launching of Korean Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products Brand. Research design, data, and methodology - Because the relative literatures reviewed regarding not only each factor but also the relationships among them, Brand Value was categorized into 4 dimensions: Emotional, Social, Functional, and Epistemic Value. Then, Brand Loyalty was added as an outcome variable and Brand Satisfaction, Brand Trust were also added as mediators. The proposed research model and 13 hypotheses were created and 23 measurement items were developed. A face-to-face questionnaire survey with items concerning the Brand Value of Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products is conducted to housewives in metropolitan area in May 2016. Respondent answered about Brand Value, Brand Satisfaction, Brand Trust and Brand Loyalty in preferred Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Products. 333 copies of the questionnaire were collected and analyzed using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0 to determine the reliability and validity of the measurements. Results - From the confirmatory factor analysis and a structural equation modeling, the outcomes of these studies were as follows; (1) Three Brand value dimensions, i.e. Emotional Value, Social Value, and Epistemic Value had a significant and positive impact on Brand Satisfaction, but Functional Value did not. (2) Social Value also had an impact on Brand Trust, (3) Brand Satisfaction significantly affected Brand Trust, and Brand Trust influenced on Brand Loyalty, and (4) Brand Satisfaction were perfectly effective in mediation between Emotional Value, Epistemic Value and Brand Trust, and it also partially mediated between Social Value and Brand Trust. Conclusions - According to the result of consumer research on Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Product brand, 3 dimensions of brand value affected brand satisfaction, and especially Social Value was a significant positive dimension. So, marketers should concern about value proposition of Environmentally-Friendly Agricultural Product to consumers by using premium package design, store identity, and distinctive product. Consumers wanted to get self-esteem, self-regard, and high social position by purchasing it. This study has academic and practical significance, so the findings can be applied to a wide range of brand management strategies. However, there are some limitations; 1) limitation about development of new brand value dimensions, 2) limitation about gender in the area of respondents. Future research should be done with wide range of respondents.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.65-98
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• 2007

Wetland provides various environmental services as well as marketable goods to human society. This paper presents a meta-analysis of the wetland valuation studies conducted in Korea during the past decade. Meta-analysis is a technique of summarizing research results from the separate but related studies using statistical methods. The objectives of the paper is to identify the main factors affecting the wetland values and to examine the applicability of meta-regression analysis for summarizing the information from valuation studies of natural ecosystem. The total of 64 observations from 24 studies are assembled, and we observe significant differences in wetland values depending on the characteristics of the studies. With the statistical significance, our results indicate that the method employed affects the wetland values while the wetland function evaluated affects little. In addition, we found that the size of wetland is negatively associated with the values, implying that wetland values exhibit the decreasing returns to scale. The evidences from our empirical analysis suggest that the meta-analysis has a potential as a tool to synthesize the research results from valuation studies and to provide useful information to policy makers. However, this study acknowledges that more effort should be dedicated toward the construction of DB on valuation studies as well as the research on the model improvement to enhance the validity and reliability of meta-analysis.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.115-120
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of religious activities on the death anxiety and self appearance, life quilty of senior citizens in a bid to give some suggestions on how the elderly could lead a successful life. The subjects in this study carried out face-to-face interview targeting and convenience sampling 300 elderly people who were aged 65 and over and resided in the city of Gwangju. SPSS 17.0 and AMOS 7.0 programs were used to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study were as follows: First, whether there were any gaps in death anxiety and self appearance, life quality according to the type of religious life was examined, and that made significant differences to life satisfaction(F=9.498, p<.001) and self- esteem(F=9.370, p<.001). But that produced no statistically significant results in association with depression. Second, a confirmatory factor analysis was made to find out the relationship of religion to depression and psychological well-being, and most of their indexes were positive, which proved that the variables had something to do with each other. Last, a path model was analyzed to verify the relationship of the participation of the elderly people in religious activities to their depression and psychological well-being, and the GFI, AGFI, and CFI of the variables were above .80, which lent credibility to the validity of the study.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.25-40
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• 2001

The purposes of the study were to identify satisfaction and achievement of learning by female learner's characteristics, and to suggest measures to improve quality of education in internet education programs. In order to determine the educational effectiveness associated with the characteristics of learners, this study attempted to employ two way approaches by observing the degree of achievement for learning, which represents an instructor-oriented approach, and the degree of satisfaction for education, which represents a learner-oriented approach to enhance the quality of internet education for female learners. As an approach to evaluate the educational effectiveness, the degree of achievement in learning(Tyler's classical approach), and the degree of satisfaction for education (Scriven's consumer-oriented evaluation model) were utilized. A survey form was developed by the researcher after reviewing the various tools originated from Boshier, Cross, Gagne and Choi, and distributed to a panel of judges that examined the content validity of the instrument. The sample for the study consisted of 160 female learners from three universities in Seoul and capital area, and the survey form was used to collect data for this study. The SPSS WIN program was used in analyzing the data and a series of statistical tests were conducted including frequency, percentile, t-test, ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, and factor analysis. The statistical significance level was 0.05. The following conclusion were drawn from this study of female internet education. First, it was evident that female internet learners tend to utilize information from internet, and this can be interpreted as participants' positive attitude, and voluntary participation. Second, educational facilities and services should be improved in the future, because the level of satisfaction was low in these areas compared to curriculum and educational methodology. Third, the participating factors influenced by the level of satisfaction for education of learner characteristics were the 'formation of inter-personal relationship and willingness to change' and the 'needs for education on internet', thus appeared that both social and educational needs influenced the level of satisfaction for education. Fourth, the degree of achievement in learning was higher in the order of 1) attitude 2) function 3) knowledge, thus, attitude change was the most important in achievement of learning. Fifth, the individual background that influenced the level of achievement in learning were age and educational experience. As for the individual level of achievement for learning, the younger and more educated group were more satisfied.