The purpose of this study was to explore issues related to the development of pricing strategies. Important questions addressed included the importance of this topic and a description of how prices are set or why prices are set. Also, the concern of whether these issues are general across major types of pricing decisions, or specific to certain pricing decisions was investigated. Particularly, this study reviewed the descriptive survey research or case studies that have been done to determine how businesses make price decisions, and their key pricing policies and procedures. While Korea is recognized as one of the most rapidly industrializing countries, marketing and marketing research have not been fully developed, and, furthermore, there has been little research on pricing. Therefore, this study reports on a survey with 303 Korean business people about their pricing attitudes and practices in order to obtain information about Korean businesses and help them improve their pricing strategies by suggesting ideas based on price theory and previous price research. The basic results of the survey indicate that although pricing has been generally recognized as an important area in marketing by Korean business people, it has not been examined as a way to influence demand in advanced market environments. While it is revealed that Korean consumers are price sensitive and Korean business situations are competitive, Korean businesses seem to have offered similar products with a relatively rigid pricing approach based on production costs. Their pricing strategies appear not to be related to the other elements of the marketing mix. However, promotional pricing, mainly as discounts, was regarded to be important to gain a competitive edge. In terms of actual price setting in industry and firms, many Korean businesses assume the characteristics of a price taker rather than price maker. Their primary short run pricing objective was to meet existing competition. However, the major basis of their pricing policies was either competitive situation or pricing what the market will bear. This study provides a general view on the type of issues that should be considered in pricing, and evaluates the pricing practices of Korean businesses in comparison to those of more advanced countries. The study is also of value to Korean business people because it offers them information on how prices are set in various industries, and the attitudes and opinions of business people about the pricing function. / Master of Science

This thesis argues that the North Korean model of government is a unique model that is influenced, to varying degrees, by extreme leftist and rightist doctrines, including Marxism-Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, fascism, and Nazism; and shares at least some similarities with all these established models. Rather than being a mere political model, the North Korean model is a political religion that incorporates traits of each of the above-noted models with Korean mythology, Confucianism, extreme militarism, and traditional Korean xenophobia, isolation, and fierce nationalism. The resulting system, identified in this thesis as Kimilsungism, combines with North Korea's unique juche ideology of national self-reliance and self-actualization to absolutely subordinate the needs of the citizenry to the will of the state. It further serves to deify the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung, and his son — and current ruler — Kim Jong-il, via a pervasive propaganda apparatus and cult of personality that has successfully created an alternate reality that the regime can exploit and manipulate as it sees fit. / Master of Arts

The relationships between technological change and economic growth, and research and development and economic growth in the manufacturing sector of Korea were investigated. This study was based on an analysis of capital and labor input, research and development (R&D) stock, productivity, and output data for the period of 1971-1989. The effects of technological change and other factor inputs on economic growth were examined using ordinary least squares regression and generalized least squares in the Cobb-Douglas production function. As expected, the results indicated that there is a significant relationship between technological change and output growth. A strong relationship was also found between Research and Development (R&D) and output growth. And the results indicate that R&D stock accumulated domestically has a positive correlation with the stock of imported technology. The rate of return to R&D investment was estimated at 64 percent and was reduced to 20 percent with consideration of the time lag between R&D investment and the application and commercialization of the R&D innovation. The rate of return to imported technology stock was found larger than that of R&D stock accumulated domestically. A description of the theoretical framework, the methodology applied, and the detailed results are included. / Master of Arts

Most scholars who study the transition from authoritarian regimes to democratic ones use an actor-oriented approach, and assume four major actors participate in the negotiated transition. They explain the results of such transitions by analyzing the strategic interactions of these four major actors. If the configuration of actors and their interactions differ from one case to another, then those differences need to be explained. The case of South Korean democratization differs from democratization in other countries in two major respects. First, without significant division within the regime, the opposition bloc can manage to make a transition to democracy by maintaining coordination between the social movements and the moderate opposition party. Second, the U.S. played an important role in the process of negotiation. The negotiated transition model offers no account for the participation of a third party, and it fails to cast light on the participation of the U.S. in the Korean democratization process. This shortcoming can be solved by complementing the negotiated transition model with the mediation model in which the role of a third party can be addressed. Owing to U.S. mediation, the dynamics of negotiated transition changed in the Korean transition to democracy. / Master of Arts

The rapid pace of industrial growth in South Korea over the last few decades has radically altered the way people live. As the population began to shift from the countryside to the city to pursue a better life by working in manufacturing and services in lieu of agriculture, the dense urban condition began to arise as a result of this endless influx. There had been neither the time nor the technology available to take account of the occupants' comfort. Moreover, after the Korean war in 1950, many families were split apart and this caused the longing to accommodate a family together to become stronger than ever. Since the 1970's, mass production has greatly increased the availability of housing in terms of the quantity, not quality. Most new housing for the lower middle class was built as small spaces without much opportunity to enjoy interacting with neighbors or the outdoors. This study was initiated to explore the potentials of habitable spaces and to understand the importance of bringing neighborhood life back and the chance to experience nature within the constraints imposed by a limited space. As a response to the analysis of the relationship between existing housing and the city, a design element is proposed; a wall that transforms itself from a feature in an individual living space to the neighborhood and to a facet of a city. Also this study includes the investigation of different ideas and examples of using small space efficiently. / Master of Architecture

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Comparative Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Asian Studies / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / abstract / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / Since taking office in 2001, Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi has pressed for greater expansion to the mission of the Japan Self Defense Force (JSDF), first by endorsing deployments in support of counter-terrorism operations in the Indian Ocean, and eventually the domestically unpopular decision to deploy to Iraq. Recently, an update to the 1996 National Defense Program Outline was published that accelerated the shift in the mission of the JSDF away from a pure self-defense force capable of operating with the United States in defense of Japan's sovereignty to that of an internationally recognized force capable of conducting operations in varying environments throughout the globe. Japan's accelerated military involvement in world affairs has provoked concerns among neighbors, whose perceptions are often quite different from those of the United States or Japan. Japan's legacy of militarism has created resistance to change among regional partners. In order for changes to succeed without upsetting the regional balance of power, Japan must improve not only the capability, but also the international trust and standing of the JSDF. This thesis provides information to allow policy makers to better understand the challenges that the Government of Japan faces in response to changes in security strategy. / Lieutenant Commander, United States Navy