• The Journal of Information Systems
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.109-128
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• 2003

This study is intended to suggest an ideal direction of the information systems policy for the local small business firms. In an effort to accomplish this objective, this paper tried to identify the current states of the information systems and measure the level of the information systems of local small business firms based on the maturity stage and the development level. The study then explored the evidence how the maturity stage and the development level affect the business performance of the local small business firms. The research found out that the organizational factor such as the support of CEO and the financial factor such as IS investment took major roles to improve the business performance. Based on the research findings of this study, the paper suggested the desirable solution of the information system policy to deal with the problems the local small business firms need to overcome.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Industrial Systems Conference
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• 2001.05a
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• pp.99-113
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• 2001

Small firms think that it is for the best to use information technology to survive and grow in current business environment. Recently, the importance of using information technology to be a high and competitive company in the world has been recognized by small firms facing difficult business situations. To roll with the punches of recent crisis and meet customers'specifications, much attention is being aimed to using information technology. Many studies have shown that using information technology is a key to competitiveness. But small firms have trouble using information technology and building a very excellent and efficient computerization by many factors such as funds, technology, and human resource. So, this study is focusing on where the difficulties of local small firms getting under way of using information technology come from and finding out the relationship of using information technology characteristics, difficulties, and performance.

• Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.163-172
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• 2005

Since the financial turmoil in 1997, both the national and local governments have initiated a variety of policy measures to support small and medium-size firms to strengthen the national and regional economies. It is no doubt that such policies contributed to establish better business environment for them. However, many analytical reports and academic studies in recent years diagnose that the economy conditions for the small and medium-size firms are in crisis because many policy measures are made based on the supply-side approach rather than demand-side consideration. In order for the governments' efforts to be more realistic and effective, it is necessary to see what the policy target groups(that is. the small and medium-size entrepreneurs) want. This study surveyed entrepreneurs in Hwaseung city, Kyonggi-do, which has more than three-thousands of small and medium-size firms. It finds that in spite of locational advantages and a variety of policy supports from the provincial and local governments, they need more financial supports, more effective mass transportation system for commuting workers. less bureaucratic barriers, and so on.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.450-458
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of university knowledge capital on the local business activity in the Korean local governments in the year 2015. We found that the increase of the standard deviation of university patent, scientific publications, incumbent firms, and industrial property rights raised the number of new knowledge-intensive firms to 15%, 11%, 54%, and 22%, respectively, in the local economy. In addition, the coefficient which reflects the interaction effects of the knowledge capital between universities and local industries was significant in the given area in the year. On the other hand, in the control variables, the coefficients for the size of local government, population density, and percentage of 20s~40s out of the total population in the local government were significant, showing above 90% level except for the variable of the distance between a local government and Seoul. In particular, when the knowledge capital of the university and industry coexists, the synergistic effect which has influence on the foundation of knowledge-intensive firms was meaningful despite the small scale, and these two types of knowledge capital could be complementary in creating new knowledge-intensive firms in the Korean local economy.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.293-319
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• 2008

Medium and small-sized venture firms as well as multinational companies pay liabilities of foreignness. We defined these costs as three different factors which are liability of handicaps(deficit of time, money, experience and, increase of financial risk), overseas market entry costs(information gathering costs, network building costs, marketing costs, channelling costs, monitoring costs), internationalization preparing costs(forecasting and market research of local markets, ex-ante cooperation with local firms), and then empirically tested how each of these factors affects on their business performances. The more important both Taiwanese and Korean firms consider liability of handicaps, the more bigger they pay overseas market entry costs(H1). On the contrary, the more important they consider overseas entry costs, the more they focus on internationalization preparation(H4) and get the better business performances(H5). The more important Korean firms consider liability of handicaps, the bigger they focus on internationalization preparation, on the contrary, the less Taiwanese firms do this(H2). Taiwanese firms as well as Korean firms rejected Hypothesis 3 and 6 which mean both liability of handicaps and internationalization preparation are no relation with their own business performances.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.123-147
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• 1990

This paper examines the changing geography of producer service industries in the 1980s. The foci of this study are to analyze the regional distribution of each producer services, and to reveal the spatial linkage of producer services. Further this paper asserts the potential role of producer services for reducing the potential endogenous development in the periphery. During the 1981-86 period, producer service industries grew more rapidly than other service sectors and manufacturing sector. The main reason of the raid growth of producer services is attributable to an increase in demand for intermediate services from manufacturing firms. In order to compete an increasingly complex business environment, firms have expanded the amount of effort devoted to activities such as planning, coordination and control, and consequently have increased their use of producer services. The most distinctive feature of the location of producer services is spatial concentration into Seoul and surrounding region. Especially the degree of the concentration o business services into the Capital Region has been accelerating during the 1990s. The pattern of employment growth and regional distribution of producer services show a clear core / periphery disparity. Much of the regional inequality in producer services is largely due to variation in demand associated with the pattern of corporation headquarters with the pattern of corporation headquarters and branch plants location with large manufacturing firms. The analysis of spatial division of labor reflects that producer services are related to the location of headquarters in manufacturing industry. Headquarters in manufacturing firms and business service firms tend to cluster each other. Most of the headquarters spatially separated from branch offices are clustered heavily in Seoul. Especially headquarters of business services and insurance services are overwhelmingly concentrated into Seoul. The firms whose headquarters are located in Seoul have a linkage pattern on a nationwide scale. It is viewed have little potential for generating local multiplier effects and regional development. In the light of the result of this study, producer services are not likely to disperse soon to peripheral regions. Consequently the absence of policies directed at enhancing producer sevice in the periphery, concentration tendency would continue to reinforce the core's dominance at the expense of peripheral regions. From a regional perspective, the quality of a region's producer service sector is a key determinant of economic growth, since manu industrial location decisions are influenced by the differential availability of producer services among regions. Poor performance of producer services in peripheral regions seemed to be linked to the region's manufacturing base. Low-wage, standardized branch plants are not likely to induce the growth in knowledge intensive services associated with high-technology corporate headquarters. Producer services may help to create and attract new business including manufacturing firms, and also to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of local firms. Therefore the provision of service producing activities would be lead not only to generate and retain endogenous development but also to attract external firms, especially small and medium sized firms which have a lower propensity of internalized services. Hence, it may be more efficient to create and expanse new locally owned producer services rather than to attract branch plants of mult-locational firms in order to make indigenous economic development.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.63-86
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• 1995

One of the innovative and most promising approaches to new high-tech business formation from university is technology business incubators, which attempts to enhance small high-tech start-up firms' chances of survival. To date, there is few comprehensive effort to do a comparative study of technology business incubatiors between European Countries and U.S. to evaluate the impacts of them on regional development. With these consideration in mind this research anlayzed key findings of 6 case studies of university related Technology Business Incubators in the U.K., Germany, and U.S. to explore relationship of university to regional development. These included Cambridge Science Park(CSP) '||'&'||' West of Scotland Science Park in the U.K., Dortmund Technologiezentrum '||'&'||' Berlin Technologiezentrum, and Rensselaer Technology Development Center of the Georgia Institute of Technology in the U.S. The primary objective of this study was to advance our understanding of the impact and utility of technology business incubators and to get some policy implications for the future development in this area in Korea. Among the major question examined hear was "how do they contribute the overall economy of the communities in which they are located\ulcorner". The results of the case study about this question were very positive. The technology business incubators contributed to foster new high-tech small business formation from university, to facilitate the cooperation between university and industry and Incubator tenants created jobs and income, pay taxes, and in doing so, had a multiplier effects on the local economy. The same was true of incubator graduates. With this consideration in mind the university related business regioned development policy in korean local communities.

• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.492-506
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• 2008

This paper aims to explore the characteristics of regional network of Korean firms in Dalian City, China, which is focused on social, cultural and institutional characteristics. To achieve this goal, the paper attempts to analyze the supply of raw material and parts, sales and cooperative relations of the firms. Among Korean firms in Dalian City, the characteristic of non-local network can be seen in supply enterprise of raw material, parts and semi products. On the other hand, a tighter local network relationship can be seen in sales. Large companies appear stronger in non-local network than small businesses and small businesses are stronger in local network. In terms of cooperation among enterprises, many firms have networks of joint marketing, joint use of equipments, exchange of techniques and information with the supply enterprise. With the customer enterprise, there is a network in joint marketing and manpower training. Especially, most of the customer enterprises are Chinese ones, which have extensive networks in big cities, such as in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Dalian. In local network, the Korean firms in Dalian cooperate in product development, finance and manpower training with local firms. And in non-local cooperation, Korean firms are active in tech support, information exchange and R&D.

• Journal of the Korean Regional Science Association
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.79-99
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• 1993

This paper identifies the mechanisms governing the industrial location changes in Korea by focusing upon the emergence of the country's large conglomerate business organizations (chaebols). As the country has distinctive industrial organization, production systems, and government-business relations, this study tries to develop an ideal conceptual framework for the analysis of industrial location changes in Korea. It perceives the Korean economy as a system within which 'space-organizing', lage business organizations interact over time with government, smaller firms and multinational corporations at different geographical scales. The usefulness of the model is assessed using a case study of Korea's most representative chaebol, the Samsung Group. This study identifies chaebols as the dominant institutions in Korean society. Their growth and business strategies have been influenced by the Korean Government through its power to allocate capital resources. Regional dynamics of industry and labor, therfore, have been strongly influenced by changes in the location, industrial structure, and production system of chaebols. With econmic power concentrated within a few giant business groups and their major areas of operation restricted, unbalanced regional development has resulted. Dissatisfaction from residents in less-developed areas has pressured the Government to advise chaebols to disperse their production facilities. Most small and medium-sized firms are closely linked to large corporations through subcontracting. By forming hierarchical subcontracting. By forming hierarchical subcontracting systems, chaebols have indirectly exploited scattered, part-time, home-based, female and lower-paid laborers organized by subcontractors. Further, chaebols have expanded their business arena to encompass overseas locations in a bid to overcome the problem of a small domestic market, trade regulations and increased market, trade regulations and increased labor costs. Through their international business networks Korea's local and regional economies are integrated into the world economy. Indeed, the identification of the changing relationships of chaebols with both the Korean Government and smaller firms is the key to explaining the nations's spatial dyanmics of industry and labor.

• Journal of East Asia Management
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.29-49
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• 2020

In an intensively competitive global market, small-and medium-sized firms are puzzled about how to develop sustainable competitive advantages against global rivalries, thus leading satisfactory economic performance. However, despite the roles and contributions of such small-and medium-sized firms in the local community and national economies in Japan, little guidance has been offered to the practical issues related to their strategic behaviors toward global management. To fill this notable knowledge gap, this study aims to investigate the conditions in which how Japanese small-and medium-sized could dominates global market, which is one of key challenges in the literature of small business and entrepreneurship. To obtain better insights to this research area, this study undertakes an in-depth interview survey with I.S.T (Industrial Summit Technology) Corporation that shows off the highest global market share (40 per cent) with seamless polyimide tube product widely used in office automation equipment (e.g., copiers and printers). This method of survey is designed to deeply understand historical considerations about how I.S.T Corporation could dominate in the global market of such seamless polyimide tube product. Based on findings drawn from an interview, this study identifies five major factors enabling I.S.T Corporation to be a competitive global hidden company: vision sharing through founder's entrepreneurship, core competence, strategic network, risk management, and employee engagement. Specifically, to become a global hidden champion, sharing the vision motivating employees to partake in shaping company's future will be the first step on the road to global success through founder's entrepreneurship. However, in order to achieve such a vision, the importance of company's core competence cannot be overemphasized, which differentiates your customer solution with those of competitors. As such, a group of experts will be naturally formed and demonstrates your expertise in the global market, thereby building sustainable competitiveness. On the other hand, to maintain sustainable competitiveness, it is necessary to make up for the weaknesses small-and medium-sized firms suffer from competitive resources while strengthening their own strengths through strategic networks with external organizations. Here, every company has to understand the critical role of risk management, which is essential in this process of being global company so as not to lose your own strengths. Last but not least, do not forget the significant effects of employee engagement in firm performance. To enhance employees' engagement, a company has to create an ideal organization culture which fits into company's history and personality. In doing so, such organization culture can allow the vision and strategy to be implemented into detailed business tactics while facilitating employees to challenge the status quo by experimenting with creative ideas.