• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.103-123
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• 2022

Purpose - This study investigates the effects of earnings management, related party transactions between chaebol affiliates on earnings management and ESG score on their profitability using return on assets (ROA). Design/Methodology/Approach - We use data including ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) score of the Korea Corporate Governance Service(KCGS), and financial data of 10,145 firm-year observations from the Total Solution 2000 (TS 2000) and Korea Companies-Information Service (KOKOInfo), and apply the finite lagged models to investigate the long-term effects of related party transactions between chaebol affiliates of earnings management on ESG scores and corporate performance. Furthermore, to take into consideration the simultaneous mutual effects on each other of main variables, we introduce finite distributed lags of five years. Findings - First, ESG-rated firms have a higher total asset return than non-ESG-rated firms. Second, chaebol firms have a higher profitability than non-chaebol firms. Third, profit management of related party transactions between affiliates within a chaebol has a positive effect on the short-term profitability and a negative effect on the long-term profitability. Fourth, chaebol ESG firms have a lower impact on profitability due to rating up (down) than non-chaebol ESG firms. Research Implications or Originality - Based on the above results, it can be concluded that firms used related party transactions for earnings management, the effects of related party transactions change over time, and chaebol firms manipulate earnings through related party transactions and ESG scores.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.121-132
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• 2022

This study aims to find out the ESG management keywords in the logistics industry through social network analysis using news article and sustainable management reports. In recent years, global climate change and Covid-19 have spurred companies to step up their new management system called ESG management. ESG is a combination of Environment, Social, and Governance. In the past, companies' financial performance was the most important, but in the current investment market, the movement to reflect ESG management factors in investment decisions is strengthening. This study aims to find out degree centrality, betweenness centrality, and closeness centrality through social network analysis after collecting related keywords to derive ESG management issues of logistics companies. This study collected 2,359 news articles searched under the keywords "ESG", "Logistics". In addition, data on ESG activities were also used for analysis by referring to the sustainable management reports of logistics companies. As a result of the analysis of degree centrality, it was found that ESG management of logistics companies is in progress, focusing on small enterprises and eco-friendly keywords, and is concentrated on social responsibility and eco-friendly activities. In the betweenness centrality analysis, logistics companies such as HMM and CJ Logistics were derived in a high ranking. In the closeness centrality analysis, eco-friendly keywords topped the list, while the number of keywords related to governance was relatively small, suggesting that logistics companies need to improve their governance structure.

• Journal of Korean Society of Industrial and Systems Engineering
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2023

This study is a leading case of empirical analysis of whether, when corporate stakeholders (government, investors, customers, managers, employees) put pressure on companies for ESG management, it affects the introduction and implementation of ESG activities (environmental, social, governance) and affects business performance. As for the research method, a sustainability report was published, and a web survey of Korea Research Inc. was conducted from May 10 to May 20, 2022 targeting ESG management managers of 192 companies, and analyzed through the PLS structural equation model. As a result of the study, it was found that the introduction and execution of ESG is closely influenced by the pressure from the government, investors, managers, and employees, and in particular, the internal pressure of current managers and executives and employees has a great impact on the introduction and implementation of environmental, social, and governance activities. In particular, although external pressure also has some influence, it is practical to suggest that strong internal pressure is necessary for continuous activities and performance. And, methodologically, the main activity indicators of the GRI Reporting Guidelines, which are the most representative ESG management indicators, were developed as a questionnaire, and reliability, validity, and model fit were secured through comparison with indicators of multiple systems and expert reviews. The limitations of this study are that more in-depth analysis by industry or size is possible when ESG management is mature and sufficient samples are secured, and complex ESG pressure factor modeling is possible when more diverse stakeholders are added.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.333-341
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• 2024

So far, the rationality of management decisions has been limited to the economic rationality of maximizing self-interest. However, management rationality in the ESG era, which pursues the interests of the environment, society, and the company from the perspective of harmony and balance, requires new judgment standards. The goal of ESG management is sustainable development. Sustainable development goes beyond the accumulation of wealth, which was the goal of the past economy, and aims for the happiness of the entire society, including coexistence and fair development that develops together with the entire society. From Aristotle's perspective, the happiness of the entire society promoted by sustainable development is no different from the highest good of citizens, members of the community. Accordingly, this paper attempted to explore the new management rationality required for managers in the ESG era by comparing Aristotle's concept of citizenship with the concept of 'corporate citizenship', one of the main concepts of ESG management. Through this, we sought to show that companies are essentially communal entities and that the company's pursuit of profit requires rationality of balance and harmony with environmental and social interests.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.145-156
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• 2022

In recent years, as there is growing concern with ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance), the strategic direction of business management is changing from maximizing shareholders wealth to maximizing stakeholders value. ESG is reshaping a corporation's supply chain management strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the ESG challenges in supply chain management. As a result of network text analysis and topic modeling analysis on 3226 news articles, 'Suppliers', 'Sustainability', 'Shared Growth' 'Carbon Neutral', 'Safety and Health', 'Responsible Business Alliance', 'Supply Chain Due Diligence Law' were identified as the main issue. Since ESG initiatives in the supply chain are not limited to the efforts of individual firms, future research should focus on figuring out what difficulties and challenges exist in the diffusion of ESG practices along multi-tiered supply chains, and how to overcome them.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.165-184
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• 2023

Since municipal welfare institutions operate for different purposes from general companies or public enterprises, ESG practice items and model construction should be conducted through various and comprehensive social welfare studies. Since there are not many studies available in domestic welfare institutions yet and there are no suitable ESG management utilization indicators, the Cheonan Welfare Foundation's strategy and management strategy system were established to spread the model to other welfare institutions and become a leading foundation through education and training. The foundation and front-line welfare institutions selected issues identification and key issues through the foundation's empirical analysis and criticality analysis, focusing on understanding ESG management and ways to establish a practice model that positively affects institutional image and business performance. Based on this, the promotion system was examined by establishing a performance management plan after deriving appropriate strategies and establishing a strategic system for social welfare institutions. Environmental and social responsibility, transparent management, safety management system establishment, emergency and prevention, user (customer) satisfaction system establishment, anti-corruption prevention and integrity ethics monitoring and evaluation, responsible supply chains, and community contribution programs. This study attempted to specifically present efforts to settle ESG management through the consideration of the Cheonan Welfare Foundation. Therefore, it is considered to be useful data for developing ESG management by referring to the systematic development process of the Cheonan City Restoration Foundation to develop ESG measurement indicators.

• Construction Engineering and Management
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2024

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.287-316
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• 2023

As global energy crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have emerged as social issues, there is a growing demand for companies to move away from profit-centric business models and embrace sustainable management that balances environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. ESG activities of companies vary across industries, and industry-specific weights are applied in ESG evaluations. Therefore, it is important to develop strategic management approaches that reflect the characteristics of each industry and the importance of each ESG factor. Additionally, with the stance of strengthened focus on ESG disclosures, specific guidelines are needed to identify and report on sustainable management activities of domestic companies. To understand corporate sustainability strategies, analyzing ESG reports and news articles by industry can help identify strategic characteristics in specific industries. However, each company has its own unique strategies and report structures, making it difficult to grasp detailed trends or action items. In our study, we analyzed ESG reports (2019-2021) and news articles (2019-2022) of six companies in the 'Finance,' 'Manufacturing,' and 'IT' sectors to examine the sustainability strategies of leading domestic ESG companies. Text mining techniques such as keyword frequency analysis and topic modeling were applied to identify industry-specific, ESG element-specific management strategies and issues. The analysis revealed that in the 'Finance' sector, customer-centric management strategies and efforts to promote an inclusive culture within and outside the company were prominent. Strategies addressing climate change, such as carbon neutrality and expanding green finance, were also emphasized. In the 'Manufacturing' sector, the focus was on creating sustainable communities through occupational health and safety issues, sustainable supply chain management, low-carbon technology development, and eco-friendly investments to achieve carbon neutrality. In the 'IT' sector, there was a tendency to focus on technological innovation and digital responsibility to enhance social value through technology. Furthermore, the key issues identified in the ESG factors were as follows: under the 'Environmental' element, issues such as greenhouse gas and carbon emission management, industry-specific eco-friendly activities, and green partnerships were identified. Under the 'Social' element, key issues included social contribution activities through stakeholder engagement, supporting the growth and coexistence of members and partner companies, and enhancing customer value through stable service provision. Under the 'Governance' element, key issues were identified as strengthening board independence through the appointment of outside directors, risk management and communication for sustainable growth, and establishing transparent governance structures. The exploration of the relationship between ESG disclosures in reports and ESG issues in news articles revealed that the sustainability strategies disclosed in reports were aligned with the issues related to ESG disclosed in news articles. However, there was a tendency to strengthen ESG activities for prevention and improvement after negative media coverage that could have a negative impact on corporate image. Additionally, environmental issues were mentioned more frequently in news articles compared to ESG reports, with environmental-related keywords being emphasized in the 'Finance' sector in the reports. Thus, ESG reports and news articles shared some similarities in content due to the sharing of information sources. However, the impact of media coverage influenced the emphasis on specific sustainability strategies, and the extent of mentioning environmental issues varied across documents. Based on our study, the following contributions were derived. From a practical perspective, companies need to consider their characteristics and establish sustainability strategies that align with their capabilities and situations. From an academic perspective, unlike previous studies on ESG strategies, we present a subdivided methodology through analysis considering the industry-specific characteristics of companies.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.63-77
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• 2022

This paper investigates the effect of the lack of ESG management legitimacy on the firm's corporate giving. From the institutional theory perspective, ESG management has become a globally institutionalized business standard. A firm can survive and prosper when it conforms to the institutionalized norms. Thus, we argue that firms will increase corporate giving to restore social legitimacy when they experience a lack of social legitimacy regarding ESG management. Our study also focuses on the role of family executives. As family members identify themselves with their firm and intend to hand over the business to next generation, they highly value the social legitimacy of their firm. Therefore, the relationship between the lack of ESG management legitimacy and the firm's corporate giving will be further strengthened as the number of family executives increases. Empirical results provide supports for the two hypotheses.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.785-796
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• 2023

The adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance(ESG) practices in domestic construction firms is predominantly driven by major corporations. These companies not only publish reports on their ESG management but also engage in a meticulous process of identifying key issues and setting priorities. This process entails an in-depth evaluation of the severity of various issues and the gathering of insights from experts in the field. Interestingly, a comparative analysis of ESG assessments for construction companies, both domestically and internationally, reveals significant discrepancies in outcomes. These differences stem from the varied evaluation methodologies and criteria employed by different assessing bodies. Addressing this gap, our study proposes a suite of strategies aimed at bolstering ESG management within the construction sector. We advocate for enhanced policy support and financial backing, especially targeting small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) to facilitate their engagement in ESG practices. A critical step forward involves the standardization and transparent disclosure of ESG evaluation criteria, tailored to reflect the unique aspects of the construction industry. Moreover, the standardization and publication of ESG assessments for subcontractors are essential, equipping them with the necessary tools for effective ESG management and evaluation. Given the global nature of construction projects, particularly those commissioned by the European Union in regions like Africa and East Asia, adherence to ESG standards is imperative. Our long-term vision includes the development of a comprehensive database detailing ESG regulations and their impacts, segmented by region and country. This repository will serve as a valuable resource for companies venturing into international construction projects.