Korea National Open University

About: Korea National Open University is a education organization based out in Seoul, South Korea. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Mobile computing. The organization has 341 authors who have published 653 publications receiving 8796 citations. The organization is also known as: KNOU.

The impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and customer trust on the restoration of loyalty after service failure and recovery

Abstract: Purpose – This study seeks to examine perceived corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a focus on ethical and legal questions, related to the constructs such as recovery satisfaction, customer trust, and loyalty after a service failure. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical test was conducted on this relationship in the context of service failure and recovery. A structural equation model was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings – Results indicate that perceived CSR has a significant impact on customer trust and loyalty and that customer trust serves as a key mediating variable in service recovery. Research limitations/implications – This study provides a theoretical implication for the relationship between perceived CSR and the relationship constructs such as service recovery satisfaction, customer trust, and loyalty. Practical implications – The results suggest that managers may need to be aware of perceived CSR as a key variable in restoring customer loyalty. The results further suggest th...

Improved performance of CEA microbial fuel cells with increased reactor size

Abstract: The performance of an over 10 times larger microbial fuel cell (MFC) with double cloth electrode assemblies (CEAs) during 63 days of continuous operation demonstrates that the excellent performance of CEA-MFCs can be further improved during scale-up. With a new separator material and U-shaped current collectors, the larger MFC produced a maximum power density of 4.30 W m−2 at a current density of 16.4 A m−2, corresponding to a volumetric power density of 2.87 kW m−3 at 10.9 kA m−3 for a double CEA-MFC. The high current density led to a high average coulombic efficiency (CE) of 83.5% as well as a high potential COD removal rate of 93.5 kg m−3 d−1. Energy efficiency is estimated in the range of 21–35%, depending on the operating voltage. The low-cost non-woven cloth separator further reduced the anode–cathode spacing and internal resistance, greatly enhancing the power generation. The enhanced self-production of bicarbonate buffer, which can be manipulated by adjusting hydraulic retention time and substrate concentration, also contributed to the improved performance. The results demonstrate the great potential of MFC technology in competing with methanogenic anaerobic digestion for waste-to-electricity and wastewater treatment.