• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.189-207
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• 2006

As the development of Northeast Asian logistics hub becomes one of the national agenda for further development, the sea&Air transport around the Yellow Sea regions has drawn attention of many scholars and government officials. The Sea&air transport is a mode of transportation combining the advantage of high-speed in air transport with the advantage of low-price in sea transport. Hence the sea&air aims at a niche market between air and sea. This paper reviews the possibility of development of the sea&air transport in the aspects of competitiveness over other modes, future demand condition, and the change of the technology and transport environment. The result is that the sea&air is competitive in the aspect of time as well as cost, and sustainable in the aspect of future demand condition. But, it is not stable in the aspect of the conditions of technology or transport demand. Especially, the progress of air transport technology which is aiming at the door-to-door transport among mid- and small- cities, and the rapidly increasing strategic alliances of international airlines with Chinese airlines for the market of China will undermine the stability of the sea&air transport seriously As alternatives, this paper proposes the 3-stage development strategy of sea&air transport. First, at the stage of transshipement, the development of high speed vessels to reduce the time crossing the Yellow Sea and the proactive marketing strategy to induce Chinese-owned products should be emphasized. Second, the value added logistics activity which will secure the demand of the sea&air transport should be developed. Third, demand creation by developing the SCM hub in Incheon is final goal for the logistics hub strategy as well as the sea&air transport.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.10 no.7
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• pp.33-41
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to analyse the state of the energy industry and to determine the efficiency of its functioning on the basis of energy conservation principle and application of innovative technologies aimed at improving the ecological modernisation of agricultural sectors of Kazakhstan. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach of financial and economic evaluation of the effectiveness of the investment project, based on calculation of elasticity, total costs and profitability, as well as on comparative, graphical and system analysis. The current stage is characterised by widely spread restructuring processes of electric power industry in many countries through introduction of new technical installations of energy facilities and increased government regulation in order to enhance the competitive advantage of electricity market. Electric power industry features a considerable value of creating areas. For example, by providing scientific and technical progress, it crucially affects not only the development but also the territorial organisation of productive forces, first of all the industry. In modern life, more than 90% of electricity and heat is obtained by Kazakhstan's economy by consuming non-renewable energy resources: different types of coal, oil shale, oil, natural gas and peat. Therefore, it is significant to ensure energy security, as the country faces a rapid fall back to mono-gas structure of fuel and energy balance. However, energy resources in Kazakhstan are spread very unevenly. Its main supplies are concentrated in northern and central parts of the republic, and the majority of consumers of electrical power live in the southern and western areas of the country. However, energy plays an important role in the economy of industrial production and to a large extent determines the level of competitive advantage, which is a promising condition for implementation of energy-saving and environmentally friendly technologies. In these circumstances, issues of modernisation and reforms of this sector in Kazakhstan gain more and more importance, which can be seen in the example of economically sustainable solutions of a large local monopoly company, significant savings in capital investment and efficiency of implementation of an investment project. A major disadvantage of development of electricity distribution companies is the prevalence of very high moral and physical amortisation of equipment, reaching almost 70-80%, which significantly increases the operating costs. For example, while an investment of 12 billion tenge was planned in 2009 in this branch, in 2012 it is planned to invest more than 17 billion. Obviously, despite the absolute increase, the rate of investment is still quite low, as the total demand in this area is at least more than 250 billion tenge. In addition, industrial infrastructure, including the objects of Kazakhstan electric power industry, have a tangible adverse impact on the environment. Thus, since there is a large number of various power projects that are sources of electromagnetic radiation, the environment is deteriorated. Hence, there is a need to optimise the efficiency of the organisation and management of production activities of energy companies, to create and implement new technologies, to ensure safe production and provide solutions to various environmental aspects. These are key strategic factors to ensure success of the modern energy sector of Kazakhstan. The contribution of authors in developing the scope of this subject is explained by the fact that there was not enough research in the energy sector, especially in the view of ecological modernisation. This work differs from similar works in Kazakhstan in the way that the proposed method of investment project calculation takes into account the time factor, which compares the current and future value of profit from the implementation of innovative equipment that helps to bring it to actual practise. The feasibility of writing this article lies in the need of forming a public policy in the industrial sector, including optimising the structure of energy disbursing rate, which complies with the terms of future modernised development of the domestic energy sector.

• Korean Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.61-70
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• 2016

Construction enterprises have performed various projects such as buildings, infrastructure and plant projects in the international market. Among these, the plant project's amount of orders accounted for about 68.9% of all. However, because of the enterprises won a contract with a low-budget for plant project in the last 10 years, the profit has dropped dramatically. And it is forecasted that there are extreme competition for bid award of plant projects because of the current falling oil prices and raising interest rates. In this circumstance, the comprehending of enterprises strength and weakness must be a priority to get a sustainable competitive advantage. Therefore this research suggests the enterprises's capability assessment framework and it is in order to diagnose the korean construction enterprises capabilities. The framework is based on the VRIO model that is on the basis of resource based theory. First, the capability assessment indices and their importance and priority that based on the life-cycle of plant project is deducted by literature review and survey. Second, the 5 point likert score applied VRIO survey is conducted to diagnose the enterprises and quantified the survey result using the fuzzy theory. Lastly, the competitvie implication and capability assessment are deducted.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.511-522
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• 2010

Product design is being recognized as an important source of sustainable competitive advantage. This research explores the effects of design evaluative elements on brand loyalty through design values. The results of this study are as follows. Firstly, most design evaluative elements have positive effects on design values. Aesthetic, unique, feminine, noble, and utilitarian elements of design evaluation influence three types of design values: rational, kinesthetic, and emotional. While unique design evaluative element does not have significant effects on rational and kinesthetic design values, it has significant affect on the emotional design value positively. Secondly, three types of design values have positive effects on attitudinal brand loyalty. In addition, emotional and kinesthetic design values have positive influences on behavioral brand loyalty. However, the emotional design value has an indirect effect on behavioral brand loyalty through attitudinal brand loyalty. Lastly, attitudinal brand loyalty has a significant influence on behavioral brand loyalty positively.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.61-86
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• 2006

The main purpose of this study is to conceptualize and investigate the relationships between the antecedents and outcomes of customer satisfaction and the linking variables of brand preference and repurchase intention in service industries. To achieve this objective, the study tries to validate the structural equation model and causal relationships among the model's elements involving antecedents to customer satisfaction(perceived quality, value, equity), consequences(brand preference, repurchase intention), and moderating variable/switching cost, customer loyalty). Empirical findings are as follows: First, the effect of two antecedents/perceived quality and value) on customer. satisfaction was accepted but perceived equity was rejected. Second, I found out that there were direct or indirect relationships between the mediating variables/switching cost, customer loyalty, brand preference) and repurchase intention. This means that the proper management concerned with indirect path is probably more important for the success of services industries. Third, the direct effects of customer satisfaction and switching cost on repurchase intention were not significant against the existing studies excepting brand preference. This implies that repurchase intention was mainly intensified by the indirect path, 'customer loyalty${\rightarrow}$brand preference${\rightarrow}$repurchase intention' and 'switching cost${\rightarrow}$brand preference${\rightarrow}$repurchase intention.' The service marketers make efforts not only to strengthen the direct casual linkage but also to consolidate the indirect connections leading to create repurchase intention. Finally, the proper management of these structural relationships will help clarify the role of service marketer resulting in increasing sustainable competitive advantage in service industries.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.57-64
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• 2018

Purpose - With the rapid economic development, great changes have happened in the Chinese beer market. The scale of imported beer is increasing. However, the sales of native Chinese beer decrease in recent years. It is because more Chinese customers prefer beer with unique attributes than those with lower prices. In order to take an advantage in this market, practitioners should develop new products to satisfy Chinese customers. Scholars have also focused on beer characteristics to estimate consumers' behavior for improving the development of beer industry. However, most studies are theoretically centered on marketing strategy management or general understanding of the market. It is not enough for us to explain customers' consumption patterns. Some empirical research did attempt to find out beer attributes that may influence their choice behavior. However, they failed to verify what can increase customers' utility through a new product. More importantly, few evidences can be found in the literature. Therefore this study explores the major characteristics of imported beer which may associate with customers' preferences. Research design, data, and methodology - With the results of literature review and focus group interview, we found out four main imported beer attributes and the levels of each factor. A pre-test is constructed to check the problems in the questionnaire protocol. With the results of pre-test, the revised questionnaire is processed among customers who have purchased and had imported beer in China regions such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and so on. The choice-based conjoint analysis is applied to analyze the useful data of 205. Results - Results indicate that choice-based conjoint analysis is the effective method to estimate customers' choice behavior. Results also indicate that country of origin, price, taste, and package affect customers' preference and the importances of imported beer attributes are significantly different. Conclusions - Country of origin, price, taste, and package are important for customers to make an imported beer choice decision. Marketers should consider these determinants and their importance to develop new products. Moreover, choice-based conjoint analysis should be the useful method for practitioners to develop a new product of imported beer for sustainable business in the competitive industry.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.57-84
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• 2013

New product development(NPD) is imperative management activity for growth and survival of the firm. In the context of the small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs), the firm became further dependent upon NPD with the increasing turbulence in environments. This research suggests the role of entrepreneurship orientation(EO) and absorptive capacity(ACAP) that affect the success rate of NPD in SMEs. Although each of them has been highlighted as critical resources in the aspect of the sustainable competitive advantage, the relationship and the effect between EO and ACAP have received scant attention. Based on the sample of 261 Korean SMEs, this study examines the direct/indirect effect of EO and ACAP on NPD performance. While innovativeness of EO has the direct effect on NPD performance, both risk-taking and proactiveness of EO show no significance. While realized ACAP has the positive influence on NPD performance, potential ACAP shows no significant influence. In addition, we found that the impact of innovativeness on NPD performance was being partially mediated by ACAP whereas the relationship between proactiveness and NPD performance being fully mediated by ACAP. These findings would provide generic insights that both exploration and exploitation regarding knowledge and resources in SMEs are necessary in order to increase NPD performance and two activities have to align with EO.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.41-52
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• 2015

Purpose - Given globalization, the new niche market of medical tourism is likely to experience sustainable growth for various reasons, such as aging populations and a shift in the medical consumerism paradigm toward prevention. Importantly, understanding medical customers' behavior is necessary to benefit from a competitive advantage in this industry. The existing research primarily accessed the key factors of medical quality and costs to explain health customers' behavior but is limited in terms of enabling an understanding of the decision process. This limitation exists because, given the intangibility and greater associated risks in the highly professional industry of international medical tourism, most customers lack the knowledge and experience needed to evaluate the central factors-such as the medical competence of health care countries-before purchases. Therefore, they actively search for useful information through various distributions to reduce uncertainty and to make better choices. Interestingly, most of these information channels are associated with word-of-mouth (WOM). However, no evidence is found in the literature to estimate the effect of WOM in the medical tourism field. Thus, this study focuses on WOM to explore its interaction with key medical characteristic factors and the attractiveness of destinations referred to by sources. This study also affects customers' evaluations and, in turn, influences their intention to seek health care services abroad. Research design, data, and methodology - The literature review addressed an interesting research model for estimating the relations among WOM, medical characteristics, attractiveness, and customers' choice intention regarding international health care. In the key economic regions in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guangdong, 2,500 survey questionnaires were distributed to potential customers of different ages, education, and income levels. A resulting 1,717 (68.68 percent of the original 2,500) usable surveys were obtained for analysis. Moderated regression analysis was used to determine the effects of WOM in the decision process regarding international health care destinations. Results - The results indicate that WOM is a good moderator of the relationships between the factors evaluated by sources and customers. More importantly, the WOM effects reflect the factors of tie strength, credibility, and vividness. The results also reveal that, given the moderating role of WOM, the intention of potential Chinese customers to seek the referred health care country varies according to the medical characteristics of medical competency and reputation as evaluated by customers. In contrast, the travel attractiveness of the attractions, facilities, accessibility, and social environment are critical determinants of destination choice intention. Conclusions - The moderating role of WOM has been confirmed through the international healthcare destination selection process. Medical tourism managers should user WOM as an effective marketing tool for industry development. Specially, marketers should consider the effects of WOM determinants, such as tie strength, credibility, and vividness, to develop an effective strategy. Furthermore, this study estimates the factors that affect customers' selection of medical tourism destinations. Health care managers or policy makers should consider a broad variety of variables that may attract more Chinese customers to international health care.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.79-95
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• 2017

This Study Investigates Whether R&D Capabilities and Market Orientation have Significant Effects on Product Innovation Performance in Order to Enhance Customer Value and Technology Innovation Competitiveness Considering the Characteristics of Rapidly Changing Semiconductor Industry. In other Words, as in the Research Model, the Purpose of this Study is to Investigate the Causal Relationship between the Independent Variable, R&D Capability and Market Orientation, on Product Innovation Performance, which is a Dependent Variable, through the Moderating Variable of Technological Innovation Orientation. For this Study, we Conducted a Questionnaire Survey on the Employees of Development Companies in the Semiconductor Industry and Finally Collected 118 Valid Questionnaires. The Collected Data was Analyzed by Multiple Regression Analysis with Demographic Characteristics as Control Variable and Hierarchical Regression Analysis was Conducted with the Moderating Effects of Technological Innovation Orientation. The Results Showed that the Higher the R&D Intensity and the External Network Capacity, the Higher the Product Innovation Performance. Also, the Product Innovation Performance was Higher than the Customer Orientation and Competitor Orientation Among the Market Orientation. In Addition, only R&D Capability Confirms that Technology Innovation Orientation is Moderated. The Result of this Study is to Improve Understanding of R&D Capability and Market Orientation in Creating of Product Innovation Performance of Semiconductor Companies and to offer Valuable Research Data in Empirically Supporting that Technological Innovation Orientation is an Important Moderating Factor in Creating Firm's Product Innovation Performance and Sustainable Competitive Advantage.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.131-146
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• 2007

Recently, the role of IT service providers has been enlarged from managing a single function or system to reconstructing entire information management processes in new ways to contribute to shareholder value across the enterprise. This movement toward extensive and complex outsourcing agreements has been driven by the assumption that outsourcing information technology functions is a reliable approach to maximizing resource productivity. Hiring external IT service providers to manage part or all of its information-related services helps a firm focus on its core business and provides better services to its clients, thus obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. This practice of focusing on the strategic aspect of outsourcing is referred to as strategic sourcing where the focus is capability sourcing, not procurement. Given the importance of the strategic outsourcing, however, to our knowledge, there is little empirical research on the relationship between the strategic outsourcing orientation and outsourcing performance. Moreover, there is little research on the factor that makes the strategic outsourcing effective. This study is designed to investigate the relationship between strategic IT outsourcing orientation and IT outsourcing performance and the process through which strategic IT outsourcing orientation influences outsourcing performance, Based on the framework of strategic orientation-performance and core competence based management, this study first identifies core competency orientation as a proper strategic orientation pertinent to IT outsourcing and IT outsourcing process management capability as the mediator to affect IT outsourcing performance. The proposed research model is then tested with a sample of 200 firms. The findings of this study may contribute to the literature in two ways. First, it draws on the strategic orientation - performance framework in developing its research model so that it can provide a new perspective to the well studied phenomena. This perspective allows practitioners and researchers to look at outsourcing from an angle that emphasizes the strategic decision making to outsource its IT functions. Second, by separating the concept of strategic orientation and outsourcing process management capability, this study provides practices with insight into how the strategic orientation can work effectively to achieve an expected result. In addition, the current study provides a basis for future studies that examine the factors affecting IT outsourcing performance with more controllable factors such as IT outsourcing process management capability rather than external hard-to-control factors including trust and relationship management. This study investigates the major factors that determine IT outsourcing success. Based on strategic orientation and core competency theories, we develop the proposed research model to investigate the relationship between core competency orientation and IT outsourcing performance and the mediating role of IT outsourcing process management capability on IT outsourcing performance. The model consists of two independent variables (core-competency-orientation and IT outsourcing process management capability), and two dependent variables (outsourced task complexity and IT outsourcing performance). Comprehensive data collection was conducted through an outsourcing association. The survey data were analyzed using a structural analysis method. IT outsourcing process management capability was found to mediate the effect of core competency orientation on both outsourced task complexity and IT outsourcing performance. Further analysis and findings are discussed.