• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.171-186
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• 2023

CEOs who have started and managed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have a lot of concerns about the sustainability of their businesses in the fierce management field and sometimes have the intention to discontinue their businesses. In this study, the perception of the business environment of SMEs (intensity of competition, difficulty in manpower management), the competency of the corporate (employee competency, product or service competitiveness, digital or technical capability), the competency of the CEO's (management competency and health status of CEO), and the perception of business succession on the CEO's intention to discontinue business were empirically studied with SME CEOs. This study conducted a survey of SME CEOs in various industries from March 20 to April 15, 2022, and verified the research hypothesis using SPSS 24.0 with 296 samples obtained. As a result of the study, the intensity of competition, the difficulty in manpower management, and the perception of business succession had a positive (+) effect on the intention to discontinue the business. On the other hand, the employee competency, the product or service competitiveness, the corporate digital or technical competency, and the CEO's health status had a negative (-) effect on the intention to discontinue business. Meanwhile, it was observed that government regulations also have a moderating effect on the intensity of competition, the difficulty in manpower management, the business succession perception of CEO, and the intention to discontinue business. This study has academic significance in that the concept of 'discontinuing business', which was fragmentarily scattered according to various preceding studies, was systematized based on the level of ownership change and voluntariness. And that it empirically analyzed factors related to the intention to discontinue business targeting SME CEOs. In addition, that it observed for the baby-boomer CEOs in Korea the factors influencing the intention to discontinue business and that it was confirmed that considering their age, organizing the business stable and handing it over to the successor was another positive concept of business discontinuation.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.193-206
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• 2023

In a workplace, workers exhaust their resources due to workplace adversity or acquire resources through job-related passion. The purpose of this study is to verify the factors that affect the conversion of workers to entrepreneurs and through what paths entrepreneurial intention is generated. To this end, the effects of workplace adversity and job-related passion on entrepreneurial intention were explored with workers in Korea. Also, by empirically analyzing the effects of workplace adversity and job-related passion on entrepreneurial intention through the mediation of job-related creativity, this author attempted to derive the factors and implications associated with the conversion of workers to entrepreneurs. Analyzing 333 workers' data acquired through online surveys with the statistical packages of SPSS and AMOS, this study has gained the following results. First, workplace adversity is found to have positive(+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. This implies that workplace adversity that is negatively regarded is rather a crucial variable that increases entrepreneurial intention. Second, workplace adversity has positive(+) effects on job-related creativity. It means that job-related creativity is an effective factor to overcome workplace adversity. Third, job-related passion is found to have positive(+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. The passion to concentrate on the resources secured is an important factor to elevate entrepreneurial intention. Fourth, job-related passion is verified to have positive(+) effects on job-related creativity. It implies that creative methods can be effective in achieving the goal. Fifth, job-related creativity is found to have positive(+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. Creativity is an intention or action that precedes starting up a business, and it is judged that high job-related creativity reflects high expectation about the possibility of success in starting up a business. Sixth, job-related creativity is found to have mediating effects in correlation between workplace adversity and entrepreneurial intention. Seventh, job-related creativity is found to have mediating effects in correlation between job-related passion and entrepreneurial intention. This means that job-related creativity is an effective factor to alleviate the adversity of workers and increase job-related passion in the process of becoming entrepreneurs. Academically, there were few previous studies related to the adversity of workers in Korea. As this study targets office workers, it can be said that it is a differentiated study extending the range of subjects. Also, practically, it has been learned that negative workplace adversity, too, is an important variable that affect entrepreneurial intention positively. This is practically meaningful in terms of office workers' career management because even in adverse situations that are negative, starting up a business through work experiences may work as an alternative.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.1-16
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• 2023

Due to imbalances in supply and demand within the labor market, start-ups have emerged as crucial players in the generation of high-quality employment opportunities, particularly in stagnant job markets. In response to this trend, governments are allocating substantial financial and human resources to initiatives that support start-up development. This has led to an increasing rate of engagement in start-up ventures across diverse age groups, not limited to younger individuals. Start-ups are enterprises focused on the commercialization of innovative ideas with the aim of achieving profitability in the marketplace. Research concerning the successful market integration of new products and the attainment of sustainable growth is pivotal. Such research is instrumental not only for the success of start-ups but also for realizing the broader social functions and contributions that these enterprises can offer. Previous research has often examined new product market-entry strategies, often referred to as new product marketing, particularly for large companies and SMEs. However, there is a gap in studies focusing on prototype marketing strategies specific to start-ups. Thus, this study aims to examine the impact of Pre-announcing marketing strategies on the market attention garnered by start-ups with low recognition and limited infrastructure, and how such attention contributes to their sustainable growth. Specifically, the study aims to uncover the causal relationship between information attributes like relevance, vividness, and novelty in building customer relationships, and their impact on purchase intentions influenced by performance expectations and hedonic motivations. In terms of Pre-announcing information attributes, relevance, vividness, and novelty positively influence performance expectations and hedonic motivations as outlined in the extended Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2). These factors, in turn, positively impact the purchase intention for pre-announced new products from start-ups. These findings are expected to provide both theory and practical insights into the factors influencing market entry through the use of Pre-announcing marketing strategies for start-up new products.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.133-150
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to develop a female entrepreneurial competency model. For the purpose, two Focus Group Interviews (FGI) were conducted with seven outstanding female entrepreneurs, and three expert reviews were conducted. In addition, in order to verify the validity of the provisional female entrepreneur competency model derived from the FGI and competency modeling expert review, the female entrepreneur competency model was finally confirmed through a survey of 442 female entrepreneurs. The results were as follows. First, a female entrepreneur competency model consisting of 6 competency groups and 25 competencies of entrepreneurship, emotion, business management, relationship management, strategic management, and multitasking, and 75 behavioral indicators describing each competency was developed. Second, sensibility and multitasking are competencies that reflect the characteristics of female entrepreneurs. In particular, 'social sense', which is the ability to be considerate of others in the emotional competency group and the ability to respond well to subtle nuances, and the multitasking competency group's unique strengths are women's ability to perform various tasks at the same time. The 'work-family control ability' of a female entrepreneur who maintains a balance between 'multi-tasking' and work and family is a representative competency of only female entrepreneurs. Third, the developed female entrepreneurship competency model is meaningful in that it not only increases female entrepreneurial competency so that prospective female entrepreneurs can successfully run a business through entrepreneurship education, but it also makes it easy for existing female entrepreneurs to reflect and improve their competencies. If we provide appropriate training programs to female entrepreneurs based on their competency, it will be possible to effectively enhance the entrepreneurial competency, which is the key to strengthening the competitiveness of female entrepreneurs. The female entrepreneur competency model developed through this study can provide a basis for future research on competency diagnosis and education needs analysis.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.151-168
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• 2022

Nowadays companies are required to achieve social goals beyond maximizing shareholder profits. Accordingly, it is important to pursue both the economic and social goals of a company at the same time. Thus the importance of hybrid organizations is increasing theoretically and practically. In particular, since hybrid organizations essentially have the complexity of pursuing both economic and social purposes, the institutional demands of various stakeholders surrounding hybrid organizations are also conflicting. Several previous studies have considered how hybrid organizations respond to these conflicting institutional demands, but most studies are limited to studying at a specific point in time. As a result, there was a limit to analyzing the dynamics in response to conflicting institutional demands as the hybrid organization expanded its business. This study predicted that the hybrid organization would take selective coupling with conflicting institutional demands and that the process of responding to institutional demands would change according to the organization's growth. In this study, we had a case study about Noul and Enuma, social ventures that operate relatively advanced business models with outstanding results in innovation and technology. As a result, social ventures show a selective coupling for conflicting institutional demands, and the selective coupling process changes as their business model are advanced. Specifically, in the early stages of the business, it appears to respond to economic and social demands at the same time with a single business model. When the business is advanced, two or more business models are operated, some of which respond to economic needs and some of which respond to social needs. In the early stages of business, social ventures respond to economic and social demands with a single business model to gain legitimacy and survive in the institutional demands. But when they enter the business growth period, they try to separate business models which respond to economic and social values because they pursue sustainable growth and challenge large-scale missions. Overall, this study attempted to contribute to an in-depth understanding of hybrid organizations by identifying that the method of responding to conflicting institutional demands varies depending on the growth process of social ventures.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.205-221
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• 2022

In this study, the authors investigated the effect of salesperson's Selling Influence Tactics (SIT) on customers' psychological obligation, trust in salespersons and repurchase intentions in the offline cosmetics purchase channel. In addition, we examined the moderating effect of service quality perceived by customers. To this end, a survey was conducted on 298 customers who had purchased cosmetics through the offline sales channel, and the authors conducted hypothesis testing through a structural equation model. As a result of the study, first, among salesperson's sales influence tactics, emotional appeal tactics (H1a), customer ingratiation tactics (H1d), and personal appeal tactics (H1e) were found to affect the psychological obligation of customers, and emotional appeal tactics (H2a), rational persuasion tactics (H2b), information provision tactics (H2c), and customer ingratiation tactics (H2d) were found to affect trust in salespeople. Third, it was found that the psychological obligation did not have a positive (+) effect on the customer's repurchase intention, and the customer's trust in the salesperson had a positive (+) effect on the repurchase intention. Third, perceived service quality showed a significant moderating effect between psychological obligation and repurchase intention, trust in salesperson and repurchase intention. In previous studies on salesperson's Selling Influence Tactics (SIT), many studies examined salesperson's Selling Influence Tactics (SIT) by specifying sub-variables in a limited way, and studies confirming marketing factors such as repurchase intention were also insufficient. Therefore, the results of the empirical research confirmed based on this study are expected to help the standard or direction of the salesperson's Selling Influence Tactics (SIT) in future studies. In addition, this study describes implications for providing help in employee education and management for small business owners who manage and operate offline cosmetics stores, and sales strategies that should be strategically established to improve perceived service quality for customers.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.89-101
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• 2022

This study investigated the effects of individual characteristics (entrepreneurial self-efficacy) and environmental characteristics (social support, government support policy) on entrepreneurial intention for college students in Korea and China. In particular, the moderating effect of differences between countries (Korea and China) was demonstrated in the relationship between individual and environmental characteristics and entrepreneurial intention. The results of the empirical analysis of 626 Korean and Chinese university students are as follows. First, all of the entrepreneurial self-efficacy, social support, and government support policies perceived by Korean college students had a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention. In particular, Korean college students' entrepreneurial intentions were influenced in the order of social support, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and government support policies. Second, all of the entrepreneurial self-efficacy, social support, and government support policies perceived by Chinese college students had a positive effect on start-up intention. In particular, entrepreneurial intention of Chinese college students was influenced in the order of government support policy, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, and social support. Third, the relationship between environmental characteristics (social support, government support policy) and entrepreneurial intention was adjusted by differences between countries. First, the positive relationship between social support and entrepreneurial intention was generally higher for Chinese college students than for Korean college students. In addition, the positive relationship between government support policy and entrepreneurial intention was higher for Chinese college students than for Korean college students as the level of awareness of government support policy increased. Finally, theoretical and practical implications for the intention of Korean and Chinese college students to start a business were presented, and the limitations of the study and future research directions were presented based on this study.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.13-23
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• 2024

Purpose: This aim of this study was to demonstrate growth factors that differentiate human mesenchymal stem cells into chondrocytes and to evaluate cell proliferation enhancement by needle size differences. Materials and Methods: Human mesenchymal stem cells were cultured in chondrogenic medium supplemented with BMP-2, BMP-4, BMP-6, BMP-7, BMP-13, FGF-2, FGF-18, IGF-1, TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGF-β3 and without growth factors for 14, 21, and 28 days. Then, the expression levels of SOX-5, SOX-6, SOX-9 and FOXO1A were comparatively analyzed. Human mesenchymal stem cells were inoculated into culture dishes using 18, 21, and 26 gauge (G) needles, and cell proliferation was measured after 24, 48, and 72 hours, respectively. Results: In addition to the previously known FGF, IGF-1, and TGFβ1,the BMP family growth factors such as BMP-2, BMP-4, BMP-6, and BMP-7 increased the expression of chondrocyte differentiation genes SOX-5, SOX-6, SOX-9, and FOXO1A. At 48 hours, the 26G group, the smallest needle, showed significant cell proliferation improvement compared to the control group and the 18G group. At 72 hours, the 26G group, the smallest needle, showed significant increase in cell proliferation compared to the control group. Conclusion: Through this study, growth factors with the ability to induce chondrocyte differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells were investigated, and cell proliferation changes by needle size differences were determined.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.37-45
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• 2024

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the clinical features and determinants of macrolide-unresponsive Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MUMP) and to assess the differences in the time to fever resolution between doxycycline (DXC), tosufloxacin (TFX) and corticosteroid (CST) as second-line treatment. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of patients under the age of 18 who were admitted to Nowon Eulji University Hospital between July 2018 and February 2020, diagnosed with mycoplasma pneumonia. Macrolide resistance was confirmed by detecting point mutations in the 23S rRNA gene. MUMP was clinically defined by persistent fever (≥38.0℃) lasting for 72 hours or more after the initiation of macrolide treatment. In cases of MUMP, patients were treated with an addition of CST, or the initial macrolide was replaced either DXC or TFX. Results: Out of 157 cases of mycoplasma pneumonia, 83 cases (52.9%) did not respond to macrolides. Patients with MUMP exhibited significantly higher C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (3.2±3.0 vs. 2.4±2.2 mg/dL, P=0.047), more frequent lobar/segmental infiltrations or pleural effusions (56.6% vs. 27.0%, P<0.001; 6.0% vs. 0.0%, P=0.032), and a higher prevalence of 23S rRNA gene mutations (96.4% vs. 64.6%, P<0.001) when compared to those with macrolide-susceptible M. pneumoniae pneumonia. In terms of second-line treatment, 15 patients (18.1%) responded to CST, 30 (36.1%) to DXC, and 38 (45.8%) to TFX. The time to defervescence (TTD) after initiation second-line treatment was significantly shorter in the CST group compared to the DXC (10.3±12.7 vs. 19.4±17.2 hours, P=0.003) and TFX groups (10.3±12.7 vs. 25.0±20.1 hours, P=0.043), with no significant difference observed between the DXC and TFX groups (19.4±17.2 vs. 25.0±20.1 hours, P=0.262). Conclusions: High CRP levels, the presence of positive 23S rRNA gene mutation, lobar or segmental lung infiltration, and pleural effusion observed in chest X-ray findings were significant factors associated with macrolide unresponsiveness. In this study, CST demonstrated a shorter TTD compared to DXC or TFX. Further, larger-scale prospective studies are needed to determine the optimal second-line treatment for MUMP.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.140-147
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• 2010

We investigated the effects of water temperature, salinity and irradiance on the growth of the harmful algae Chattonella ovata isolated from South Sea, Korea. C. ovata grew under all combinations of water temperatures and salinity, except for all the salinity conditions at the water temperature of $10^{\circ}C$, with the salinity of 7.5 psu and 10 psu at $15^{\circ}C$, and 7.5 psu at $20^{\circ}C$ and $30^{\circ}C$. The maximum specific growth rate was $0.62\;day^{-1}$ at the combination of $30^{\circ}C$ and 30 psu. The results of two-way ANOVA indicated that growth rate depended greatly on the water temperatures while not being affected by interactions with the salinity. This indicates that C. ovata is a stenothermal and euryhaline organism, preferring high water temperatures. C. ovata did not grow at irradiance ${\leq}30\;{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$. Photoinhibition did not occur at $800\;{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$, which was the maximum irradiance used in this study. The irradiance-growth curve was described as $\mu$ = 0.74(I-16.0)/(I+43.9) at $30^{\circ}C$ and 30 psu. The half-saturation light intensity ($K_s$) was $75.9\;{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$ and compensation photon flux density ($I_c$) was $16.0\;{\mu}mol$ photons $m^{-2}s^{-1}$, especially this value was comparatively lower than those of Skeletonema costatum and other flagellates previously reported. Therefore, our results indicate that C. ovata has advantageous physiological characteristics for interspecific competition at the embayment and coastal areas of Korea in summer.