• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.55
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• pp.185-208
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• 2012

Before and after the Capital Market Integration Act in 2007 is implemented in South Korea, many of small-and mid sized exporting companies in South Korea has been bankrupted or filed for lawsuit claiming mis-selling(KIKO) by the banks. The basic economic structure of KIKO in Korea are part of a business model based on the use or misuse of exotic derivatives whose results are anything but imaginary. 571 mid sized exporting companies have been damaged about $28 billion. KIKO is a currency option product that sells foreign currencies at higher foreign exchange rate when the rate moves within a certain range, but sells foreign currencies at two or three times lower rate than the market price when the rate exceeds the designated upper limit. KIKO, Therefore, is hard to know whether the non financial firms intended to hedge against further strengthening of their currency or merely to speculate. It is also hard to know how thoroughly they understood the risk-return profile of these transactions. It is similarly hard to ascertain whether the derivatives dealers offering these transactions were meeting the demands of their clients or taking advantage of them. These exotic derivatives were inappropriate for either hedging or speculating, and no knowledgeable investor would be likely to enter into these contracts intentionally.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.39-55
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• 2022

Purpose - This study empirically examines the effect of the Korean government export promotion program (EPP) on small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) export performance using firm-level data. Unlike most previous studies that investigated some specific samples of firms, this study analyzes a vast amount of SME data of the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration over the period 2005 to 2008. Design/methodology - An endogeneity problem arises when a firm's probability of being selected is correlated with the likelihood of successfully implementing EPPs. To control for the endogeneity of the EPPs in a relatively short-period sample, we employ 2-Stage Residual Inclusion (2SRI) RE-Tobit and bivariate Tobit procedure. Findings - Analyses show that Korean government EPPs have positive significant effects on SME exports. Empirical results also show that SME export activities are significantly encouraged by R&D investment and capital intensity, but not obviously by labor productivity. Originality/value - This study provides evidence that SME capital intensity, R&D investment, and the number of workers are significant determinants to SME exporting activities, whereas per worker labor cost and employee education are not. These results imply that even for SMEs, firm size is a major factor in promoting exporting activities.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.103-123
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• 2014

Export performance has been a core topic in export marketing research. This study aims to investigate the relationship between adaptation/standardization strategies and export performance obtained after implementing each of these strategies to marketing mix variables. It is expected that the study results will help companies better understand an efficient marketing mix and applicability of adaptation/standardization approaches in their export ventures. New Zealand exporting firms which actively seek for export markets in Korea are selected for empirical analysis of this study. Adaptation and standardization are concepts that signify the level of intensity in each strategy; both have advantages and weaknesses. In the case of adaptation approach, it is shown that the difference in export performance between satisfactory and non satisfactory export ventures is statistically significant in marketing mix variables such as price, place and promotion. However, product variables affect statistical significance on export performance between satisfactory and non satisfactory export ventures in standardization approach. This study implies that when a company exports its product overseas, standardization effort is more important for product variables whereas much effort needed in adapting marketing variables such as price, place, and promotion to get satisfactory export performance.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.616-628
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• 2001

The purpose of this research is to create a polyester sample book that serves as a point of reference that exporters in the Taegu area can allude to when exporting to the U.S. By getting this project off the ground, we can expect to make a worthy contribution to the manufacture of high-quality, value-added fashion & textile goods. The research was conducted as follows. First, a study was carried out in the local market ensued by consumer surveys with regards to consumer attitude on man-made fibers, market researches, and interviews with experts, all in conjunction with the Color Association of the U.S. Also, a diverse array of fabric swatches were collected from Manhattans fabric wholesalers and then classified by color and fabric type fur the sample book. In short, this research found that man-made fibers have full marketability in the U.S. Thus, in order for Taegus synthetic textile firms to be successful in exporting to the US, it is essential that they come up with fabrics that have properties resembling natural fibers such as having a soft hand, natural sheen, smooth draping, and diverse textures as well as being in line with the current trends. In addition, it is also necessary to develop fabrications that are versatile and functional. Thus, by developing innovative fabrications, the synthetic textile business will turn toward the production of high-quality synthetics and will also provide a platfrom for strengthening the competitive edge of Koreas textile & fashion business.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.19-51
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• 1991

The objectives of the study are to look into the fisheries processing industry, analyze problems the industry has, and develop strategies for the industry to take care of the problems. The study was performed in two different dimensions : industry level and firm level. Nevertheless, the study focused on the following main problem areas raw material, production, technology development, internationalization, and managerial performance. The secondary data were utilized to analyze problems at the industry level, For analyzing the firm level situation, an empirical study by using a mail survey with a questionnaire was accomplished. The main problems found were as follows : First, difficulty in procuring raw material was the most serious and main problem. It was caused, externally, by the announcement of 200 nautical miles by most of fishery abundant countries and, internally, by drying fishery resources in the nation's coastal areas ; Second, the rate of fishery processing has been continuously increased and the degree of the processing has also been sophisticated, which implies the pattern of demand for the fishery has been changing widely and deeply. The industry, however, seemed to be unable to meet the consumers' satisfaction ; Third, with the importance of technology for ensuring the changing demands in the fishery processing industry, there has been little effort in research and development both at industry level and at the firm level ; Next, the industry has mainly involved in exporting in association with internationalization. Not to mention about foreign direct investment, technology transfer was not active ; Finaliy, most of firms were densely located in a few areas. The managerical performance in terms of main financial ratios still needs to be improved. Thus, strategies, which would take care of the repective problems, were developed. At industry level, the strategies were developed by reasoning mostly based on the findings from the literature survey. A scheme for internationalization of the firms was suggested. This was made by extracting the factors which would differentiate the firms' internationalization stages. In order to achieve this analysis, discriminant approach was employed. Despite the utility of the findings, it was mostly emphasized that harmonious efforts among government, the industry supporting institutions such as banks, and firms are needed for the successful operation of the strategies. Also, a list of areas for further study was provided especially in relation to the validity threatening parts of the study.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.341-366
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• 2013

The term, Mittelstand, has no exact english translation for the definition, but, today, Mittelstand refers to small and medium-sized enterprises(SME), mostly family-owned firms in Germany. The Mittelstand is called the backbone of the German economy because it drove the economic miracle after World War II. During the global recession and the euro zone's debt crisis in recent years, in which european businesses have faced the near-collapse of competitiveness particularly in manufacturing, the German exports are booming and exceeded exports of China in 2012. Most importantly, the Germany economic performance has been widely attributed to the strength of the Mittelstand. Many of countries, even some leading public companies are seeking to emulate the success of the Mittelstand. Investors evaluate that many of Germany's investable "hidden champions" are Mittelstand companies. The purpose of this study is to present some of answers to the following questions: Firstly, what makes the German Mittelstand so successful? Secondly, what does the success of the German Mittelstand mean for the Korean SMEs in global competitiveness? Thirdly, what Korean government has to do improve the global competitiveness of the Korean SMEs? Some discussions in this study mention the managerial implications for Korean exporting SMEs particularly in manufacturing. Several factors that account for the success of the German Mittelstand are technological excellence and the tradition of family-owned management, concentration on niche market and globalization, and institutional supports. There are some of important lessons to be learned from the German Mittelstand. If the purposes of Korean SMEs want to remain in the sustainable competitive advantage and withstand unforeseen economic turbulences in the future, they must be able to meet the followings: 1) Technology that meets the global standard or exceeding it 2) Competitiveness in price in the global market 3) Active involvement in the globalization process, utilizing various entry modes Innovative products at globally competitive price are a crucial point for Korean exporting SMEs to achieve their competitive edge over others in the target markets abroad. It is time for Korean SMEs to cultivate a core competence in manufacturing in order to position Korea as a global manufacturing hub with SMEs leading.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.153-164
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• 2009

The export on visual and game industry has grown very rapidly and is expanding its role in economic growth. In contrast, researches on these firms' financial performances in strategic and policy point of view are difficult to be found regarding the export of cultural industry. In this study, we analysis the effects of firms export in cultural industry on their financial performances focusing on game and visual industry. We find that the recent activities of export in game industry have positive effect on firm's growth in game industry. However, we find that the export deteriorate the net profit. On the other hand, we find no significant results in the case of visual game industry. Our results suggest that we need more strategic approaches in exporting goods in contents industry.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.89-114
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• 2015

We investigate the structural relationships between quality of service from Trade Promotion Agency(TPA), environmental uncertainty, and firms' uses of the service, export market orientation and export performance, using data from Korean export firms, Seoul Metropolitan export firms and local export firms. In particular, this article attempts to analyze how firms' uses of service from TPA may be influenced by their export market orientation, environmental uncertainty, and the service quality. The results from the study show that in Seoul Metropolitan export firms, TPA's service quality, environmental uncertainty, and their export market orientation have positive effects on their uses of service from TPA, which leads to increase in their export performance. The study also finds a solid evidence that, in Seoul Metropolitan export firms, environmental uncertainty has a positive effect on their export market orientation, which enhances their export performance. The study, however, finds that in local export firms, environmental uncertainty and export market orientation do not significantly affect their uses of service from TPA and export performance, respectively.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.39-49
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• 2019

Purpose - The major aim of this article is to advance understanding of the relationship between market orientation and speed-to-market. Specifically, this study examines the different impacts of component of market orientation on commitment to R&D and speed-to-market and explores whether market uncertainty plays a role of moderating in speed-to-market for market-oriented firms. Research design, data, and methodology - This study collected a survey data from Korean exporting firms. The Final sample size was 196. The measure of market orientation was conceptualized with second order constructs. All items were measured on five-point scale. To confirm hypotheses, this study conducted a hierarchical regression. Results - As sub-constructs of market orientation, customer orientation, competitor orientation and interfunctional coordination foster speed-to-market, and the relationship between only customer orientation and speed-to-market might be weakened when the extent of market uncertainty is high. Conclusions - This study confirmed the relationship between market orientation and speed-to-market, with three components of market orientation respectively, and whether market uncertainty plays a role of moderating which weaken the link between market orientation and speed-to-market. It could be useful to take a component approach to the market orientation construct, because the roles of different market orientation components might vary, contingent on uncertainty in the environment.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.247-279
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• 2017

Korean firms are faced with the necessity of creating new markets in 21st century. Korean economy has witnessed the accelerated growth rate of trade volume during the period from the latter part of 20th century to the early part of 21st century. In recent times, Korean export volumes have been stagnated. For the second take off, Korea has to create a new ASEAN BOP market. In order to penetrate into the ASEAN BOP Market, it is necessary for exporting firms to have a partnership with ASEAN countries via ODA. In particular, Public-Private Partnership(PPP) might be seen as an effective tool to access the BOP market in ASEAN region. The international development cooperation based on PPP will establish the humanitarian values as well as economic values through the combined effort of government and business enterprises. This study suggests four kinds of business model to have a mutual cooperation between Korean firms and ASEAN markets.