Structural Relationships among Perceived Usefulness of Food Technology, Digital Self-Efficacy, and Job Performance of Korean Cuisine Chefs

The purpose of this study is to empirically examine the structural relationships among perceived usefulness of food technology, digital self-efficacy, and job performance among Korean cuisine chefs.With the rapid digital transformation of the foodservice industry, various food technology systems such as smart kitchens, unmanned ordering systems, cooking automation facilities, and ingredient and inventory management systems have been introduced into restaurant operations.These changes are expected to improve not only work efficiency but also food quality consistency, hygiene management, customer satisfaction, and overall business performance.In particular, Korean cuisine chefs are required to maintain traditional cooking skills while adapting to an increasingly digitalized work environment.Therefore, their perception of the usefulness of food technology and their confidence in using digital technologies may play an important role in enhancing job performance.In this study, perceived usefulness of food technology was divided into three sub-factors: work efficiency enhancement, quality and accuracy improvement, and contribution to business performance.Digital self-efficacy was defined as the subjective confidence of Korean cuisine chefs in understanding and using digital devices and food technology systems.Job performance was defined as the ability to effectively perform cooking-related tasks and contribute to productivity, food quality, hygiene management, cooperation, and organizational performance.To achieve the research purpose, a survey was conducted with 230 Korean cuisine chefs working in Korean restaurants, hotel Korean cuisine departments, foodservice companies, and institutional foodservice settings.The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS.Frequency analysis, descriptive statistical analysis, reliability analysis, correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were performed.Both accuracy improvement and contribution to management performance showed a significant positive (+) relationship with digital selfefficacy.In addition, digital self-efficacy demonstrated a significant positive (+) relationship with job performance.Finally, all three sub-factors of perceived usefulness of food tech also showed a significant positive (+) relationship with job performance.These results suggest that the higher the extent to which Korean food cooks perceive food tech as a useful work tool, the higher their level of digital self-efficacy and job performance is likely to be.However, since this study is based on cross-sectional self-report data, the results