Search results

Driven by social comparison and self-congruity theories, this paper's aim was to investigate the associations with Korean millennials' usage of social media, self-image congruity and conspicuous online consumption. The mediating influence of self-image congruity and the moderating effect of self-esteem were also examined.

These data were gathered through an online research portal from 302 Korean millennials. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses and moderated mediation analysis using Hayes PROCESS macro were applied to test proposed hypotheses.

The result of the structural equation analyses showed strong, positive associations between social media usage, self-image congruity and conspicuous online consumption, while self-image congruity also acted as a mediator between Korean millennials' usage of social media and conspicuous online consumption. Moreover, in moderated mediation analysis, the pathway between self-image congruity and conspicuous online consumption was stronger for millennials with higher self-esteem.

Millennials' social media usage and conspicuous consumption are widely acknowledged in consumer research. However, little is known about how millennials' social media usage could influence their conspicuous online consumption through mediating and moderating mechanisms such as self-image congruity and self-esteem. This research extends previous studies by analyzing these mechanisms.

Despite proven strategic significance and wide acceptance of private label products (PB), our understanding of PB in international markets is limited. The purposes of this study are to propose a model that integrates four consumer characteristic variables (price consciousness, value consciousness, perceived price variation, and consumer innovativeness) toward PB attitude and purchase intention, and to test the model in two product categories, grocery and home appliances, in a South Korean discount store context.

A total of 168 usable data (87 for food and 81 for home appliances were collected using mall intercept method from female shoppers at one Korean discount store in Seoul, Korea.

The findings revealed that, depending on the product category, contribution of the factors varies. Among four consumer characteristics, only three in each category exhibited direct and indirect association with PB purchase intention. Perceived quality variability in a food category and price consciousness in a home appliance category did not show any relationship with PB purchase intention nor with PB attitude. In both product categories, only two variables, value consciousness and consumer innovativeness, predicted PB attitude. Overall, consumer innovativeness was the strongest factor predicting Korean shoppers’ PB attitude.

Important theoretical contributions of this study are finding the relative importance of the variables on PB attitude and purchase intention, and differing roles of consumer variables by product characteristics. Further significance of this study lies in understanding the differing impact of consumer perceptual variables in predicting PB attitude and purchase intention simultaneously. Managerial implications of these results were discussed.

This paper aims to provide organizational knowledge management teams with a new metric, the bottleneck impact score (BIS), a valuable tool for evaluating the structural health of communities of practice (CoPs), by detecting the seriousness and pervasiveness of the bottlenecks occurring in knowledge-sharing activities among CoP members.

This paper uses the social network analysis method to analyze the activities of organizational members in CoPs and classify organizational members into four types based on their degree of involvement in knowledge creation and consumption. CoPs are also categorized into four types based on the proportion of member types they contain to identify the characteristics of CoP member types and of CoP types.

Data analysis of the knowledge-sharing activities of 4,414 members from 59 CoPs within one of the largest steel manufacturing companies finds that few CoPs are active in both knowledge creating and consuming and that most CoPs suffer from the insufficient participation of their most experienced employees and experts and hence are vulnerable to master–apprentice and knowledge drain risks.

The proposed BIS metric successfully quantifies the seriousness and pervasiveness of such structural risks and thus can help management teams take preventive action to reduce the identified structural risks.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze theory of inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) in terms of knowledge, skill, workload and affect to understand its effectiveness in enabling designers to achieve their optimized mental performance.

TASKS framework, which aims to capture the causal relations among Task workload, affect, skills, knowledge and mental stress, is adopted as our methodology. The framework supports the analysis of how a methodology influence designer’s affect, skills, knowledge and workload. TRIZ-related publications are assessed using the TASKS framework to identify the barriers and enablers in TRIZ-supported design.

TRIZ has limitations on its logic and tools. Nevertheless, it could create a beneficial impact on mental performance of designers.

This paper provides a theory-driven TRIZ usability analysis based on the materials in the literature following the TASKS framework. The impact of TRIZ, as an enabler or a barrier, has been analyzed in accomplishing a design task.

This study aims to conduct a comprehensive review of scholarly literature on the educational impacts of the metaverse, systematically identifying emerging themes, challenges and implications for metaverse education.

The study uses systematic literature review techniques using the Scopus database to investigate empirical studies and systematic reviews specifically examining the convergence of the metaverse and education.

The study shows that the metaverse has a substantial influence on education, emphasising immersive learning, real social interactions and the transformation of traditional frameworks. This paper identifies nine themes, illuminating the growing relevance of metaverse tools in academic institutions, influencing learning methods, outcomes and positive student dispositions.

This study provides a foundation for further investigations into the metaverse’s potential to disseminate knowledge and enhance comprehension of metaverse technologies. It explores the metaverse’s potential in relation to progress, upcoming trends and cultural awareness while highlighting obstacles that must be addressed for effective metaverse teaching.

This research paper makes a substantial scholarly contribution by undertaking a systematic analysis of empirical studies and identifying emerging themes in the area of metaverse education. It offers substantial insights into the transformative potential of metaverse education and its implications for pedagogical and instructional approaches in the digitised era through the analysis of fundamental inquiries.

From 1953 to 1961, the South Korean economy grew slowly; the average per capita GNP growth was a mere percent, amounting to less than $100 in 1961. Few people, therefore, look for the sources of later dynamism in this period. As Kyung Cho Chung (1956:225) wrote in the mid‐1950s: “[South Korea] faces grave economic difficulties. The limitations imposed by the Japanese have been succeeded by the division of the country, the general destruction incurred by the Korean War, and the attendant dislocation of the population, which has further disorganized the economy” (see also McCune 1956:191–192). T.R. Fehrenbach (1963:37), in his widely read book on the Korean War, prognosticated: “By themselves, the two halves [of Korea] might possibly build a viable economy by the year 2000, certainly not sooner.”

Industrialization in capitalist societies ushered in the growth of trade unions and the development of union activities of industrial workers. In the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries in the West when unionism began, trade unions took diverse forms. These forms varied by society and were significantly influenced by the country’s specific historical background and socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Yet such diverse union structures began to merge into “industrial unionism” in the late nineteenth century, which embraced all types of workers within the boundaries of an industry. Industrial unionism has been considered the organizational form that most effectively ensures the collective power of trade unions and their sociopolitical sway over contending forces, notably, the state and employers’ associations, and thus has remained a prototypical union system. Accordingly, nonwestern societies and latecomers to unionism in the West have modeled their unions on the basis of the industrial union structure.

Construction projects are complex projects taking place in dynamic environments, which necessitates accounting for different uncertainties during the planning stage. There is a significant lack of management tools for repetitive projects accounting for uncertainties in the construction environment. The purpose of this paper is to present an algorithm for the optimized scheduling of repetitive construction projects under uncertainty.

Fuzzy set theory is utilized to model uncertainties associated with various input parameters. The developed algorithm has two main components: optimization component and buffering component. The optimization component presents a dynamic programming approach that processes fuzzy numbers. The buffering component converts the optimized fuzzy schedule into a deterministic schedule and inserts time buffers to protect the schedule against anticipated delays. Agreement Index (AI) is used to capture the user’s desired level of confidence in the produced schedule while sizing buffers. The algorithm is capable of optimizing for cost or time objectives. An example project drawn from literature is analysed to demonstrate the capabilities of the developed algorithm and to allow comparison of results to those previously generated.

Testing the algorithm revealed several findings. Fuzzy numbers can be utilized to capture uncertainty in various inputs without the need for historical data. The modified algorithm is capable of optimizing schedules, for different objectives, under uncertainty. Finally AI can be used to capture users’ desired confidence in the final schedule.

Project planners can utilize this algorithm to optimize repetitive projects schedules, while modelling uncertainty in different input parameters, without the need for relevant historical data.