• The Korean Journal of Franchise Management
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.7-18
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• 2019

Purpose: This study identifies the relative importance of the sub - factors of initial services and continuous services using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) method, and calculates the competitive index for the detailed factors. The purpose of this paper is to propose the establishment of long - term and short - term management strategy for expansion of business of food service franchise, franchisors, long - term and win - win relationship with franchisees, and rationalization of operating system. Research design, data, and methodology: The population for the survey is 92 franchisees in 46 foreign brands and 46 domestic brands in the Seoul metropolitan area (Seoul / Gyeonggi / Incheon). The survey was conducted from July 1 to August 31, 2018 through the survey agency with a telephone interview and a surveyor's direct visit. A total of 100 questionnaires were collected, but a total of 92 parts were used for analysis except 8 parts that were considered to contain false information. Using the AHP method, relative importance and competitiveness index were calculated for the details of initial services and continuous services. Results: The results shows continuous services were significantly higher for both foreign brand franchises, domestic brand franchises, and overall than initial services, This suggests that the continuous services of the affiliated franchisors has a higher relative importance than the initial services. Among the continuous services, brand reinforcement and promotion were significantly higher for both foreign brand merchants and domestic brand franchises. This can be regarded as the most important factor in brand reinforcement and promotion when selecting a food service franchisors. Conclusions: In the Standard Terms and Conditions governed by the Fair Trade Commission, the franchisors should increase the fairness by creating manuals for supporting services, especially after opening, and regularly checking whether the supporting services have been carried out like manuals since the establishment of franchisees. In addition, the Brand Strengthening and Public Relations Committee (tentative name) jointly participated by the franchisors and franchisees for the purpose of strengthening and promoting the brand, suggesting a system for transparent and efficient execution of the brand reinforcement and promotion budget and monitoring afterwards.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.450-457
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• 2020

Background: The production of glass beads in Ghana is greatly impacted by the ingenuity of Ghanaian women. Preliminary investigations revealed the lack of interest on the part of women due to poor working conditions as a result of the influence of culture-specific silence. Therefore, the study investigated the poor working conditions faced by these industrious women with the ultimate goal of suggesting ways they can be empowered. Methods: A phenomenological study was conducted in two indigenous glass bead communities in Ghana. Data were solicited via direct observations, personal interviews and focus group discussions. Twenty-six purposively sampled respondents were recruited for the study. Data from the study were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results: The results confirmed that the elderly women glass bead makers are much influenced by the Ghanaian culture of silence. This prevents the women from speaking about the challenges they are facing in their work. Also, the women are silenced because of the fear of losing their jobs as well as the reluctance of their male managers to remedy the challenges they encounter in the course of work. This has resulted in poor remuneration, lack of insurance packages for workers, certification, and absence of personal protective tools for the women. Conclusion: The study tasks the government of Ghana, the Legal Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA), the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission in Ghana, the Ghana Trade Union as well as the Local Government Workers' Union to empower the women to sustain the glass bead industry in Ghana.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.37-52
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• 2022

Purpose - The objective of this study is to investigate what motivates global FDI inflows in the different economic development level and to clarify the FDI motivation type in the level of qualitative economic growth. Design/methodology/approach - Major macroscopic social·economic factors induced FDI inflows were analyzed using fixed-effect panel regression with 30-year panel data of 28 countries from 1985 to 2014. For analysis in the stage of economic growth, two category of developed and developing countries was used. And to analyze FDI motivation type in the level of qualitative economic growth, 4 shares of GDP; consumption·government·investment expenditure and export, was used as explanatory variable. Findings - In developed country, TFP(total factor productivity) and GDP have a great influence on FDI inflows, and consumption and labor compensation have a slight effect. This result indicates that the market seeking-driven, horizontal type investment is shown along with efficiency seeking investment. In developing country, human capital and TFP is shown to have greater impact on FDI inflows and labor compensation, exports, investment and government expenditures also have impacts. Thus it has confirmed that not only efficiency-seeking vertical investment for using low cost well educated laborer, but also government-driven economic growth and export policies could affect the FDI inflows. Research implications or Originality - The FDI investment decision making of multinational companies is decided by their own purpose. But, in the concept of as follows; 1) FDI is a long-term capital flowing for maximization of economic utility with limited global resource, 2) Thus FDI could be affected by macro socio·economic factors of host country. 3) Also such macro factors is different by each economic growth qualitative level. Therefore macro socio·economic factors of each country could be affected by the qualitative level of their own economic growth. To attract FDI inflows, it is desirable to implement differentiated incentive policies in the qualitative level of economic growth. Furthermore in developing countries it is recommended to implement government driven economic growth policies as follows; fostering well educated human resources, improving technology productivity in the relative lower cost labor market compared to developed countries and boosting international export volume.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.962-969
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• 2009

The market of building construction has been competitive in Hong Kong, perhaps as anywhere else in the world. The barrier to entry is low because there are relatively low requirements on the three factors of production - technology, manpower and finance. The prevailing building technology is traditional and labour-intensive. There is also not much need of capital because clients' periodic payments have been the main source of project finance. Further, capitalizing on trade sub-contracting, contractors have been able to keep their direct labour-force small and to transfer much of their business risk to the sub-contractors. Based on interviews to solicit the perception of a sample of building contractors on the particular issues of construction finance, we present the findings in this paper and discuss the various implications. We believe that the current practice of construction financing is both the cause and effect of the competition within, and the competitiveness of, the building construction sector in Hong Kong. We conclude that the building construction sector is "locked or stuck" in this "equilibrium" of traditional technology, reliance on clients' finance and exploitation of sub-contracting. In this "equilibrium" state, there is hardly any motivation for contractors to engage themselves in product or process innovation. Consequently, any talk of industry reform or innovation could only remain just that. We believe that this problem is not unique in Hong Kong. The building construction sector in many other developed and developing economies is posed with similar if not the same problems and constraints. We conclude that there has to be some "external forces" to bring this "equilibrium" state to a higher level "equilibrium" one where higher value-added building construction services are supplied and demanded. This is a state where building contractors possessing innovative technology, better financial and manpower resources could thrive to build better buildings with innovative building methods and processes.

• Analyses & Alternatives
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.44-64
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• 2017

Russia's push in the Asia-Pacific region stems from its interests that have the national, regional and global dimensions. In their turn, the aims of this policy are civilizational, geopolitical, economic and prospective, with a long-term outlook. In the course of their achievement, cooperation with Northeast Asia's countries will play one of the key roles owing to the factors of geographic proximity, Northeast Asia's economic potential, risk hedging and a growing influence Northeast Asia exerts upon the global development. A new cooperation paradigm between Russia and the states of Northeast Asia should be based upon establishing and cementing self-reproducing ties. This is the central aim of Russian initiatives in relations, with Japan, the Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Mongolia and China. However, numerous obstacles ranging from Russia's absence in the regional free trade agreements and supply-production chains of value-added production to the permanent international instability generated by Pyongyang's missile-nuclear developments hamper the practical implementation of this task. Realizing the necessity to give an additional impetus to this new cooperative paradigm, Russia has to develop directions with an apparent consolidating effect. The most promising may be the establishment of a permanent security forum based upon Northeast Asia Peace and Security Mechanism chaired by the Russian Federation. The urgency of this measure and its expected support stem from the necessity to strengthen security in Northeast Asia, a task neither the US-led hub-and-spoke system nor ASE-AN-led multilateral dialogue venues have been able to resolve. The issues addressed at the security forum must include the unification of approaches to North Korean nuclear issue and producing a document specifying actions of the claimants on the disputed maritime territories in the "direct contact" situations. At the expert level, Russia has elaborated on the idea to establish such a forum outlining the spectrum of the key directions of cooperation. With the urgency in the establishment of this dialogue venue, its agenda has to be coordinated with the agendas of the existing security systems presented by the US alliances and the ASE-AN-led multilateral negotiations. The practical implementation of this initiative will strengthen security in Northeast Asia as its challenges will be resolved in the pre-emptive way based on coordinated approaches. Therefore, Russia as the Eurasian state will be one of the role players in the advent of the Asian century.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.1-15
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• 2023

This study compares and analyzes the legal systems of Korea, the European Union, China, and the United States based on the disclosure principles and processing policies for personal data processing and provides references for seeking improvements in our legal system. Furthermore, this research aims to suggest institutional implications to overcome data transfer limitations in the upcoming digital economy. Findings on a comparative analysis of the relevant legal systems for disclosing privacy policies in four countries showed that Korea's privacy policy is under the eight principles of privacy proposed by the OECD. However, there are limitations in the current situation where personal information is increasingly transferred overseas due to direct international trade e-commerce. On the other hand, the European Union enacted the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2016 and emphasized the transfer of personal information under the Privacy Policy. China also showed differences in the inclusion of required items in its privacy policy based on its values and principles regarding transferring personal information and handling sensitive information. The U.S. CPRA amended §1798.135 of the CCPA to add a section on the processing of sensitive information, requiring companies to disclose how they limit the use of sensitive information and limit the use of such data, thereby strengthening the protection of data providers' rights to sensitive information. Thus, we should review our privacy policies to specify detailed standards for the privacy policy items required by data providers in the era of digital economy and digital commerce. In addition, privacy-related organizations and stakeholders should analyze the legal systems and items related to the principles of personal data disclosure and privacy policies in major countries so that personal data providers can be more conveniently and accurately informed about processing their personal information.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.30 no.6
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• pp.463-469
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• 2023

Aluminum alloys, known for their high strength-to-weight ratios and impressive electrical and thermal conductivities, are extensively used in numerous engineering sectors, such as aerospace, automotive, and construction. Recently, significant efforts have been made to develop novel aluminum alloys specifically tailored for additive manufacturing. These new alloys aim to provide an optimal balance between mechanical properties and thermal/electrical conductivities. In this study, nine combinatorial samples with various alloy compositions were fabricated using direct energy deposition (DED) additive manufacturing by adjusting the feeding speeds of Al6061 alloy and Al-12Si alloy powders. The effects of the alloying elements on the microstructure, electrical conductivity, and hardness were investigated. Generally, as the Si and Cu contents decreased, electrical conductivity increased and hardness decreased, exhibiting trade-off characteristics. However, electrical conductivity and hardness showed an optimal combination when the Si content was adjusted to below 4.5 wt%, which can sufficiently suppress the grain boundary segregation of the α-Si precipitates, and the Cu content was controlled to induce the formation of Al₂Cu precipitates.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.17-23
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• 2024

Background: The present study aimed to analyze several aspects of the working conditions and health status of platform workers in the Republic of Korea, such as ergonomic and emotional hazards. We also compared the health status of the platform workers with that of the general population. Methods: A total of 1,000 platform workers participated in this survey from August 7 to August 17, 2022. The participants included 400 designated drivers, 400 food-delivery drivers, and 200 housekeeping managers. A face-to-face survey with a structured questionnaire was conducted by researchers who had received specific instructions. The focus of the survey extended to the work environment, encompassing factors such as workplace violence, as well as physical, chemical, and ergonomic hazards. Health-related data for the previous year were also collected, covering a range of issues such as hearing problems, skin problems, musculoskeletal symptoms, headaches, injuries, mental health issues, and digestive problems. Subsequently, we compared the health symptom data of the responders with those of the general population in the Republic of Korea. Results: Platform workers, including designated drivers, food-delivery drivers, and housekeeping managers, existed in the blind spot of social insurance, facing frequent exposure to physical and chemical hazards, ergonomic risk factors, and direct or indirect violence. The prevalence of health problems, including musculoskeletal symptoms, general fatigue, and depressive symptoms, in each occupational group was statistically higher than that in the general population after standardization for age and gender. Conclusion: The results revealed unfavorable working environment and inferior occupational health of platform workers compared with those of the general population.

• The Korean Society of Law and Medicine
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.75-98
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• 2018

Recently, the antitrust tribunal of Seoul High Court revoked the disposition of Korea Fair Trade Commission(hereafter 'KFTC'). While KFTC determined that the restriction of Korea Pediatrician Association violated article 26 of the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act(Korean antitrust law), Seoul High court viewed that KFTC failed to prove the compulsory measures and the restraint of competition required in article 26. The 'restriction' of article 26 should be interpreted as 'excessive restriction'. Since entrepeneurs' organization is allowed to limit its member's activities, KFTC could regulate entrepeneurs' organization on a very exceptional basis. In addition, though entrepeneurs' organization did not use compulsory measures to enforce its resolution, its 'excessive restriction' could fit into the notion of 'restriction' of article 26. Under the current medical care system, the price of medical care is decided by Korean government. Therefore the restriction of Korea Pediatrician Association is not likely to have effect on the price. However, the resolution of Korea Pediatrician Association was aimed to decrease the supply of medical care. Therefore the resolution is capable of having effect on the competition. In this sense, though KFTC failed to submit direct evidence to support the decrease of quantity, there could be possibility of restraint of competition. The Seoul High Court's decision has important implications. The leading case on restraint of competition(Supreme Court 2002Du8628, Posco case) was delivered in 2007. However the remaining issue such as the standard and scope of restraint of competition is not clear. Through reappeal case of this decision, Supreme Court has to decide the line between competition and its restraint.

• The Korean Journal of Air & Space Law and Policy
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.3-38
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• 2019

In 1984, Congress enacted a new measure of administrative sanctions which is a civil money penalty program for violations of Aviation Act and its implementing regulations. This civil money penalty system has been in operations in lieu of suspending or revoking certificates issued by Korean government, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport. According to the rules of Aviation Business Act or Aviation Safety Act, where the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport should order an air carrier to suspend operation because of her violation under certain rules, in which case the suspension of operation is likely to cause serious inconvenience to consumers of air transport services or to harm public interest, the Minister of the department may impose an administrative monetary penalty in lieu of the suspension of operation. In this regard, airline related civil money penalties are somewhat different from those of fair trade, which is the origin of the money penalties system in Korea. Civil money penalties in the field of fair trade are imposed on executive duty violations that undermine the value of the market economy order, and focus on reimbursement of profits due to violations and compensation for unfair spending by consumers. However, in the aviation sector, breach of duty by a business operator does not simply cause the property loss of the public, but it has a direct impact on life or property of the public. In this respect, aviation penalties are more likely to be administrative sanctions or punitive measures than refunds of unfair benefits, compared to penalties in the field of fair trade. In general, civil money penalties have been highly preferred as administrative sanctions because they are subject to investigations by administrative experts and thus, efficiency can be ensured and execution is quicker than judicial procedures. Moreover, in Korea, because punitive civil damages cannot awarded by the courts, the imposition of civil money penalties is recognized as a means of realizing social justice by recognizing the legal feelings of the people. However, civil money penalties are administrative sanctions, and in terms of effectiveness, they are similar to criminal fines, which are a form of punishment. Inadequate legislation and operation of penalties imposition may cause damage to the value of Constitution. Under the above recognition, this paper has been described for the purpose of identifying the present status of the civil money penalties imposition system and operating status in the area of air transport under the laws and regulations in Korea. Especially, this paper was focused on exploring the problem and improvement direction of Korean system through the comparative study with foreign laws and regulations.