• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2016

Catch-up is a well-known and familiar terminology for innovation scholars in developing countries such as Taiwan, Korea and China. The strategy, however, is too difficult to perform in each industry. This study looks into a catch-up strategy that Apple and Xiaomi used and examines the results on the creative imitation of business model in the smartphone industry. It is quite surprising that even Apple is based on catch-up strategy. They wanted to catch-up Nokia. Our case study shows that these two companies quickly caught up with the leaders, and the common feature of their strategy is characterized as creative imitation of business model. Creative imitation of business model is different from creative imitation of innovation. Furthermore, this research confirms that the creative imitation of business model leads to aggressive creative innovation.

• Korean Management Science Review
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.31-51
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• 2016

The objective of the study is to propose the catch-up strategy of Hyundai Kia to become the globally leading company in the automobile industry. For this, we try to compare Hyundai Kia with three leading automobile companies: Toyota, VW, and GM by using the Generalized Double Diamond Model. As a result, we present three ways that Hyundai Kia can become a "First Mover." The three strategies are : 1) controlling increase of wage, raising productivity, and increasing R&D investment 2) increasing overseas investment of the small and medium sized automobile factories 3) pursuing the two tracks strategy of a public car and a prestige car more aggressively. This study is significant in the fact that it presents the catch-up strategy of Hyundai Kia in the automobile industry, of which the leaders can not be changed easily, by the Generalized Double Diamond Model approach.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.119-131
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• 2015

The rise of K-Pop in the latecomer environment is unusual. There is little research on K-Pop from the catch-up perspective though it would yield some insight into a strategic direction of creative industries in the latecomer environment. Thus, this study aims to compare the firm capability, market development, and product strategy of K-Pop firms with ones of manufacturing firms during the catch-up period. It reveals first that K-Pop firms developed project execution capability to carry out discrete projects effectively by adopting in-house (vertical) system in music production and increasing the size of firms. Second, they pursued global market and utilized the window of opportunities based on a proven music genre. Third, K-Pop firms pursued the incremental innovation in the product development. Since these characteristics have many similarities with the catch-up strategy in the manufacturing sector, Korean catch-up experience could provide valuable insight into the development of creative industries in Korea.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.239-259
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• 2008

Korea is in the middle of a transition from the catch-up stage to the post catch-up stage. This requires a new approach, a new perspective, and a new strategy to survive in the new environment. This research investigates the post catch-up research activities in the public sector, including universities and national research institutes. In this case study, the experts and research teams at the highest level in the world are introduced, and research environments and know-how possessed by the experts and research teams are analyzed. The cases shows that the post catch-up research teams have research patterns to open new research field and integrate prior knowledge base with new knowledges from other research field. They succeed in producing highly regarded research results and making research platform for further advanced research.

• STI Policy Review
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.39-51
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• 2010

Korea faces challenges from the recent development catch-up countries and the absence of catch up incentives. For Korea to solve the issue of post catch-up problems and create a new development path based on creative innovation, there is an urgent need to secure a system design capability for the production of creative knowledge and talent that can create a competitive society. However, the conservative inclination and a lack of a customer-oriented attitude of Korean universities and professors leads to a standardization of talent and a passive restructuring of the curriculum by universities instead of a direct correspondence with the demands of companies and society. The compatibility of Korean university education with the demands of society remains the lowest in the world and creative education in Korea faces a difficult situation. The world is transforming from a knowledge-based economy to a creativity-based economy and a competitive society will led by creativity, not by knowledge. The success of a country in nurturing creative talent will determine its future national competitiveness. For Korea to be become a global leader in the new era of creativity, it needs to make proactive preparations. It is imperative for Korea to transform the educational system from the previous cramming system to a creativity-nurturing system.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.27-50
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• 2016

Korean manufacturing industry have recently faced the catch-up of China in the mass commodity product, such as automotive, display, and smart phone in terms of market as well as technology. Accordingly, discussion on the importance of achieving catch-up in complex product systems (CoPS) has been increasing as a new innovation engine for the industry. In order to achieve successful catch-up of CoPS, we explored emerging technologies of CoPS, which are featured by the characteristics of radical novelty, relatively fast growth and self-sustaining, through the study of emerging technologies of gas turbine for power generation. We found that emerging technologies of the gas turbine are technologies for combustion nozzle and composition of electrical machine for increasing power efficiency, washing technology for particulate matter, cast and material processing technology for enhancing durability from fatigue, cooling technologies from extremely high temperature, interconnection operation technology between renewable energy and the gas turbine for flexibility in power generation, and big data technology for remote monitoring and diagnosis of the gas turbine. We also found that those emerging technologies resulted in technological progress of the gas turbine by converging with other conventional technologies in the gas turbine. It indicates that emerging technologies in CoPS can be appeared on various technological knowledge fields and have complementary relationship with conventional technologies for technology progress of CoPS. It also implies that latecomers need to pursue integrated learning that includes emerging technologies as well as conventional technologies rather than independent learning related to emerging technologies for successful catch-up of CoPS. Our findings provide an important initial theoretical ground for investigating the emerging technologies and their characteristics in CoPS as well as recognizing knowledge management strategy for successful catch-up of latecomers. Our findings also contribute to the policy development of the CoPS from the perspective of innovation strategy and knowledge management.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.309-333
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• 2012

Recently, emergence of smart-phones and Social Networking Service(SNS) would offer the market environment changes and the opportunities for new business. For the case analysis comprehensive survey were implemented. And those data were analyzed along the research framework. The late-comer firms offered differential services, maintained creative and opened corporate culture, shoed learning capabilities which means absorption and organization of external knowledge, innovative efforts to control the insurgents than early-mover firms. When we analyze these phenomena along the developmental stages of late-comer, we can perceive that the stage of late-comers firms were moving from the "tracing the path" stage to "jumping the path" stage which means the creating capabilities were more or less enhanced and the firms become more stable in terms of business operation. In business model, early-mover firms showed clear definition for each business element, especially the revenue structure, while late-mover firms seemed unstable or unclear revenue structure.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.109-139
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• 2013

The objective of this study attempt to examine the prospect whether conventional catch-up theory is also applicable to knowledge intensive industry like Open Source Software(OSS), and the implication from this study can be working as a stepping stone for followers. To do this, we conducted Korean SW firm's interview, and examined U.S. firm's archivings and second source of informations by means of empirical study. We use the inflection point of paradigm shift and difference of technology regime as a framework for empirical study of catch-up process between U.S. and Korean OSS firms. We find that conventional catch-up theory is no more applicable to explain OSS firm's catch-up processes. We also identified the elements that will accelerate the catch-up processes more effectively from the comparison of technology regime between U.S. and Korean OSS firms. As a result, we diagnose the limitation of conventional catch-up theory and discuss the new technology regime which will, ironically, promote the catch-up processes from the condition of low appropriation.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.97-131
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• 2005

This paper has discussed several issues regarding the barriers and opportunities for technological catch-up by the late-comer countries and firms. As one of the barriers to technological catch-up, the paper emphasizes the uncertainty involved with the third stage of learning how to design. The barriers arise because as the forerunner firms refuse to sell or give license to successful catching-up firms who thus have to design the product by themselves. The paper discusses how to overcome this barrier. It also notes that if the crisis of design technology is a push factor for leapfrogging, arrival of new techno-economic paradigm can serve as a pull factor for leapfrogging, serving as a winder of opportunity. The, it emphasized the two risks with leapfrogging, namely the risk of choosing right technology or standards and the risk of creating initial markets, and how to overcome these risks. It discusses how to overcome these risks in leapfrogging, and differentiates diverse forms of knowledge accesses. Then, the paper takes up the issue of whether there can be a single common or several models for catch-up. A common element of catching-up is to enter new markets segments quickly, to manufacture with high levels of engineering excellence, and to be first-to-market by means of the best integrative designs. This observation is supported by the fact that Korea and Taiwan has achieved higher levels of technological capabilities in such sectors as featured by short cycle time of technology. The possibility of two alternative models for catch-up is also discussed in terms of the key difference between Korean and Taiwan, especially in the position toward the source of foreign knowledge and the paths taken toward the final goal of OBM. Taiwan followed the sequential steps of OEM, ODM and OBN, in collaboration or integration with the MNCs. Korean chaebols jumped from OEM directly to OBM even without consolidating design technology.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.138-151
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• 2017

This aim of the study is to show the necessity of implementing an industrial innovation strategy with consideration given to characteristics of the industrial technology. The relationship between industrial technological characteristics and innovation performance is analyzed by using an innovation survey as well as a human capital corporate panel (HCCP). The time-lag effect is also examined. Findings of the analysis show that high-tech industries have entered the post catch-up technology innovation stage in the mid-2000s, but low-tech industries still seem to stay in the catch-up stage. In terms of technology policy, the additional technology innovation support policy should focus on enhancing the innovation capability of the middle and low technology industries, since high technology industries are already developing their own innovation capability. It is necessary to strengthen capacity building through technical cooperation with technology consulting, rather than providing technical support through suppliers.