• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.191-217
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• 2014

The Purpose of this study is to find the effect factors of R&D investment in SMEs which plays an important role in the national economy, and the differences of the effect factors by the type of SMEs. The subject of this study is about 3,400 SMEs mentioned in "The survey of technical statistics on SMEs in 2007" by Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business. The effect factors are related with the size of business, the infrastructure of R&D and the activities of R&D which have been studied by many researchers. The methods of analysis are regression analysis, moderating effect analysis and the software package used is SPSS 12.0. The results of the study are as fallow. First, it was found that unlike in previous studies which show the effect of the elements of business's size, research infrastructure, research activities on R&D investment, one element alone can't be considered for meaningful result but the various elements have effect on R&D investment at the same time. In other words, the number of employees and the sales as the elements of business's size, the ratio of researchers, the technical ability, the ratio of equipment possession and the intellectual properties as the elements of R&D infrastructure, the activity of ideas and joint research as the elements of R&D activities have positive(+) effect, whereas the participation of CEO in the activity of R&D as the elements of R&D activities activity has negative(-) one. The number of employees, the ratio of researchers, and the sales had relatively high influence whereas equipment possession, technical ability, intellectual properties, the participation of CEO in the research, the activity of idea, joint research had relatively low influence. Next, it was also found that there are differences of the effect factors over the types of SMEs. SMEs were classified into 19 types by eight criteria such as start-ups and existing business by business age; small business and medium business by size; manufacturing business and service business by product type;independent business and subcontractor business by dealing type; businesses in the entering, growing, maturing and restructuring stage by growth stage; businesses with low, medium and high technology by technological level; pioneering business and non-pioneering business by industrial type; and businesses with state-of-the-art technology and non-advanced business by the level of business activities. The meaning of this study lies in the fact that it found the various effect factors should be considered at the same time when conducting study on SMEs' R&D investment, and the differences by the type should be acknowledged. This study surpassed the limitations of the previous studies which focused on a couple of factors and types. This study result can also be considered for other studies on achievement, organization, marketing and others. Moreover, it shows that a differential policy by business type is needed when formulating SME policy.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.75-91
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• 2024

Recently, global business environment is changing dramatically along with the acceleration of technological innovation amid the war, climatic change, and geopolitical instability. Accordingly, it is difficult to predict or plan for the future as the volatility, complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty of the industrial ecosystem continue to increase. Therefore, organizations are undergoing inevitable restructuring in accordance with their survival strategy, for instance, removing marginal businesses or firing. Accordingly, office workers are seeking a startup as an alternative for their continuous economic activity amid rising anxiety factors that make them think they would lose their jobs unintentionally. Here, this study is aimed to verify through what paths office workers' self-determination influences the process of converting to a startup. For this study, an online survey was carried out, and 310 respondents' valid data were analyzed through SPSS and AMOS. To sum up the results, first, office workers' self-determination did not have significant effects on entrepreneurial intention. However, it was confirmed that self-determination had positive (+) effects on innovativeness and perception of the startup support system. This result shows that their psychology works to prepare step by step by accumulating innovative experiences and increasing perception of the startup support system from a long-term life path perspective rather than challenging startups right way. Second, innovativeness is found to have positive (+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. Also, perception of the startup support system had positive (+) effects on entrepreneurial intention. This implies that when considering startups, they are highly aware of the government's various startup support systems. Third, innovativeness is found to have positive (+) effects on perception of the startup support system. It is judged that perception of the startup support system is valid for prospective founders to exhibit their innovativeness and realize new ideas. Fourth, it was confirmed that innovativeness and perception of the startup support system mediated correlation between self-determination and entrepreneurial intention, and perception of the startup support system mediated correlation between innovativeness and entrepreneurial intention, which shows that it is a crucial factor in entrepreneurial intention. Although previous studies related to startups deal with students mostly, this study targets office workers who form a great part in economic activities, which makes it academically valuable in terms of being differentiated from others and extending the scope of research. Also, when we consider the fact that the motivation for self-determination alone fails to stimulate entrepreneurial intention and the complete mediation of innovativeness and the startup support system, it has great implications in practical aspects such as the government's human and material support systems. In the selection and analysis of samples, this study exhibits a limitation that the problem of common method bias is not completely resolved. Also, additional definitive research is needed on whether entrepreneurial intention is formed and converted into startup behavior. Academically and practically, this study deals with the relationship between humans' psychological motives and startups which has not been handled sufficiently in previous studies. The conversion of office workers to startups is expected to have effects on individuals' economic stability and the state's job creation; therefore, it needs to be investigated continuously for its great value.