• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.19 no.1
• /
• pp.55-73
• /
• 2024

Unicorn companies are attracting attention around the world as they are recognized for their high corporate value in a short period of time as an innovative business models. Their growth process presents good lessons for the startup ecosystem and have a positive impact on national economic development and job creation. However, previous studies related to unicorn companies are focused on 'event studies' and 'case studies' such as characteristics of founders, environmental factors, business models and success/failure cases of companies already recognized as unicorns rather than a multifaceted approach. The occurrence of unicorn companies and Macroscopic analysis of related factors is lacking. Against this background, this study are considering the characteristics of unicorns examined through previous research and the current status unicorns with a high proportion of technology companies, the purpose was to analyze the impact of the country's technological competitiveness, such as 'technology human resource index', 'R&D index', and 'technology infrastructure index', on the increase in unicorn companies. For statistical analysis, data published by various international organizations, the Bank of Korea, and Statistics Korea from 2017 to 2020 and unicorn company data compiled by CB Insights were used as panel data for 44 countries to be tested by multiple regression analysis. As a result of the study, it was confirmed that the number of science majors had a positive (+) effect on the increase of unicorn companies in the case of technology human resource index, and in the case of R&D index, the total amount of R&D investment had a positive (+) effect on the increase of unicorn companies, while the number of Triad Patents Families and the number of scientific and technological papers published had a negative (-) effect on the increase of unicorn companies. Finally, in the case of technology infrastructure index, it was confirmed that the number of the world's 500th-ranked universities had a positive (+) effect on the increase of unicorn companies. This study is the first to reveal the causal relationship between national technological competitiveness and unicorn company growth based on country-specific and time-series empirical data, which were insufficiently covered in previous studies. and compared to the UN's ranking of the global industrial competitiveness index and the OECD's total R&D investment by country, Korea is considered to have technological and growth potential, while the number of unicorn companies driving growth as leaders of the innovative economy is relatively small, so the research results can be used when establishing policies to discover and foster unicorn companies in the future.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.39 no.6
• /
• pp.439-450
• /
• 2015

This study objects to find characteristics in chemical tanker markets and to determine optimal chemical tanker size using a total shipping cost in main trading route of asia chemical tankers .Precedent studies of determination of the optimal ship size and case studies about chemical tankers was carried out and tried to introduce a cost model which is applicable to chemical tanker. This study is dependant on numerical analysis and involves scenario analysis to minimize sensitivity of results. This analysis shows as follows. First, 12,000DWT tanker is an optimal size on the 'Far East-Middle East' services, 9,000DWT tanker is a most competitive on the 'Far East-South East Asia' services and 3,000DWT tanker is a most economic size on the 'Inner Far East' services at average market situation. Second, the bigger size of chemical tanker, the more competitive advantage the tanker will obtain when bunker fuel prices rise. Small size ship gets more competitive during bunker prices down. Third, market fluctuation of time charter rate for chemical tanker is less than 20% against its average time charter hire which means less volatile. And tanker's competitiveness per each size is remained mostly same when time charterer rates rise at same proportion. Fourth, bigger size chemical tankers have cost advantages when tanker's quantity of each part cargo increase. And small-sized tanks are more competitive when part cargo scales decrease. For the last, ship's port stay strongly influences on the determination of the optical tanker size. When vessel has shorter port stay, bigger-sized tanker will be more competitive and even can be competitive if applies in short voyage as well.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.41-62
• /
• 2023

Given that SME workers are the driving force of national competitiveness and the basis and cornerstone of the industry, it is meaningful to study workers' job satisfaction and the factors that affect job satisfaction. In addition to variables related to corporate competitiveness and organizational justice, this study introduced variables such as environmental(E) activities, social(S) activities, and governance(G) activities, which th national government uses as major management evaluation indicators. Therefore, a literature study and empirical analysis were conducted on how self-efficacy affects job satisfaction when workers are faced with a changed work environment. To conduct this study, 300 copies of data were collected from workers in small and medium-sized enterprises and used for analysis. For data analysis, the SPSS statistical program (Ver. 25.0) was used. The study finds, first, that product or service quality and employee competency among corporate competitiveness had a significant positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Secondly, among ESG management activities, social(S) activities and governance(G) activities were found to have a significant positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Third, among organizational justice, distribution justice and procedural justice were found to have a positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Fourth, self-efficacy was found to mediate the effect of product or service quality, employee competency, social(S) and governance(G) activities among ESG management activities, and procedural justice among organizational justice on job satisfaction. The academic value of this study is that it empirically analyzed the factors that ESG management activities affect workers' jobs,. As a result, it was confirmed that workers were satisfied with their jobs by actively showing interest in social(S) activities and governance(G) activities among ESG management activities and participating in corporate management. In addition, workers sensitive to changes in the external environment can become satisfied with their jobs through self-efficacy when SMEs actively enhance corporate competitiveness, execute ESG management activities, and provide a fair organizational culture. Finally, this study suggests that there's a possibility of improving the competitiveness of SMEs through a virtuous cycle created by a change in perception of job conversion and a decrease in turnover.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.30 no.10 s.116
• /
• pp.809-817
• /
• 2006

Shipping and ports have important roles as the nodes and links in maritime logistics. The environment between shipping and ports is interrelated and has been changing' together. Recently, the changes of shipping and ports are rapidly in progress and it is expected to be developed complementarily. Especially, mega carriers reduce the number of ports of calls because the size of ships is becoming bigger and bigger and the 'hub and spokes' strategy is appeared. Therefore, the position of a hub port by the region has questioned This paper aims to research the competitive ports by the region on the basis of the patterns when mega carriers call at ports. Six regions, Far East, Southeast Asia, Northwest America, Northeast America, West Europe and Mediterranean, are organized for this research. According to the volume of cargoes, the top five ports of each region are analyzed. As a result, the competitive ports by the region are Shanghai, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, New York New Jersey, Rotterdam and Gioia Tauro.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.14 no.7
• /
• pp.3203-3210
• /
• 2013

Amid the importance of design is being emphasized as a new barometer for boosting enterprise competitiveness, high expectations are being placed on design consulting that evaluate design from a comprehensive perspective. SMEs, however, are not easy to gain access to design services compare to their counterparts - large companies. This will eventually cause them to ignore the importance of design, not to mention lack of financial resources for investing in design. With this regard, the paper analyzed the design status and design consulting performance of SMEs in industrial complex through the 2012 Design Innovation Project in Industrial Complex of Busan Design Center; also analyzed the effect of design consulting on improving competitiveness of SMEs as well as design awareness. As a result, the study found that a majority of companies do not invest in design or postponed investment, despite they are not satisfied with their design performance. However, 65.6 percent of SMEs that realized the importance of design after consulting have carried out design development, which brought about sales increase through their improved corporate images and product images. We believe design consulting played an important role for boosting awareness and competitiveness of SMEs. Eventually, we need to provide an intensified design analysis process that can facilitate SMEs. Design consulting support projects should offer practical design development programs through continuous follow-up, including interaction with state projects and design-specialized companies.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
• /
• v.13 no.3
• /
• pp.471-493
• /
• 2010

The service industry has become very important for almost every country. The same goes for Korea, as its service industry accounts for more than 60 percent of GDP. However, it is true that the competitiveness of Korea's service industry is very low compared to that of major developed countries. It is particularly true for knowledge-intensive service sectors. In this reason, Korea needs to strengthen the competitiveness of domestic service sectors. There have been many studies on service innovation models. 1his paper tries to explore how to enhance the competitiveness of Korean service industry. It argues that the science and technology will play an essential role in strengthening the competitiveness of many service sectors and technology and innovation management will be very important also for them. Therefore, based on the review on existinf models, this paper suggests a "Model of Strategic Services Innovation Management" which is composed of strategic intent, technological innovation, and organizational innovation. Based on this model this paper analyzes two cases: Wal-Mart and Incheon International Airport Co. According to our analyzes, both companies have enhanced their competitiveness significantly based on technological and organizational innovations, which have been initiated at corporate leveL Therefore, the Korean service industry should actively adopt the Strategic Services Innovation Management Model in order to enhance its competitiveness and productivity.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.27-49
• /
• 2016

This study examines the effects of real exchange rate (RER) depreciation shocks on firm-level productivity and employment in Daegu-Gyeongbuk manufacturing industries during 2006-2012. In particular, the study focuses on a sharp and persistent RER depreciation of the Korean Won from 2007 to 2009, which is a situation akin to a natural experiment in Korea. We find that RER depreciation has positive effects on productivity for firms with high export exposure in foreign markets. However, these effects disappear when RER depreciation persists. In addition, we do not find evidence that RER depreciation affects employment of Daegu-Gyeongbuk firms significantly. Firms in Daegu-Gyeongbuk region should pursue core competency to obtain international competitiveness rather than depending on temporary better price condition driven by RER depreciation. Further, policy makers in a local government should provide firms with financial and investment support to encourage innovation and R&D.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.228-237
• /
• 2021

In those day, the Busan local government had instituted a rule to support and enhance competition as well as improve respect for the ship management industry. This study aims to extract the cause factors to enhance such competition using intuitionistic decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) methods. First, eight factors were extracted from the specifications in the Ship Management Industry Development Act. Second, the intuitionistic fuzzy number was converted to a crisp number using the standard fuzzy number. Third, the influence relationship was analyzed using DEMATEL, and the priority ranks for the factors are determined using ISM. From the results of the impact relationship analysis, the three main cause factors were determined as improvement of technical ship management capability, improvement of expertise of manpower for onshore management, and improvement of the quality of the Korean seafarer. The priorities under the ISM method, in descending order, were as follows: improvement of the quality of Korean seafarers, improvement of professionalism among the manpower for shore management, improvement of technical ship management capability, improvement of commercial ship management capability, establishment of a comprehensive information system, improvement of the working conditions and employment environment for seafarers, financial support such as overseas orders, and strengthening the availability of foreign seafarers. Therefore, it is necessary to prioritize policy promotion based on these factors, especially the top three, as these have the highest impact.

• International Commerce and Information Review
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.53-71
• /
• 2014

This study analysis the current status and policies of Korean Medium Sized Enterprises, and compared with those of U.S and Germany Recently the number of Korean Medium Sized Enterprises is highly increased. But the average sales, employment, and export which can be the indicator for growth were decreased, particularly the decrease of R&D intensity was remarkable. There are 3 policies suggestions necessary to accelerate growth of Medium Sized Enterprises. First, reform the system for Medium Sized Enterprises to grow their activity. There need to direct support as well as arrange governmental regulation. Second, need to increase R&D aid for enhance innovative competence of MSE. Lone-term continuous support for R&D is most import for promoting competitive Medium Sized Enterprises. And the lastly, for successful supporting policy there need to modify the comprehensive criterion for present Medium Sized Enterprises.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
• /
• v.34 no.10
• /
• pp.817-821
• /
• 2010

As the environment of Logistics is changing rapidly, the environment of port is also changing. Accordingly, rapid change within port environment appears as the increase of the volume for world wide cargo, liner ship owners' strategy shift, globalization of terminals, heavy competitions to become a hub of Logistics, development of ship engineering. Therefore, the people who are responsible for the operations and managements of ports foresee such changes and accordingly react to ensure competitiveness. As the competition among ports generally goes international, a port needs to be sure that they become superior to any other port regardless of whether it's outside their country or not. Especially Korea is located in the most heavily competitive area which is Far-East. So if we fail to get competitiveness against the other ports, it goes without saying that our ports will be defeated by them. In brief, this paper will discuss the history of study regarding the factors by which a port is selected and also suggest some of elements which can be applied to small ports in the future of it.