• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.67-83
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• 2023

The social venture start-up phenomenon is found from the perspectives of social enterprise and for-profit enterprise. This study aims to fundamentally explore the start-up phenomenon of social ventures from these two perspectives. Considering the lack of prior research that researched both social and commercial perspectives at the same time, this paper analyzed using grounded theory approach of Strauss & Corbin(1998), an inductive research method that analyzes based on prior research and interview data. In order to collect data for this study, eight corporate representatives currently operating social ventures were interviewed and data and phenomena were analyzed. This progressed to a theoretical saturation where no additional information was derived. The analysis results of this study using the grounded theory approach are as follows. As a result of open coding and axial coding, 147 concepts and 70 subcategories were derived, and 18 categories were derived through the final abstraction process. In the selective coding, 'expansion of social venture entry in the social domain' and 'expansion of social function of for-profit companies' were selected as key categories, and a story line was formed around this. In this study, we saw that it is necessary to conduct academic research and analysis on the competitive factors required for companies that pursue the values of two conflicting relationships, such as social ventures, to survive with competitiveness. In practice, concepts such as collaboration with for-profit companies, value combination, entrepreneurship competency and performance improvement, social value execution competency reinforcement, communication strategy, for-profit enterprise value investment, and entrepreneur management competency were derived. This study explains the social venture phenomenon for social enterprises, commercial enterprises, and entrepreneurs who want to enter the social venture field. It is expected to provide the implications necessary for successful social venture startups.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.13-24
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to examine whether the existence of related personnel in KOSDAQ technology special listed firms has a signal effect on the market and affects performance when listed. The KOSDAQ technology special listing system is a system introduced to enable future growth by securing financing through corporate public offering based on the technology and marketability of technology-based startups and venture companies. As a result of analyzing 135 special technology companies listed from 2005 to 21 (excluding SPAC mergers and foreign companies) whether or not related personnel affect corporate value and listing period when they are listed, it was analyzed that the presence of related personnel did not significantly affect corporate value or listing period. The same was found in the results of the verification by reducing the scope to related personnel such as public officials and related agencies. However, under certain conditions, significant results were derived from the presence of related personnel on the listing of companies listed in special technology cases. It was found that the presence of related personnel and VC investment had a significant effect on corporate value, and in the case of bio-industry, there was a slight significant effect on the duration of listing. This study is significant in that it systematically analyzed the signal effect of the existence of related personnel for the first time for all 135 companies. In addition, as a result of the analysis, the results suggest that internalized efforts to secure technology and marketability are more important, such as parallel to VC investment, rather than simply recruiting related personnel.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.25-37
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• 2022

The purpose of this study is to survey startup founders within 7 years of founding the importance and satisfaction of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem at the national level in Korea and analyze the direction of scale-up policy by component using IPA (importance-performance analysis). Since the perception of founders, who are the subjects of the entrepreneurial ecosystem, affects the quantity and quality of start-ups, research is needed to analyze and diagnose the perception of scale-up components. For the development of the national economy and entrepreneurial ecosystem, companies that emerge from startups to scale-up and unicorns must be produced, and for this, elements for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem are needed. The results of this study are as follows. First, the importance ranking of the components of the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem recognized by founders was in the order of "Financial support by growth stage," "Support for customized scale-up for enterprises," "Improvement of regulations," "Funds dedicated to scale-up," "large-scale investment," and "nurturing technical talents." Second, the factors that should be intensively improved in the importance-satisfaction matrix in the future were 'Pan-Government Integration Promotion Plan', 'Scale-Up Specialized Organization Operation', 'Company Customized Scale-Up Support', 'Regulatory Improvement', and 'Building a Korean Scale-Up Model'. As a result, various and large financial capital for the scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem, diversification of scale-up programs by business sector, linkage of start-ups and scale-up support, deregulation of new technologies and new industries, strengthening corporate-tailored scale-up growth capabilities, and providing overseas networking opportunities can be derived. In addition, it is expected to contribute to policy practice and academic work with research that derives the components of the domestic scale-up entrepreneurial ecosystem and diagnoses its perception.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.195-208
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• 2022

The role of venture CEO and their intrinsic capabilities on organizational performance can be determined by the level of resource synchronization initiated by the focal managers. Despite the important role of venture CEOs, a systematic lack of in-depth theoretical and empirical studies on ruminating the relationship between the effects of a CEO's capabilities and organizational performance depending on the level of resource synchronization exist for the rationale of investigation. To supplement the limitations of previous studies, this research empirically analyzes the role of managers specifically synchronizing organizational resources that affect organizational performance in the professional sports industry. Based on the entrepreneurship theory and resource-based view (RBV), this research conceptualizes the roles of venture CEO and basketball head coach in the professional sports industry as very similar in terms of organizational structure and performance mechanism embedding entrepreneurial characteristics necessary for managing organizational resources. In this research, we hypothesized (1) organizational resource synchronization will mediate the positive relationship between the ability of professional basketball head coach and organizational performance and (2) the indirect effect of the professional basketball head coach's capabilities on organizational performance mediated by resource synchronization will be moderated by the capabilities of players. To test these hypotheses, we utilized the PROCESS macro model 58 with the empirical data of 9 seasons (2013~2014-2021~2022) of 30 National Basketball Association (NBA) and 10 Korean Basketball League (KBL) teams. The statistical results showed that (1) resource synchronization mediates the positive relationship between professional basketball head coach capabilities and organizational performance and (2) the capabilities of players moderated the indirect effects of the abilities of head coaches on team performance via resource synchronization. This paper contributes to both academic and practical domains of entrepreneurship by empirically testing the research model through objective professional sports data.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.217-240
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• 2023

For a while, Functional cosmetics, Cosmeceutical cosmetics, and Derma cosmetics have gained trust and become popular due to the consumers' strong interest in ingredients & efficacy. It's remarkable that Clean or Vegan brands are growing fast because they are emphasizing on different values from the other cosmetic brands. It's needed to attempt to analyze the influence relationship between consumer lifestyle and social value in these changes, and to find out whether the consumption of vegan cosmetics is related to satisfying the need for self-expression in a social atmosphere where ESG is emphasized on. This study analyzed the effect of lifestyle types and self-expression needs on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics by mediating social values for cosmetics consumers. Lifestyle types were classified into appearance-oriented, health-oriented, and fashion-oriented. For empirical analysis, 321 questionnaires collected from cosmetics consumers living across the country were used. SPSS v26.0 and PROCESS macro v4.2 were used to analyze based on a single mediating model as a single mediator. As a result of the analysis, first, lifestyle types and self-expression needs, excluding appearance-oriented types, were found to have a positive (+) effect on social values. Second, it was found that social value had a positive (+) significant effect on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics. Third, appearance-oriented, health-oriented, trend-seeking lifestyle types and self-expression needs were all found to have a positive (+) effect on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics. Fourth, social values were found to mediate lifestyle types, self-expression needs, and purchase intentions, except for appearance-oriented types. Appearance-oriented consumers do not directly affect social values but affect purchase intentions, suggesting that appearance-oriented consumers may not be significantly affected by product-related social values. In a comparison of the relative influence size using standardization coefficients, self-expression needs had the greatest impact on the purchase intention of vegan cosmetics when mediating social values, and health-oriented ones had the least impact. The academic implications of this study include contributing to consumer behavior research by providing insights, mediation mechanisms, and consideration of the niche consumer sector, and directing further research into the cosmetics industry beyond forming marketing strategies and sustainable business practices.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.123-139
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• 2023

Incubating future social entrepreneurs is of increasing importance for governments and industries that aim to create positive social changes through innovative, market-based solutions. Considering the distinct and challenging nature of a social entrepreneurial career, prior research has explored various antecedents of the formation of social entrepreneurial intention. The current research aims to contribute to the literature by examining social class as a potential precursor of individuals' social entrepreneurial intention formation, with a specific focus on social entrepreneurial identity aspiration as the underlying psychological mechanism and communal narcissism as the contingent factor. Using a two-wave survey data collected among 144 potential entrepreneurs from South Korea, we tested a moderated mediation model to validate the research propositions. The findings can be summarized as follows. First, lower social class was associated with higher social entrepreneurial identity aspiration. Second, when communal narcissism was high(low), the negative relationship between social class and social entrepreneurial identity aspiration was stronger(weaker). Third, communal narcissism moderated the negative impact of social class on social entrepreneurial intention via its effect on social entrepreneurial identity aspiration. This study has significant implications on several fronts. First, we explore the motivations that drive individuals from lower-class backgrounds to participate in social entrepreneurship, going beyond the previous notion that a higher-class context promotes entrepreneurial pursuits. Second, we delve into the underlying mechanism and condition that influence the formation of social entrepreneurial intentions, highlighting the pivotal roles played by social entrepreneurial identity aspiration and communal narcissism. Our findings provide practical insights for institutions seeking to foster the involvement of prospective social entrepreneurs from lower-class backgrounds, thereby generating positive outcomes for marginalized communities.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.157-169
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• 2023

This study examined the effect of entrepreneurial orientation on creative behavior and the mediating effect of knowledge sharing behavior in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior. In particular, this study examined the moderating effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior. In this study, after distributing 500 questionnaires to executives and employees working at small and medium-sized companies in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do, 259 questionnaires were used for hypothesis verification, excluding 38 unfaithful or missing responses. The analysis results are as follows. First, it was found that entrepreneurial orientation had a significant positive (+) effect on creative behavior. Second, it was found that entrepreneurial orientation had a significant positive (+) effect on knowledge sharing behavior. Third, knowledge sharing behavior was found to have a significant positive (+) effect on creative behavior. Fourth, knowledge sharing behavior was found to play a partial mediating role in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior. Finally, it was found that LMX strengthened the positive (+) relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior. The theoretical implications of this study are as follows. First, this study makes a theoretical contribution in that it revealed the mediating effect of knowledge-sharing behavior in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior through empirical analysis of corporate members. Next, this study has theoretical implications in that it revealed that LMX strengthens the positive (+) relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and creative behavior. On the other hand, the practical implications of this study are as follows. First, companies need to find ways to strengthen the entrepreneurial orientation. Next, companies need to find ways to improve the quality of LMX between bosses and subordinates. Finally, this study discussed research limitations and future research directions.

• 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.2
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• pp.201-219
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• 2023

ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) is becoming the core of the interest of today's entrepreneurs concerning about the earth crisis. Numerous studies are going on these days about the importance of ESG, but most of them seem confined to the introductory level. This study concentrates on "ESG education" that will teach the learners how to put various ESG ideas into practice, knowing that the earth crisis would not be overcome without actual practice of those ideas. First, elementary and junior·senior high school, professors in university and educational consultants in the field designed educational programs and related content materials under "ESG entrepreneurship education" integrated with ESG and Entrepreneurship education, which have been implemented previously. Participatory learning methods are converged with the program. The researcher analyzed the learning effects in depth after implementing the programs in the education field. Thus, this study first examined the effects of key variables of ESG educational program i.e., ESG entrepreneurship education, student participatory learning, and team-based learning on creative problem-solving and social value recognition with an essential variant of ESG educational programs and identified the relations to creative problem-solving and social value recognition. Besides, this study investigated the moderating effects of school atmosphere, and teachers' enthusiasm, regarding traits of educational programs and social value recognition. Findings indicate that sub variants of the traits of educational programs i.e., ESG entrepreneurship education, student participatory learning, and team-based learning significantly affect creative problem-solving skills and social value recognition and that creative problem-solving impacts social value recognition. In addition, teachers' enthusiasm has moderating effects between traits of educational programs and social value recognition. This study provides content-program learning methods that can be practically applied in education, emphasizing practice in ESG in elementary and junior·senior high school education. Implications suggest that ESG entrepreneurship education and active participatory learning affect social value recognition and that teachers' enthusiasm plays a significant role in education.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.17-32
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• 2023

In recent years, the need for social ventures that aim to grow while solving social problems through the efficiency and effectiveness of commercial organizations in the market has increased, while there is a limit to how much the government and the public can do to solve social problems. Against this background, the number of social venture startups is increasing in the domestic startup ecosystem, and interest in impact investors, which are investors in social ventures, is also increasing. Therefore, this research utilized judgment analysis technology to objectively analyze the validity and weight of judgment information based on the cognitive process and decision-making environment in the investment decision-making of impact investors. We proceeded with the research by constructing three classifications; first, investment priorities at the initial investment stage for financial benefit and return on investment as an investor, second, the political skills of the entrepreneurs (teams) for the social impact and ripple power, and social venture coexistence and solidarity, third, the social mission of a social venture that meets the purpose of an impact investment fund. As a result of this research, first of all, the investment decision-making priorities of impact investors are the expertise of the entrepreneur (team), the potential rate of return when the entrepreneur (team) succeeds, and the social mission of the entrepreneur (team). Second, impact investors do not have a uniform understanding of the investment decision-making factors, and the factors that determine investment decisions are different, and there are differences in the degree of the weighting. Third, among the various investment decision-making factors of impact investment, "entrepreneur's (team's) networking ability", "entrepreneur's (team's) social insight", "entrepreneur's (team's) interpersonal influence" was relatively lower than the other four factors. The practical contribution through this research is to help social ventures understand the investment determinant factors of impact investors in the process of financing, and impact investors can be expected to improve the quality of investment decision-making by referring to the judgment cases and analysis of impact investors. The academic contribution is that it empirically investigated the investment priorities and weighting differences of impact investors.