• 제목/요약/키워드: process of change

검색결과 9,721건 처리시간 0.049초

Valuation of Mining Investment Projects by the Real Option Approach - A Case Study of Uzbekistan's Copper Mining Industry - (실물옵션평가방법에 의한 광산투자의 가치평가 -우즈베키스탄 구리광산업의 사례연구를 중심으로-)

  • Makhkamov, Mumm Sh.;Kim, Dong-Hwan
    • Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
    • /
    • 제8권6호
    • /
    • pp.1634-1647
    • /
    • 2007
  • "To invest or not to invest?" Most business leaders are frequently faced with this question on new and ongoing projects. The challenge lies in deciding what projects to choose, expand, contract, defer, or abandon. The project valuation tools used in this process are vital to making the right decisions. Traditional tools such as discounted cash flow (DCF)/net present value (NPV) assume a "fixed" path ahead, but real world projects face uncertainties, forcing us to change the path often. Comparing to other traditional valuation methods, the real options approach captures the flexibility inherent to investment decisions. The use of real options has gained wide acceptance among practitioners in a number of several industries during the last few decades. Even though the options are present in all types of business decisions, it is still not considered as a proper method of valuation in some industries. Mining has been comparably slow to adopt new valuation techniques over the years. The reason fur this is not entirely clear. One possible reason is the level and types of risks in mining. Not only are these risks high, but they are also more numerous and involve natural risks compared with other industries. That is why the purpose of this study is to deal with a more practical approach to project valuation, known as real options analysis in mining industry. This paper provides a case study approach to the copper mining industry using a real options analysis. It shows how companies can minimize investment risks, exercise flexibility in decision making and maximize returns.

  • PDF

Lip Contour Detection by Multi-Threshold (다중 문턱치를 이용한 입술 윤곽 검출 방법)

  • Kim, Jeong Yeop
    • KIPS Transactions on Software and Data Engineering
    • /
    • 제9권12호
    • /
    • pp.431-438
    • /
    • 2020
  • In this paper, the method to extract lip contour by multiple threshold is proposed. Spyridonos et. el. proposed a method to extract lip contour. First step is get Q image from transform of RGB into YIQ. Second step is to find lip corner points by change point detection and split Q image into upper and lower part by corner points. The candidate lip contour can be obtained by apply threshold to Q image. From the candidate contour, feature variance is calculated and the contour with maximum variance is adopted as final contour. The feature variance 'D' is based on the absolute difference near the contour points. The conventional method has 3 problems. The first one is related to lip corner point. Calculation of variance depends on much skin pixels and therefore the accuracy decreases and have effect on the split for Q image. Second, there is no analysis for color systems except YIQ. YIQ is a good however, other color systems such as HVS, CIELUV, YCrCb would be considered. Final problem is related to selection of optimal contour. In selection process, they used maximum of average feature variance for the pixels near the contour points. The maximum of variance causes reduction of extracted contour compared to ground contours. To solve the first problem, the proposed method excludes some of skin pixels and got 30% performance increase. For the second problem, HSV, CIELUV, YCrCb coordinate systems are tested and found there is no relation between the conventional method and dependency to color systems. For the final problem, maximum of total sum for the feature variance is adopted rather than the maximum of average feature variance and got 46% performance increase. By combine all the solutions, the proposed method gives 2 times in accuracy and stability than conventional method.

Strategic Issues in Managing Complexity in NPD Projects (신제품개발 과정의 복잡성에 대한 주요 연구과제)

  • Kim, Jongbae
    • Asia Marketing Journal
    • /
    • 제7권3호
    • /
    • pp.53-76
    • /
    • 2005
  • With rapid technological and market change, new product development (NPD) complexity is a significant issue that organizations continually face in their development projects. There are numerous factors, which cause development projects to become increasingly costly & complex. A product is more likely to be successfully developed and marketed when the complexity inherent in NPD projects is clearly understood and carefully managed. Based upon the previous studies, this study examines the nature and importance of complexity in developing new products and then identifies several issues in managing complexity. Issues considered include: definition of complexity : consequences of complexity; and methods for managing complexity in NPD projects. To achieve high performance in managing complexity in development projects, these issues need to be addressed, for example: A. Complexity inherent in NPD projects is multi-faceted and multidimensional. What factors need to be considered in defining and/or measuring complexity in a development project? For example, is it sufficient if complexity is defined only from a technological perspective, or is it more desirable to consider the entire array of complexity sources which NPD teams with different functions (e.g., marketing, R&D, manufacturing, etc.) face in the development process? Moreover, is it sufficient if complexity is measured only once during a development project, or is it more effective and useful to trace complexity changes over the entire development life cycle? B. Complexity inherent in a project can have negative as well as positive influences on NPD performance. Thus, which complexity impacts are usually considered negative and which are positive? Project complexity also can affect the entire organization. Any complexity could be better assessed in broader and longer perspective. What are some ways in which the long-term impact of complexity on an organization can be assessed and managed? C. Based upon previous studies, several approaches for managing complexity are derived. What are the weaknesses & strengths of each approach? Is there a desirable hierarchy or order among these approaches when more than one approach is used? Are there differences in the outcomes according to industry and product types (incremental or radical)? Answers to these and other questions can help organizations effectively manage the complexity inherent in most development projects. Complexity is worthy of additional attention from researchers and practitioners alike. Large-scale empirical investigations, jointly conducted by researchers and practitioners, will help gain useful insights into understanding and managing complexity. Those organizations that can accurately identify, assess, and manage the complexity inherent in projects are likely to gain important competitive advantages.

  • PDF

A New Bias Scheduling Method for Improving Both Classification Performance and Precision on the Classification and Regression Problems (분류 및 회귀문제에서의 분류 성능과 정확도를 동시에 향상시키기 위한 새로운 바이어스 스케줄링 방법)

  • Kim Eun-Mi;Park Seong-Mi;Kim Kwang-Hee;Lee Bae-Ho
    • Journal of KIISE:Software and Applications
    • /
    • 제32권11호
    • /
    • pp.1021-1028
    • /
    • 2005
  • The general solution for classification and regression problems can be found by matching and modifying matrices with the information in real world and then these matrices are teaming in neural networks. This paper treats primary space as a real world, and dual space that Primary space matches matrices using kernel. In practical study, there are two kinds of problems, complete system which can get an answer using inverse matrix and ill-posed system or singular system which cannot get an answer directly from inverse of the given matrix. Further more the problems are often given by the latter condition; therefore, it is necessary to find regularization parameter to change ill-posed or singular problems into complete system. This paper compares each performance under both classification and regression problems among GCV, L-Curve, which are well known for getting regularization parameter, and kernel methods. Both GCV and L-Curve have excellent performance to get regularization parameters, and the performances are similar although they show little bit different results from the different condition of problems. However, these methods are two-step solution because both have to calculate the regularization parameters to solve given problems, and then those problems can be applied to other solving methods. Compared with UV and L-Curve, kernel methods are one-step solution which is simultaneously teaming a regularization parameter within the teaming process of pattern weights. This paper also suggests dynamic momentum which is leaning under the limited proportional condition between learning epoch and the performance of given problems to increase performance and precision for regularization. Finally, this paper shows the results that suggested solution can get better or equivalent results compared with GCV and L-Curve through the experiments using Iris data which are used to consider standard data in classification, Gaussian data which are typical data for singular system, and Shaw data which is an one-dimension image restoration problems.

A Study on the Cultivation Processes and Settlement Developments on the Mangyoung River Valley (만경강유역의 개간과정과 취락형성발달에 관한 연구)

  • NamGoong, Bong
    • Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
    • /
    • 제3권2호
    • /
    • pp.37-87
    • /
    • 1997
  • As a results of researches on the cultivation processes and settlement developments on the Mangyoung river valley as a whole could be have four 'Space-Time Continuity' through a [Origin-Destination] theory model. On a initial phases of cultivation, the cultivation process has been begun at mountain slopes and tributory plains in upper part of river-basin from Koryo Dynasty to early Chosun Dynasty. At first, indigenous peasants burned forests on the mountain slopes for making 'dryfield' for a cereal crops. Following population increase more stable food supply is necessary facets of life inducing a change production method into a 'wetfield' in tributory plains matching the population increase. First sedentary agriculture maybe initiated at this mountain slopes and tributory plains on upper part of river basin through a burning cultivation methods. Mountain slopes and tributory plains are become a Origin area in cultivation processes. It expanded from up to down through the valleys with 'a bits of land' fashion in a steady pace like a terraced fields expanded with bit by bit of land to downward. They expanded their land to the middle part of river basin in mid period of Chosun Dynasty with dike construction techniques on the river bank. Lower part of river cultivated with embankment building techniques in 1920s and then naturally expanded to the tidal marshes on the estuaries and river inlets of coastal areas. 'Pioneer fringes' are consolidated at there in modern times. Changes in landscapes are appeared it's own characters with each periods of time. Followings are results of study through the Mangyoung river valley as a whole. (1) Mountain slopes and tributory plains on the upper part of river are cultivated 'dryfields' by indigenous peasants with Burning cultivation methods at first and developed sedentary settlements at the edges of mountain slopes and on the river terrace near the fields. They formed a kind of 'periphery-located cluster type' of settlement. This type of settlement are become a prominant type in upper part of river basin. 'Dryfields' has been changed into a 'wetfields' at the narrow tributory plains by increasing population pressure in later time. These wetfields are supplied water by Weir and Ponds Irrigation System(제언수리방법). Streams on the tributory plains has been attracted wetfields besides of it and formed a [water+land] complex on it. 'Wetfields' are expanded from up to downward with a terraced land pattern(adder like pattern, 붕전) according to the gradient of valley. These periphery located settlements are formed a intimate ecological linkage with several sets of surroundings. Inner villages are expanded to Outer villages according to the expansion of arable lands into downward. (2) Mountain slopes and tributory plains expanded its territory to the alluvial deposited plains on the middle part of river valley with a urgent need of new land by population increase. This part of alluvial plains are cultivated mainly in mid period of Chosun Dynasty. Irrigation methods are changed into a Dike Construction Irrigation method(천방수리방법) for the control of floods. It has a trend to change the subjectives of cultivation from community-oriented one who constructed Bochang along tributories making rice paddies to local government authorities who could be gather large sums of capitals, techniques and labours for the big dike construction affairs. Settlements are advanced in the midst of plains avoiding friction of distances and formed a 'Centrallocated cluster type' of settlements. There occured a hierarchical structures of settlements in ranks and sizes according merits of water supply and transportation convenience at the broad plains. Big towns are developed at there. It strengthened a more prominant [water+land] complex along the canals. Ecological linkages between settlements and surroundings are shaded out into a tiny one in this area. (3) It is very necessary to get a modern technology of flood control at the rivers that have a large volume of water and broad width. The alluvial plains are remained in a wilderness phase until a technical level reached a large artificial levee construction ability that could protect the arable land from flood. Until that time on most of alluvial land at the lower part of river are remained a wilderness of overgrown with reeds in lacks of techniques to build a large-scale artificial levee along the riverbank. Cultivation processes are progressed in a large scale one by Japanese agricultural companies with [River Rennovation Project] of central government in 1920s. Large scale artificial levees are constructed along the riverbank. Subjectives of cultivation are changed from Korean peasants to Japanese agricultural companies and Korean peasants fell down as a tenant in a colonial situation of that time in Korea. They could not have any voices in planning of spatial structure and decreased their role in planning. Newly cultivated lands are reflected company's intensions, objectives and perspectives for achieving their goals for the sake of colonial power. Newly cultivated lands are planned into a regular Rectangular Block settings of rice paddies and implanted a large scale Bureaucratic-oriented Irrigation System on the cultivated plains. Every settlements are located in the midst of rice paddies with a Central located Cluster type of settlements. [water+land] complex along the canal system are more strengthened. Cultivated space has a characters of [I-IT] landscapes. (4) Artificial levees are connected into a coastal emnankment for a reclamation of broad tidal marshes on the estuaries and inlets of rivers in the colonial times. Subjectives of reclamation are enlarged into a big agricultural companies that could be acted a role as a big cultivator. After that time on most of reclamation project of tidal marshes are controlled by these agricultural companies formed by mostly Japanese capitalists. Reclaimed lands on the estuaries and river inlets are under hands of agricultural companies and all the spatial structures are formed by their intensions, objectives and perspectives. They constructed a Unit Farming Area for the sake of companies. Spatial structures are planned in a regular one with broad arable land for the rice production of rectangular blocks, regular canal systems and tank reservoir for the irrigation water supply into reclaimed lands. There developed a 'Central-located linear type' of settlements in midst of reclaimed land. These settlements are settled in a detail program upon this newly reclaimed land at once with a master plan and they have planned patterns in their distribution, building materials, location, and form. Ecological linkage between Newly settled settlemrnts and its surroundings are lost its colours and became a more artificial one by human-centred environment. [I-IT] landscapes are become more prominant. This region is a destination area of [Origin-Destination] theory model and formed a 'Pioneer Fringe'. It is a kind of pioneer front that could advance or retreat discontinously by physical conditions and socio-cultural conditions of that region.

  • PDF

Problems in the Korean National Family Planning Program (한국가족계획사업(韓國家族計劃事業)의 문제점(問題點))

  • Hong, Jong-Kwan
    • Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
    • /
    • 제2권2호
    • /
    • pp.27-36
    • /
    • 1975
  • The success of the family planning program in Korea is reflected in the decrease in the growth rate from 3.0% in 1962 to 2.0% in 1971, and in the decrease in the fertility rate from 43/1,000 in 1960 to 29/1,000 in 1970. However, it would be erroneous to attribute these reductions entirely to the family planning program. Other socio-economic factors, such as the increasing age at marriage and the increasing use of induced abortions, definitely had an impact on the lowered growth and fertility rate. Despite the relative success of the program to data in meeting its goals, there is no room for complacency. Meeting the goal of a further reduction in the population growth rate to 1.3% by 1981 is a much more difficult task than any one faced in the past. Not only must fertility be lowered further, but the size of the target population itself will expand tremendously in the late seventies; due to the post-war baby boom of the 1950's reaching reproductive ages. Furthermore, it is doubtful that the age at marriage will continue to rise as in the past or that the incidence of induced abortion will continue to increase. Consequently, future reductions in fertility will be more dependent on the performance of the national family planning program, with less assistance from these non-program factors. This paper will describe various approaches to help to the solution of these current problems. 1. PRACTICE RATE IN FAMILY PLANNING In 1973, the attitude (approval) and knowledge rates were quite high; 94% and 98% respectively. But a large gap exists between that and the actual practice rate, which is only 3695. Two factors must be considered in attempting to close the KAP-gap. The first is to change social norms, which still favor a larger family, increasing the practice rate cannot be done very quickly. The second point to consider is that the family planning program has not yet reached all the eligible women. A 1973 study determineded that a large portion, 3096 in fact, of all eligible women do not want more children, but are not practicing family planning. Thus, future efforts to help close the KAP-gap must focus attention and services on this important large group of potential acceptors. 2. CONTINUATION RATES Dissatisfaction with the loop and pill has resulted in high discontinuation rates. For example, a 1973 survey revealed that within the first six months initial loop acceptance. nearly 50% were dropouts, and that within the first four months of inital pill acceptance. nearly 50% were dropouts. These discontinuation rates have risen over the past few years. The high rate of discontinuance obviously decreases the contraceptive effectiveness. and has resulted in many unwanted births which is directly related to the increase of induced abortions. In the future, the family planning program must emphasize the improved quality of initial and follow-up services. rather than more quantity, in order to insure higher continuation rates and thus more effective contraceptive protection. 3. INDUCED ABORTION As noted earlier. the use of induced abortions has been increase yearly. For example, in 1960, the average number of abortions was 0.6 abortions per women in the 15-44 age range. By 1970. that had increased to 2 abortions per women. In 1966. 13% of all women between 15-44 had experienced at least one abortion. By 1971, that figure jumped to 28%. In 1973 alone, the total number of abortions was 400,000. Besides the ever incre.sing number of induced abortions, another change has that those who use abortions have shifted since 1965 to include- not. only the middle class, but also rural and low-income women. In the future. in response to the demand for abortion services among rural and low-income w~men, the government must provide and support abortion services for these women as a part of the national family planning program. 4. TARGET SYSTIi:M Since 1962, the nationwide target system has been used to set a target for each method, and the target number of acceptors is then apportioned out to various sub-areas according to the number of eligible couples in each area. Because these targets are set without consideration for demographic factors, particular tastes, prejudices, and previous patterns of acceptance in the area, a high discontinuation rate for all methods and a high wastage rate for the oral pill and condom results. In the future. to alleviate these problems of the methodbased target system. an alternative. such as the weighted-credit system, should be adopted on a nation wide basis. In this system. each contraceptive method is. assigned a specific number of points based upon the couple-years of protection (CYP) provided by the method. and no specific targets for each method are given. 5. INCREASE OF STERILIZA.TION TARGET Two special projects. the hospital-based family planning program and the armed forces program, has greatly contributed to the increasing acceptance in female and male sterilization respectively. From January-September 1974, 28,773 sterilizations were performed. During the same time in 1975, 46,894 were performed; a 63% increase. If this trend continues, by the end of 1975. approximately 70,000 sterilizations will have been performed. Sterilization is a much better method than both the loop and pill, in terms of more effective contraceptive protection and the almost zero dropout rate. In the future, the. family planning program should continue to stress the special programs which make more sterilizations possible. In particular, it should seek to add the laparoscope techniques to facilitate female sterilization acceptance rates. 6. INCREASE NUMBER OF PRIVATE ACCEPTORS Among the current family planning users, approximately 1/3 are in the private sector and thus do not- require government subsidy. The number of private acceptors increases with increasing urbanization and economic growth. To speed this process, the government initiated the special hospital based family planning program which is utilized mostly by the private sector. However, in the future, to further hasten the increase of private acceptors, the government should encourage doctors in private practice to provide family planning services, and provide the contraceptive supplies. This way, those do utilize the private medical system will also be able to receive family planning services and pay for it. Another means of increasing the number of private acceptors, IS to greatly expand the commercial outlets for pills and condoms beyond the existing service points of drugstores, hospitals, and health centers. 7. IE&C PROGRAM The current preferred family size is nearly twice as high as needed to achieve a stable poplation. Also, a strong boy preference hinders a small family size as nearly all couples fuel they must have at least one or more sons. The IE&C program must, in the future, strive to emphasize the values of the small family and equality of the sexes. A second problem for the IE&C program to work. with in the: future is the large group of people who approves family planning, want no more children, but do not practice. The IE&C program must work to motivate these people to accept family planning And finally, for those who already practice, an IE&C program in the future must stress continuation of use. The IE&C campaign, to insure highest effectiveness, should be based on a detailed factor analysis of contraceptive discontinuance. In conclusion, Korea faces a serious unfavorable sociodemographic situation- in the future unless the population growth rate can be curtailed. And in the future, the decrease in fertility will depend solely on the family planning program, as the effect of other socio-economic factors has already been maximumally felt. A second serious factor to consider is the increasing number of eligible women due to the 1950's baby boom. Thus, to meet these challenges, the program target must be increased and the program must improve the effectiveness of its current activities and develop new programs.

  • PDF

Change of Harmful Micnoorganisms in Pickling Process of Salted Cabbage According to Salting and Washing Conditions (배추김치의 절임공정 조건에 따른 위해미생물 변화)

  • Kim, Jin-Hee;Lee, Yu-Keun;Yang, Ji-Young
    • Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
    • /
    • 제26권4호
    • /
    • pp.417-423
    • /
    • 2011
  • Salted Cabbage products purchased from different companies at 4 different districts in South Korea were detected in this study. Cabbage and salt are the main materials for kimchi manufacture. The results of general bacteria contaminated in the samples were $1.4{\times}10^5$, $6.4{\times}10^5$, $1.7{\times}10^7$, $3.6{\times}10^7$ CFU/g in cabbage and $2.7{\times}10^3$ CFU/g in salt, respectively. The results of coliforms were detected as $2.4{\times}10^4$ CFU/g, and there was no Escherichia coli in any sample. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in cabbage as $9.9{\times}10^2$, $8.0{\times}10^1$, and $3.0{\times}10^3$ CFU/g, Bacillus cereus was also found in cabbage as $4.1{\times}10^3$ and $1.0{\times}10^1$ CFU/g. The results of Campylobacter jejuni and Vibrio paraheamolyticus were $2.4{\times}10^6$ and $1.0{\times}10^4$ CFU/g in cabbage, respectively. $1.0{\times}10^3$ CFU/g for Yersinia enterocolitica was determined in salt. In case of Listeria monocytogenes, the results were $1.5{\times}10^1$, $1.1{\times}10^2$, and $4.5{\times}10^1$ CFU/g in cabbage. Total batcteria ranged from $1.4{\times}10^1$ to $4.4{\times}10^5$ CFU/g were detected in salting solution, from $1.5{\times}10^4$ to $1.2{\times}10^8$ CFU/g in dehydrated salted-cabbage, from $9.4{\times}10^4{\sim}1.3{\times}10^8$ CFU/g in minced salted-cabbage. The results of E. coli in samples from different companies were different from one to anther. The results of the contamination of S. aureus and B. cereus showed positive in salting solution and dehydrated salted-cabbage at a portion of companies. V. paraheamolyticus was detected in salting solution. The contamination of Y. enterocolitica ranged from $9.5{\times}10^2$ to $1.8{\times}10^3$ CFU/g in salting solution, from $1.7{\times}10^1$ to $2.7{\times}10^2$ CFU/g in dehydrated salted-cabbage, from $1.2{\times}10^2$ to $1.3{\times}10^8$ CFU/g in minced salted-cabbage. The contamination of L. monocytogenes ranged from $8.0{\times}10^2$ to $1.7{\times}10^4$ CFU/g in salting solution, from $2.8{\times}10^2$ to $1.2{\times}10^4$ CFU/g in dehydrated salted-cabbage. During the manufacture processing of Kim chi, microorganisms were detected in cabbages salted in different concentrations of salt solution at 8%, 10%, 12% and 15% for 5-20 hours. As the results, $3.5{\times}10^5-1.7{\times}10^6$, $3.4{\times}10^5-2.5{\times}10^6$, $5.4{\times}10^5-2.3{\times}10^6$, $4.0{\times}10^5-2.3{\times}10^6$ CFU/g were detected for E. coli in samples at different treatment conditions. $1.9{\times}10^4-4.1{\times}10^4$, $4.1{\times}10^3-2.8{\times}10^4$, $1.5{\times}10^3-7.8{\times}10^3$, $2.2{\times}10^4-6.6{\times}10^4$ CFU/g were detected for S. aureus in samples at different treatment conditions. Salmonella typhimurium was detected in salted cabbage with various salt concentration after salting for 5 hrs, the result ranged from $2.5{\times}10^5$ to $3.8{\times}10^6$ CFU/g, and change of microorganism was the smallest in salted cabbage under the concentration of salting solution at 10% for 15 hours. The cabbage salted in 10% salting solution for 15 hours were washed with water for 2 and 3 times, with chlorine for 3 times, and with acetic acid for 3 times. E. coli was detected in the samples washed with water for 2 and 3 times, washed with chlorine for 3 times. The contamination of S. aureus was $3.0{\times}10^5$ CFU/g in the samples washed with water for 2 times, $5.6{\times}10^3$ CFU/g in the samples washed with acetic acid for 3 times, $3.6{\times}10^5$ CFU/g in the samples washed with water for 3 times and same amount in the samples washed with chlorine for 3 times. According to the results, the contamination of S. aureus was $5.6{\times}10^3$ CFU/g lower in samples washed with chlorine and acetic acid than that in samples washed with water. In case of S. typhimurium, it has been detected in samples washed with water and chlorine, $3.0{\times}10^1$ CFU/g as the lowest concentration among all the samples was measured in the samples washed with acetic acid for 3 times.

A Study on the Excavated Sab(a funeral fan) from Lime-filled Tomb and Lime-layered Tomb during the Joseon Dynasty (조선시대 회격·회곽묘 출토 삽(翣)에 대한 고찰)

  • Yi, Seung Hae;An, Bo Yeon
    • Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
    • /
    • 제41권2호
    • /
    • pp.43-59
    • /
    • 2008
  • Sap(?, a funeral fan) is a funeral ceremonial object used in association with a Confucian ceremonial custom, which was crafted by making a wooden frame, attaching a white cloth or a thick paper onto it, drawing pictures on it, and making a holder for a handle. According to Liji(Records of Rites), Sap was used since the Zhou Dynasty, and these Chinese Sap examples are no big different than the Korean Sap examples, which were described in Joseon Wangjo Sillok(Annals of the Joseon Dynasty), Gukjo Oryeui(the Five Rites of the State), and Sarye Pyeollam(Handbook on Four Rituals). This study explored Sap excavated in lime-filled tombs and lime-layered tombs of aristocrats dating back to Joseon, as well as their historical records to examine Sap's characteristics according to their examples, manufacturing methods, and use time. The number and designs of Sap varied according to the deceased' social status aristocrats used mainly one pair of 亞-shaped Bulsap, and a pair of Hwasap with a cloud design depicted on it. A Sap was wrapped twice with Chojuji paper or Jeojuji paper, and for the third time with Yeonchangji paper. Then, it was covered with a white ramie, a hemp, a cotton, a silk satin, etc. Bobul(an axe shape and 亞-shape design) was drawn on both sides of Sap, and a rising current of cloud was drawn at the peripheral area mainly with red or scarlet pigments. Sap, which were excavated from aristocrats'lime-filled and lime-layered tombs, are the type of Sap which were separated from its handle. These excavated Sap are those whose long handles were burnt during the death carriage procession, leaving Sap, which later were erected on both sides of the coffin. The manufacturing process of excavated relics can be inferred by examining them. The excavated relics are classified into those with three points and those with two points according to the number of point. Of the three-point type(Type I), there is the kind of relic that was woven into something like a basket by using a whole wood plate or cutting bamboo into flat shapes. The three-point Sap was concentrated comparatively in the early half of Joseon, and was manufactured with various methods compared with its rather unified overall shape. In the meantime, the two-point Sap was manufactured with a relatively formatted method; its body was manufactured in the form of a rectangle or a reverse trapezoid, and then its upper parts with two points hanging from them were connected, and the top surface was made into a curve(Type II) or a straight line(Type III) differentiating it from the three-point type. This manufacturing method, compared with that of the three-point type, is simple, but is not greatly different from the three-point type manufacturing method. In particular, the method of crafting the top surface into a straight line has been used until today. Of the examined 30 Sap examples, those whose production years were made known from the buried persons'death years inscribed on the tomb stones, were reexamined, indicating that type I was concentrated in the first half of the $16^{th}$ century. Type II spanned from the second half of the $16^{th}$ century to the second half of the $17^{th}$ century, and type III spanned from the first half of the $17^{th}$ century to the first half of the $18^{th}$ century. The shape of Sap is deemed to have changed from type I to type II and again from type II to type III In the $17^{th}$ century, which was a time of change, types II and III coexisted. Of the three types of Sap, types II and III re similar because they have two points; thus a noteworthy transit time is thought to have been the middle of the $16^{th}$ century. Type I compared with types II and III is thought to have required more efforts and skills in the production process, and as time passed, the shape and manufacturing methods of Sap are presumed to have been further simplified according to the principle of economy. The simplification of funeral ceremonies is presumed to have been furthered after Imjinwaeran(Japanese invasion of Joseon, 1592~1598), given that as shown in the Annals of King Seonjo, state funerals were suspended several times. In the case of Sap, simplification began from the second half of the $16^{th}$ century, and even in the $18^{th}$ century, rather than separately crafting Sap, Sap was directly drawn on the coffin cover and the coffin. However, in this simplification of form, regulations on the use of Sap specified in Liji were observed, and thus the ceremony was rationally simplified.

Effect of Service Convenience on the Relationship Performance in B2B Markets: Mediating Effect of Relationship Factors (B2B 시장에서의 서비스 편의성이 관계성과에 미치는 영향 : 관계적 요인의 매개효과 분석)

  • Han, Sang-Lin;Lee, Seong-Ho
    • Journal of Distribution Research
    • /
    • 제16권4호
    • /
    • pp.65-93
    • /
    • 2011
  • As relationship between buyer and seller has been brought closer and long-term relationship has been more important in B2B markets, the importance of service and service convenience increases as well as product. In homogeneous markets, where service offerings are similar and therefore not key competitive differentiator, providing greater convenience may enable a competitive advantage. Service convenience, as conceptualized by Berry et al. (2002), is defined as the consumers' time and effort perceptions related to buying or using a service. For this reason, B2B customers are interested in how fast the service is provided and how much save non-monetary cost like time or effort by the service convenience along with service quality. Therefore, this study attempts to investigate the impact of service convenience on relationship factors such as relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The purpose of this study is to find out whether service convenience can be a new antecedent of relationship quality and relationship performance. In addition, this study tries to examine how five-dimensional service convenience constructs (decision convenience, access convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affect customers' relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. The service convenience comprises five fundamental components - decision convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with service purchase or use decisions), access convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with initiating service delivery), transaction convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with finalizing the transaction), benefit convenience(the perceived time and effort costs associated with experiencing the core benefits of the offering) and post-benefit convenience (the perceived time and effort costs associated with reestablishing subsequent contact with the firm). Earlier studies of perceived service convenience in the industrial market are none. The conventional studies that have dealt with service convenience have usually been made in the consumer market, or they have dealt with convenience aspects in the service process. This service convenience measure for consumer market can be useful tool to estimate service quality in B2B market. The conceptualization developed by Berry et al. (2002) reflects a multistage, experiential consumption process in which evaluations of convenience vary at each stage. For this reason, the service convenience measure is good for B2B service environment which has complex processes and various types. Especially when categorizing B2B service as sequential stage of service delivery like Kumar and Kumar (2004), the Berry's service convenience measure which reflect sequential flow of service deliveries suitable to establish B2B service convenience. For this study, data were gathered from respondents who often buy business service and analyzed by structural equation modeling. The sample size in the present study is 119. Composite reliability values and average variance extracted values were examined for each variable to have reliability. We determine whether the measurement model supports the convergent validity by CFA, and discriminant validity was assessed by examining the correlation matrix of the constructs. For each pair of constructs, the square root of the average variance extracted exceeded their correlations, thus supporting the discriminant validity of the constructs. Hypotheses were tested using the Smart PLS 2.0 and we calculated the PLS path values and followed with a bootstrap re-sampling method to test the hypotheses. Among the five dimensional service convenience constructs, four constructs (decision convenience, transaction convenience, benefit convenience, post-benefit convenience) affected customers' positive relationship satisfaction, relationship commitment, and relationship performance. This result means that service convenience is important cue to improve relationship between buyer and seller. One of the five service convenience dimensions, access convenience, does not affect relationship quality and performance, which implies that the dimension of service convenience is not important factor of cumulative satisfaction. The Cumulative satisfaction can be distinguished from transaction-specific customer satisfaction, which is an immediate post-purchase evaluative judgment or an affective reaction to the most recent transactional experience with the firm. Because access convenience minimizes the physical effort associated with initiating an exchange, the effect on relationship satisfaction similar to cumulative satisfaction may be relatively low in terms of importance than transaction-specific customer satisfaction. Also, B2B firms focus on service quality, price, benefit, follow-up service and so on than convenience of time or place in service because it is relatively difficult to change existing transaction partners in B2B market compared to consumer market. In addition, this study using partial least squares methods reveals that customers' satisfaction and commitment toward relationship has mediating role between the service convenience and relationship performance. The result shows that management and investment to improve service convenience make customers' positive relationship satisfaction, and then the positive relationship satisfaction can enhance the relationship commitment and relationship performance. And to conclude, service convenience management is an important part of successful relationship performance management, and the service convenience is an important antecedent of relationship between buyer and seller such as the relationship commitment and relationship performance. Therefore, it has more important to improve relationship performance that service providers enhance service convenience although competitive service development or service quality improvement is important. Given the pressure to provide increased convenience, it is not surprising that organizations have made significant investments in enhancing the convenience aspect of their product and service offering.

  • PDF

A Study on the Effect of Booth Recommendation System on Exhibition Visitors Unplanned Visit Behavior (전시장 참관객의 계획되지 않은 방문행동에 있어서 부스추천시스템의 영향에 대한 연구)

  • Chung, Nam-Ho;Kim, Jae-Kyung
    • Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
    • /
    • 제17권4호
    • /
    • pp.175-191
    • /
    • 2011
  • With the MICE(Meeting, Incentive travel, Convention, Exhibition) industry coming into the spotlight, there has been a growing interest in the domestic exhibition industry. Accordingly, in Korea, various studies of the industry are being conducted to enhance exhibition performance as in the United States or Europe. Some studies are focusing particularly on analyzing visiting patterns of exhibition visitors using intelligent information technology in consideration of the variations in effects of watching exhibitions according to the exhibitory environment or technique, thereby understanding visitors and, furthermore, drawing the correlations between exhibiting businesses and improving exhibition performance. However, previous studies related to booth recommendation systems only discussed the accuracy of recommendation in the aspect of a system rather than determining changes in visitors' behavior or perception by recommendation. A booth recommendation system enables visitors to visit unplanned exhibition booths by recommending visitors suitable ones based on information about visitors' visits. Meanwhile, some visitors may be satisfied with their unplanned visits, while others may consider the recommending process to be cumbersome or obstructive to their free observation. In the latter case, the exhibition is likely to produce worse results compared to when visitors are allowed to freely observe the exhibition. Thus, in order to apply a booth recommendation system to exhibition halls, the factors affecting the performance of the system should be generally examined, and the effects of the system on visitors' unplanned visiting behavior should be carefully studied. As such, this study aims to determine the factors that affect the performance of a booth recommendation system by reviewing theories and literature and to examine the effects of visitors' perceived performance of the system on their satisfaction of unplanned behavior and intention to reuse the system. Toward this end, the unplanned behavior theory was adopted as the theoretical framework. Unplanned behavior can be defined as "behavior that is done by consumers without any prearranged plan". Thus far, consumers' unplanned behavior has been studied in various fields. The field of marketing, in particular, has focused on unplanned purchasing among various types of unplanned behavior, which has been often confused with impulsive purchasing. Nevertheless, the two are different from each other; while impulsive purchasing means strong, continuous urges to purchase things, unplanned purchasing is behavior with purchasing decisions that are made inside a store, not before going into one. In other words, all impulsive purchases are unplanned, but not all unplanned purchases are impulsive. Then why do consumers engage in unplanned behavior? Regarding this question, many scholars have made many suggestions, but there has been a consensus that it is because consumers have enough flexibility to change their plans in the middle instead of developing plans thoroughly. In other words, if unplanned behavior costs much, it will be difficult for consumers to change their prearranged plans. In the case of the exhibition hall examined in this study, visitors learn the programs of the hall and plan which booth to visit in advance. This is because it is practically impossible for visitors to visit all of the various booths that an exhibition operates due to their limited time. Therefore, if the booth recommendation system proposed in this study recommends visitors booths that they may like, they can change their plans and visit the recommended booths. Such visiting behavior can be regarded similarly to consumers' visit to a store or tourists' unplanned behavior in a tourist spot and can be understand in the same context as the recent increase in tourism consumers' unplanned behavior influenced by information devices. Thus, the following research model was established. This research model uses visitors' perceived performance of a booth recommendation system as the parameter, and the factors affecting the performance include trust in the system, exhibition visitors' knowledge levels, expected personalization of the system, and the system's threat to freedom. In addition, the causal relation between visitors' satisfaction of their perceived performance of the system and unplanned behavior and their intention to reuse the system was determined. While doing so, trust in the booth recommendation system consisted of 2nd order factors such as competence, benevolence, and integrity, while the other factors consisted of 1st order factors. In order to verify this model, a booth recommendation system was developed to be tested in 2011 DMC Culture Open, and 101 visitors were empirically studied and analyzed. The results are as follows. First, visitors' trust was the most important factor in the booth recommendation system, and the visitors who used the system perceived its performance as a success based on their trust. Second, visitors' knowledge levels also had significant effects on the performance of the system, which indicates that the performance of a recommendation system requires an advance understanding. In other words, visitors with higher levels of understanding of the exhibition hall learned better the usefulness of the booth recommendation system. Third, expected personalization did not have significant effects, which is a different result from previous studies' results. This is presumably because the booth recommendation system used in this study did not provide enough personalized services. Fourth, the recommendation information provided by the booth recommendation system was not considered to threaten or restrict one's freedom, which means it is valuable in terms of usefulness. Lastly, high performance of the booth recommendation system led to visitors' high satisfaction levels of unplanned behavior and intention to reuse the system. To sum up, in order to analyze the effects of a booth recommendation system on visitors' unplanned visits to a booth, empirical data were examined based on the unplanned behavior theory and, accordingly, useful suggestions for the establishment and design of future booth recommendation systems were made. In the future, further examination should be conducted through elaborate survey questions and survey objects.