• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.205-215
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• 2020

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the determinants of foreign subsidiary's local embeddedness because it is critically important for the subsidiary to build a variegated local network. This paper suggests that a MNC's global capability, the degree of autonomy granted by the headquarters of the multinational corporation to its foreign subsidiary, the foreign subsidiary's absorptive capacity based on local environment, and its level of localization will affect the subsidiary's local network embeddedness. The empirical analysis confirmed that when the headquarters gives the foreign subsidiary more autonomy, this has a positive effect on the local embeddedness of the foreign subsidiary and when the foreign subsidiary has a strong absorptive capacity, this has a positive correlation with the local embeddedness of the foreign subsidiary. And this paper found that when the foreign subsidiary has achieved a high level of staff localization, this foreign subsidiary will have a higher level of local embeddedness. This study identified the preceding conditions necessary for a foreign subsidiary of a multinational corporation to effectively embed itself in the local network by analyzing factors related to the multinational corporation's headquarters and subsidiaries, and thus contributes significantly to continued research on the local embeddedness of subsidiaries.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.38
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• pp.377-408
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• 2008

Globalization of R&D activities of multinational firms is becoming important in compared with the past, because of increasing globalization of world economy. So, every country tries to attract foreign investment including R&D activities. In this paper, effects of several factors, which determine the scale of foreign subsidiary's R&D activities in local market, are analyzed. Through the review of previous literature, I found that three groups of determinant factors. The first one is the factor which is related to characteristics of local market, such as competitive situation of local market, accessability to research institutions, etc. The second group is the factor which is related to relationship between foreign subsidiary and its mother company. The dominant factors of this group are operation strategy of foreign subsidiary, competitiveness of mother firm, and equity structure of foreign subsidiary. Finally the characteristics of industry affect to the scale of foreign subsidiary's R&D activities. Among these factors, 6 factors are chosen to investigate empirically. For the empirical investigation, 107 foreign subsidiaries among KOITA(Korea Industrial Technology Association)'s list are chosen. Each subsidiary has more than 50% of foreign equity and implement R&D activities in Korea. The results show that sales volume of foreign subsidiary is dominant influencing factor in determining scale of R&D activities in Korean market. And also I found that currently established firms are implementing more R&D activities than old established firms. This is quite interesting finding. However, R&D activities of foreign subsidiary are not vitalized in Korean market. It probably means that Korean government and Korean business partners have to make effort to enhance foreign firms/ R&D activities, because it could contribute technological and economic development of Korean market.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.61-78
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• 2018

Foreign subsidiary operation modes can be broadly divided into horizontal subsidiaries and vertical subsidiaries. According to institutional theory, foreign subsidiary operation mode differs depending on the host country institution. This study examines the effects of formal and informal institution on the foreign subsidiary operational mode of Korean firms. As a result of the empirical analysis, the higher the cultural distance and the lower political risks, the more favored the vertical foreign operation mode than the horizontal foreign operation mode. On the other hand, the higher the economic freedom and the lower corruption, the more favored the horizontal foreign operation mode than the vertical foreign operation mode.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.425-446
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• 2011

There has been a conventional wisdom that a higher level of autonomy of a foreign subsidiary could lead to a higher level of subsidiary performance. Most MNCs seeking for managing localization efficiently followed this wisdom. But there has been no empirical evidence so far in academic journal that there is a clear positive relationship between subsidiary autonomy and performance. Recently most MNCs are trying to pursue a global strategy for managing foreign sudsidiaries, in which the coordination role of parent company is essential. For the MNCs seeking global strategy the coordination role of the parent and subsidiary autonomy appears to have a trade off relationship. It is uncertain in the situation that the positive relationship between subsidiary autonomy and performance is still effective. Therefore the purpose of the study is to provide an empirical evidence of the the hypothesis that there is a positive relationship between subsidiary autonomy and performance, The study utilized the questionaire survey of Korean subsidiaries of MNCs. The empirical results of the study showed the significant positive relationship between two variables, which is cinsistent to the hypotheses.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.134-151
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• 2021

Purpose - This study empirically analyzes the impact of the internal and external network embeddedness of foreign subsidiaries and local market characteristics of the host country on the CEO selection whether or not to appoint an expatriate as the CEO of a foreign subsidiary. Design/methodology - To conduct an empirical analysis, we obtained a list of the headquarters of Korean MNCs from the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Based on the list of HQs, we identified a final list of overseas subsidiaries of Korean MNCs that have entered the world from KOTRA (Trade-Investment Promotion Agency for Korea). Then we conducted an empirical analysis based on the results of 391 questionnaires by employing logistic regression analysis. Findings - The results of empirical analysis are as follows. First, the higher the subsidiary's internal network embeddedness, the higher the tendency appoint an expatriate as the CEO. Second, the higher the volatility of the local market, the higher the tendency to appoint an expatriate as the CEO. Third, the stronger the competition in the local market, the lower the tendency to appoint a PCN. Originality/value - This study has significant theoretical implications in that it examines the link between the internal and external embeddedness of overseas subsidiaries and the appointment of parent country nationals (PCNs) as the CEO that prior research has not examined.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.1-12
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• 2018

Purpose - This paper tests the effect of the structure of manufacturing and marketing subsidiary network on FX exposure of Korean MNEs. Furthermore, the moderating effect of pass-through ability on the relationship between the subsidiary network and FX exposure is explored. Research design and methodology - This study utilizes a sample of 309 Korean MNEs constructed from database offered by KOTRA and KIS-VALUE. Results - As operational flexibility arising from having operations in multiple locations provides an option for firms to tackle FX exposure, greater breadth of manufacturing subsidiary network reduces FX exposure, and greater depth increases FX exposure. However, both the breadth and depth of marketing subsidiary network decrease FX exposure due to the firm's higher level of market presence and knowledge to devise an appropriate marketing strategy that can buffer adverse exchange rate movement. Such an effect is intensified when MNE's have FX exposure pass-through ability stemming from differentiated good. Conclusions - Empirical findings suggest that types and structure of Korean MNEs' foreign subsidiary network are closely related to the level of FX exposure they are experiencing. Also, they can utilize marketing subsidiary network more efficiently when having a higher R&D intensity.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.8
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• pp.15-25
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• 2015

Purpose - There is a lack of research on how much corporate control is sufficient for effective subsidiary business-related decision making. To address this research gap, this study analyzes the impact of the level of control of a Korean corporation's headquarters on its overseas subsidiary performance. Research design, data, methodology - The study's sample comes from the Overseas Korean Business Directory of KOTRA. A multiple regression analysis empirically confirmed the relationship between the headquarters level of control over the subsidiaries and their performance. Results - The results show that the greater an organization's headquarters control over strategic issues, the greater the subsidiary's non-financial performance. However, quick decision-making through decentralization promotes the rapid selection of successful new products that can provide a competitive advantage. Conclusion - This study shows that the impact of control levels on subsidiary performance depends on the type of control involved. Specifically, while low levels of control over operational issues had a positive (+) influence on subsidiary non-financial performance, high control levels led to improved non-financial performance with regard to strategic issues among the subsidiaries.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.227-256
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• 2013

Existing multinational subsidiary typologies seem to have limitations in two respects. First, the prevalence of subsidiary classification along two-dimensions fails to capture many distinct subsidiary types. Failure to reflect a sufficient richness in dimensionality can give rise to a partial picture of subsidiary typologies in the international business literature. A new typology developed from multi-dimensional approach will be required for reflecting various subsidiary roles in the multinational enterprise. Second, multinational subsidiary performing a number of activities is hard to be defined functionally across the value chain activities. In addition, multinational subsidiary roles can vary dramatically. In conclusion, despite a growing amount of work on subsidiary typologies, there seems to be limited convergence of results. the study regarding subsidiary roles still remain a challenge. In this respect, the purpose of this study is to develop a new typology based on multi-dimensional approach in order to overcome the limitations of traditional typologies. To classify subsidiary types, we propose 8 types of multinational subsidiary according to three dimensions that are adopted: (1) number of required value chain activities (2) subsidiary's sourcing capability and autonomy (3) global orientation (3) The case study analyzing Korean foreign subsidiaries appropriate for 8 types is performed to establish the validity of this study.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.108-127
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• 2021

Purpose - On the basis of knowledge transfer theory, we empirically explored how three types of human resource (HR) innovation knowledge exchange within a Chaebol drive the global subsidiary performance of the headquarters (HQ) of a Chaebol's globally affiliated companies. Design/methodology - Using a sample of 176 Korean HQ firms of the top 53 Chaebols and 1,061 of their foreign manufacturing subsidiaries (n = 1,061), we tested the relationship between the exchange of explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms of Chaebols, their subsequent transfer of technical HR knowledge via technical schemas, and the subsequent impact on the global subsidiary performance. Findings - The Chaebols' decisions about the three strategic knowledge management options (i.e., the degree of exchange of explorative and exploitative technological HR innovation knowledge and the extent of HQ-subsidiary HR knowledge transfer) have highly significant relationships with the global subsidiary performance. The results help explains the conditions under which the explorative versus exchange of exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge pays off by showing the moderating role of the degree of HQ-to-subsidiary technical HR knowledge transfer, at least in the case of the Chaebol as one representative type of the emerging-market business groups. Originality/value - As the first of its kind in the field of sustainable HR innovation knowledge management at the business group level, the present study makes a clear contribution in demonstrating how the performance of Chaebols' manufacturing subsidiaries depends greatly on their strategy for management of knowledge, as reflected in the choices they make about sharing both explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms and the subsequent transfer of HQ's sustainable HR innovation knowledge to the foreign subsidiaries.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.189-206
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• 2020

Purpose - This paper attempted to verify the process by which a multinational corporation (MNC)'s subsidiary practices entrepreneurship to create effective knowledge (KC) in the local market. We have looked at whether subsidiary entrepreneurship (SENT) has a moderation effect in creating knowledge for the local market when a subsidiary has been given autonomy (AUT) from the headquarters (HQ). We also argue that when a subsidiary creates meaningful knowledge, the effect of the increased status by the HQ within the MNC network position (NP) has an indirect effect on whether knowledge is transferred to other overseas subsidiaries (KTO). Design/methodology - This paper used a structural equation model (SEM) of 282 effective foreign companies invested in Korea. To test the hypothesis about the process of SENT on KTO, descriptive statistics, confirmatory factor analysis, reliability, convergent and discriminant validities, and common method bias were analyzed using STATA. In addition, the moderation effect was verified along with SEM. The moderation effect of AUT on SENT and KC was presented graphically by confirming \mathrm{\pm1} standard deviation of AUT for the main effect. Findings - Our findings are as follows. First, while the hypothesis about the direct effect of SENT and KC on KTO was not supported, all other hypotheses were supported. Second, both the AUT and moderating effect and the indirect effect of NP were significant. In the conclusion, these findings are discussed in relation to its various theoretical and practical implications. Originality/value - This study attempted to contribute to the knowledge creation theory of MNC by contemplating how subsidiaries can move away from HQ and grow in the local market. Although there is still a shortage of foreign investment in the Korean market, our practical implications offer guidance for how current subsidiaries can develop more than other overseas subsidiaries.