• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.135-168
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• 2008

The Korean semiconductor industry has made a great contribution to growth of Korean economy for the last decades by maintaining a top position in terms of Korean total annual export volume. However, the advanced semiconductor equipment and materials that are used for the production of semiconductor devices still depend on the suppliers from Europe, Japan, and America who have an influential position in the Korean semiconductor industry. The objective of this study is to empirically investigate the attributes determining the extent of autonomy in decision making for the Korean subsidiaries of multinational corporations in the semiconductor industry. This study found there were differences in the extent of autonomy in decision making in terms of the global strategies the multinational corporations pursue. This study surveyed employees at the Korean subsidiaries and joint venture companies of semiconductor multinational corporations and collected 726 survey questionnaires. Several statistical analyses including frequency analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and ANOVA were performed using the collected sample data. Based on the analyses, this study found as follow: Firstly, from the factor analysis, this study found Korean subsidiaries faced three sources of uncertainties stemmed from political conditions, competent conditions, demand and supply conditions. The internal resources were characterized by the independencies of production capability, financial capability, marketing capability and human resource management capability. The operational performance was determined by total revenue, net profit and market share growth. Secondly, it was found the uncertainties from political condition and competent condition and the independencies of financial capability and marketing capability partially influenced the extent of autonomy in decision making. The independencies of production capability and human resource management capability significantly influenced the autonomy of decision making in the most areas. It was also found an increase of total revenue, net profit and market share growth partially affected the extent of autonomy in decision making of the Korean subsidiaries. Finally, it was found that the polycentrism of global management by multinational corporations seemed to bring a higher extent of autonomy in decision making than ethnocentrism or geocentrism of global management. Based on the results, this study provided managerial implications regarding the extent of autonomy in decision making for Korean subsidiaries of multinational corporations in order to help management to enhance their business capabilities.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.1-41
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• 2008

The Korean semiconductor industry has made a great contribution to growth of Korean economy for the last decades by maintaining a top position in terms of Korean total annual export volume. However, the advanced semiconductor equipment and materials that are used for the production of semiconductor devices still depend on the suppliers from Europe, Japan, and America who have an influential position in the Korean semiconductor industry. The objective of this study is to empirically investigate the attributes determining the extent of autonomy in decision making for the Korean subsidiaries of multinational corporations in the semiconductor industry. This study found there were differences in the extent of autonomy in decision making in terms of the global strategies the multinational corporations pursue. This study surveyed employees at the Korean subsidiaries and joint venture companies of semiconductor multinational corporations and collected 726 survey questionnaires. Several statistical analyses including frequency analysis, reliability analysis, factor analysis, multiple regression analysis and ANOVA were performed using the collected sample data. Based on the analyses, this study found as follows: Firstly, from the factor analysis, this study found Korean subsidiaries faced three sources of uncertainties stemmed from political conditions, competent conditions, demand and supply conditions. The internal resources were characterized by the independencies of production capability, financial capability, marketing capability and human resource management capability. The operational performance was determined by total revenue, net profit and market share growth. Secondly, it was found the uncertainties from political condition and competent condition and the independencies of financial capability and marketing capability partially influenced the extent of autonomy in decision making. The independencies of production capability and human resource management capability significantly influenced the autonomy of decision making in the most areas. It was also found an increase of total revenue, net profit and market share growth partially affected the extent of autonomy in decision making of the Korean subsidiaries. Finally, it was found that the polycentrism of global management by multinational corporations seemed to bring a higher extent of autonomy in decision making than ethnocentrism or geocentrism of global management. Based on the results, this study provided managerial implications regarding the extent of autonomy in decision making for Korean subsidiaries of multinational corporations in order to help management to enhance their business capabilities.

• THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCE & LAW REVIEW
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• v.18
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• pp.159-188
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• 2002

International joint ventures are usually formed and managed by domestic companies and foreign investors for the common objectives. They offer an opportunity for each partner to benefit significantly from the comparative advantages of the other. Local partners bring knowledge of the domestic market; familiarity with government bureaucracies and regulations; understanding of local labor markets; and existing manufacturing facilities. Foreign partners can offer advanced process and product technologies, management know-how, and access to export markets. In Korea, joint ventures have been encouraged to usher in foreign investors with foreign currency capital badly needed during the IMF financial crisis. In the meantime, Korean laws and regulations with respect to joint ventures have been largely overhauled to promote foreign direct investment (FDI) both inbound and outbound. They include four types of FDI, i.e., acquisition of foreign stocks, provision of long-term loans, participation in joint operations like resources development, and establishment of foreign offices. From the legal point of view, the formal joint venture agreement must be an offspring of a series of tough negotiations between domestic and foreign partners. They usually stress the long-term relationship with the good will and dedication to each other, and restrict the free transfer of stocks. Both partners are earnestly interested in the ownership and management of the joint venture. So they keep a close eye on the articles of incorporation, changes of business environment, conflict resolution methods, transparency of accounting and other financial matters. When a multinational corporation (MNC) is involved in the joint venture, conflicts over management strategies, marketing and other issues take place more often than not between the MNC and local partners. We have to pay attention to joint ventures, particularly, in China and North Korea. As witnessed in other transition economies, China is eagerly bringing in foreign direct investments for the development of nation's economy. China encourages foreign investors to establish ordinary joint ventures, contractual joint ventures, solely invested foreign capital companies and jointly operated development companies with local partners. In North Korea, however, joint ventures have a different meaning like contractual joint ventures in China, in which North Korean partners have an initiative in the management. Rather, jointly operated companies or simply processing-for-wage companies are recommended in view of the unpredictable legal infrastructure in North Korea.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.309-340
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• 2009

Multinational Corporations (MNCs) are increasingly establishing globally-distributed R&D (Research and Development) centers in which sites around the world work collaboratively to develop new manufacturing and product technologies. Following new globalization strategies, these projects more often include sites in Emerging/Newly Industrializing Economies (E/NIEs). The success of these ventures promises to be increasingly important both for the bottom line of MNCs and for the development ambitions of E/NIEs. This study attempts to identify these trends and to compare R&D transfer between Korea and China. The study identifies specific factors on MNC's R&D transfer and compares those operating factors between the R&D centers in Korea and China, which attract many MNCs in the world. Among those eight dimensions relating to MNCs' operation, there are significant differences in site selection, market characteristics, government support, and R&D networking between Korea and China. The analysis show more positive factors on China than Korea regarding R&D operations. The result will be helpful for both MNC's managers and governments' decision makers with respect to R&D transfer.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-48
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• 2013

Taking the cases of Korean garment factories in Binh Duong area, this study aims to explain the phases and causes of the wildcat strikes that have rapidly expanded recently in Vietnam. For the purpose, this study raises several questions as follows. Why the strikes sometimes increase and decrease other times? Why the factory workers prefer a wildcat strike even though it is politically risky, unproductive, and complicated? By the same token, why the foreign management cannot or will not preemptively preclude the wildcat strikes that are usually predictable and the workers are mostly able to accomplish their demands? While answering these questions, this study explores the economic, political, and socio-cultural conditions of the wildcat strikes respectively. Based on the fieldwork in around 30 Korean owned garment factories and the interview with around 100 Vietnamese factory workers in Binh Duong, this study confirms several findings on the phases and causes of the strikes in the area in specific and in Vietnam in general. First, the annual trends of the wildcat strikes reflect the macroeconomic conditions in which the consumer prices and the labor market in Vietnamese economy and business conditions in the world economy are pivotal. Second, however, the influence of macroeconomic conditions on both the management and the workers in the garment factories are differential, depending on the financial situations of the multinational corporations and the workers' capability of reproducing their household economies. Thirdly, the possibility of the wildcat strike in each factory is relatively independent on the financial conditions of a factory and rather associated with the stable political structure and active political processes within the factory that enable the management and the workers to efficiently communicate each other. Lastly, the necessity of establishing political stability in a factory arises from the distinctive social and cultural characteristics of the multinational corporation in which foreign managers and native workers inevitably live in separate and different socio-cultural worlds.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.275-301
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• 2011

This study examines antecedent factors that influence subsidiaries' MNC (multinational corporation) knowledge adoption. I argue that subsidiary local environmental factors(local embeddedness, level of local competition), subsidiary organizational factors(parent investment, subsidiary CEO expatriation, scope of subsidiary value chain), and subsidiary relational factors(subsidiary autonomy, the strength of subsidiary in MNC, social capital) are the important enablers for subsidiaries to adopt knowledge from other MNC units. Especially, I use two data set (knowledge from (1) peer subsidiaries, (2) parent company) to estimate the effect of the factors. The results indicate that subsidiary local embeddedness and scope of subsidiary value chain negatively influence on subsidiary knowledge adoption from peer subsidiaries. Conversely, the strength of subsidiary in MNC and social capital positively influence on that. Subsidiary knowledge adoption from parent company is positively influenced by parent investment and social capital.

• Journal of East Asia Management
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.1-19
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• 2022

This study suggests an integrated theoretical framework for the relationship between political risk and multinational corporation (MNC) subsidiary's performance in the emerging market. The political risk would have a negative impact on MNC subsidiary's performance in the emerging countries that are developing in Asia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, Africa, and South America. The major reason is that political risks could generate a loss of benefit or a loss of control for MNC's subsidiary. In this study, I suggest that corporate social responsibility (CSR) strategy would be a solution to overcome various political risks. Specifically, the affiliated firms with diversified industries or greater financial resources could mitigate the negative impact of political risk than unaffiliated firms. Because they can use their tangible or nontangible asset such as information, technology, and construction in order to gain legitimacy and trust from local government, local community, and local firms in the emerging market. Finally, I claimed the costs of the affiliated firms would exceed the benefits at the initial stages, while the benefits of affiliated firms would exceed the costs over time when political risks become higher. The reason is that the trust gained from local stakeholders accumulates over time and the impact of CSR strategy would become an important solution to overcome the risks in and unstable context.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.45-65
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• 2019

Purpose - As the well-known Structure-Conduct-Performance paradigm implies, risk structure of a corporation may affect its risk management activity and the activity may in turn determine its performance. Depending on its goal, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can shape its risk structure, risk management and its performance. Under this assumption, we investigate the relationship between the goals of FDI and risk management for the first time in academics. Design/methodology - This empirical research uses a survey of 279 current Korean enterprises' FDIs in China with the recently developed business risk quadrant model. Companies are classified into either a market- or an efficiency-seeking group, to identify how each group perceives and manages risks, and values the performance of risk management. Also, we apply integrated risk management method that multinational corporations have introduced in China, then verify the mediating effect between risk factors and performance. Findings - Our research shows the FDIs can expose themselves to differing risk structure although risk management activities simply represent the level of empowerment given to local management by headquarter due to limit of sample size despite diversity of risk and risk management tools. To sum, market seekers are found to have more strategic risk (revenue related risk) than efficiency seekers with financial risk (cost related risk). The market seekers can manage their risk by empowering their local organisation while the efficiency does the opposite ways. The risk management appears to be successful in general. Originality/value - Previous studies on small and medium enterprises' FDIs to China have concentrated on the analysis of entry determinants, withdrawal factors and individual risk management. Meanwhile, this research establishes enterprise-wide risk factors faced by the companies that advance into China, according to the method of the classification by ERM and verifies if they could synthetically improve performance through risk corresponding measures.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.25-41
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• 2013

This study was designed to suggest the effective CSR strategies for MNCs operating in Chinese market. For this purpose, it compares the multi-years results for the evaluation on CSR activities of Multinational and Chinese firms. It also conducts questionnaire survey in an attempt at developing measures of Chinese publics' perception on the four dimensions of CSR defined by Research Center of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences - responsibility management, economic responsibility, social responsibility, and environmental responsibility. The findings of empirical analyses indicate that the CSR activities of MNCs much fall in all four dimensions compared with them of Chinese firms. Among four dimensions, MNCs have had bad evaluations especially on economic responsibility and social responsibility that are considered more important than the others to Chinese. Those findings imply that the MNCs has so far failed to implement effective CSR activities in China. In order to offset their liabilities of foreignness and compensate for their disadvantages in the lack of governmental supports, MNCs should intensify the CSR in economic and social responsibilities.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.145-166
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• 2018

This study is due to global competition, the wall between regions is disappearing, customer needs are diversified, and market and technology are rapidly changing. Future growth engines, the importance of convergence capabilities for industrial competitiveness is being emphasized more. Therefore, companies should seek innovative means to increase the efficiency of the company by establishing optimized global management environment and establishing direction and strategy for utilization of convergence technology by improving industrial competitiveness. Firms must adopt and utilize related new technologies by strengthening their convergence capabilities through dynamic capabilities that are internal resource bases for new product development and process innovation. Globalize markets and technologies can expect higher innovation performance when aligning strategic direction with formalized technology competencies held by the firm and incorporating the convergence capabilities needed for technological innovation into processes. The study focuses on the effects of market and technology orientation on technological innovation performance, whether dynamic and convergence capabilities affect technological innovation performance, and dynamic and convergence capabilities to mediate between market and technology orientation. For the study, we surveyed 51.4% of global and multinational corporations that are internationally active or headquartered overseas. Based on the previous studies, hypotheses were established and the collected data were analyzed through utilization path analysis and Sobel test.