• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.83-120
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• 2008

Small and medium sized enterprises' (SMEs) environmental performance and activities have been often of great concern toward sustainability as they have been playing a critically important role in the economic and industrial development. Among many initiatives to engage SMEs into the sustainability framework, Supply Chain Environmental Management (SCEM) of large companies has a great potential to persuade SMEs to adopt environmentally improved activities. This study investigated the relationship between SCEM approaches of large companies and environmental activities of SMEs in the Korean electronics industry. A postal questionnaire survey was used as a data collection method, and factor analysis and regression analysis were applied to analyse the collected data. The empirical findings suggested that SCEM approaches of large companies have positive impacts on environmental activities of SMEs. Among SCEM approaches, the collaborative approach was more effective than the arm's-length approach. Additionally, this study found positive impacts of trans-national SCEM approaches on SMEs' environmental activities.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.181-204
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• 2007

Trade Portal Site(TPS) is one of the innovative skills which makes it possible for small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) to manage international trade activities more efficiently by using the newest information and telecommunication technology. Based on performance and an existing research related to using information technology, this research analyzed the user's degree of utilization of TPSs which moderates effects between SMEs characteristics and export performance of SMEs. According to the results of the empirical study on actual data of 194 sample firms by using moderated regression analysis, there are significant only organizational characteristics among determinants(such as organizational characteristics, export characteristics) as the degree of utilization of TPSs. These research results provide many useful insights to the CEOs of SMEs using the services of TPSs, e-Trade system developers, and government policy makers. First, CEOs and managers of SMEs should have thorough understanding of the importance of the new information technology and e-Trade and positively adopt new e-Trade solutions and systems to their export processes to enhance global competitiveness. Second, TPS managers and e-Trade systems developers must concentrate on improving the user's degree of utilization of TPSs. Finally, the government agency should develop the various e-Trade promotion policies to support the efforts of SMEs organizational characteristics and TPS to increase the degree of utilization of TPS, which have positive effects on the export performance of SMEs.

• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.177-195
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to examine the trouble of recruitment and research and development of ICT SMEs. Recently, many ICT SMEs have emerged for selling products and services using the technology of the 4th industrial revolution. However, SMEs have relatively deficient resources compared to large companies, the difficulty of maintenance or growth of human resources and intangible resources. This research methodology organized the four stages of the analysis process. The first analysis is the association rules for human resource recruitment. The second analysis is the difficulty of hiring jobs and experienced workers by each stage of company growth. The third analysis is a regression analysis of the trouble of R&D activity. The last analysis is an analysis of association rules on the difficulties of management activities by company growth. As the research result, the first analysis has shown a difference in favored human resources by the ICT industry. The second analysis also showed factor differences in job recruitment difficulties for each stage of corporate growth. In the third analysis, the operation of research institutes in ICT SMEs is influenced by industry type, corporate certification, corporate growth stage, self-technology development, joint technology development, technology transfer, and commercialization. As the last analysis, ICT SMEs showed factor differences in difficulties in management activities by stage of corporate growth. This study contributed empirically emphasizing the troubling phenomenon of human resources and R&D necessary for the growth of ICT SMEs. As a theoretical implication, this research contributed to the research-area expansion of management information using big-data technologies. In particular, this research practically suggests the differentiated direction of recruitment and R&D by ICT SMEs based on industry and each stage of company growth through the association rules of big data.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2022

This study analyzed the policy dilemma for ICT SMEs venture companies that changed after COVID-19 based on the results of the cognitive map analysis for ICT SMEs venture policies. First, as a result of analyzing the cognitive map of ICT SMEs venture companies that have changed since COVID-19, ICT venture companies are expanding support for ICT venture companies due to the threat of COVID-19. However, in order to convert COVID-19 into an opportunity factor, it also shows a policy direction to achieve innovative growth by creating a new market through non-face-to-face industry revitalization based on digital transformation (digital new deal). As a result of the study, the policy measures of supporting DNA-centered convergence innovation technology, digital transformation (digital new deal), fostering ICT startups (K-Global project), and expanding support for ICT SMEs did not have a policy dilemma. However, although many support has been expanded for ICT SMEs due to COVID-19, it is difficult to find and foster ICT start-up companies, and globalization problems are occurring due to the decrease in exports to COVID-19, making it difficult to create new markets. There is a negative (-) perception of causality that ICT SMEs venture companies may face risks as jobs decrease and innovative growth cannot be led to the revitalization of the non-face-to-face industry. Therefore, it was found that both the flow of causal relationship between the expansion of support for ICT SMEs and the high growth of ICT SMEs is not + and has a policy dilemma in part.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.195-210
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• 2020

This study describes the structure of the capital markets for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startup companies in Korea, which is an emerging market that has experienced drastic changes. The overall capital market can be divided into private and public capital markets. In the private capital market, most of the demand for capital comes from non-listed private firms, including startups and SMEs. In the case of SMEs and startups, the KOSDAQ, the Korea New Exchange (KONEX), and primary collateralized bond obligations (P-CBOs) are part of the public capital market. SMEs and startups are generally incapable of raising sufficient capital owing to their low credit ratings, and they largely have limited access to primary markets to issue shares and borrow money. The Korean government has developed a systematic financial aid program to provide funds to these companies. The fund for SMEs has significantly contributed to the development of the venture capital market. Many Korean banks provide substantial lending to SMEs, but this lending is available only because of the Korean government's loan recovery guarantee. Furthermore, SMEs can issue corporate debt in the form of primary collateralized bond obligations through government guarantees, but such debt issuances have placed increasing pressure on public guarantee institutions.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.12
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• pp.465-474
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• 2020

This study investigates how financial resources and entrepreneurial orientation (EO) may influence the performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Twenty-seven interviews were conducted and evaluated using the method of GABEK® (A GAnzheitliche BEwältigung von Komplexität - holistic processing of complexity). The research demonstrated that access to financial resources has significantly mediated EO's effect on the SMEs' performance. The study found that financial autonomy, enhanced through both personal financing and availability of external finance sources, plays a central role in supporting the EO dimension of autonomy and enhancing the SMEs' performance. In particular, the other EO dimension of risk-taking is stymied by lack of funds with which to take commercial and market opportunities. However, when an innovation strategy is pursued and adopted, access to finance can be facilitated, either through financial institutions or through other governmental funding programs attracting high potential innovators. Furthermore, financial barriers, difficulties accessing bank financing, and legal issues have a detrimental impact on SMEs' growth. The study has implications for policy-makers in the UAE, specifically in terms of sending a signal for lending institutions to consider strategies that provide access to affordable financial services to satisfy SMEs' needs.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.77-109
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to review the current trend of FDIs by Korean companies into EU, and to present the optimal strategies for them to combine their firm-specific factors and FDI attractiveness of the regions in EU. The companies are divided into two categories, SMEs and large enterprises. The regions of EU are composed of 15 incumbent members before the fifth enlargement in 2004 and 12 new members. Large Korean companies tend to make large investments in 15 incumbent members with stable and mature markets. Korean SMEs, by contrast, mainly invest on small scales in the new members due to the lack of their available inner resources and knowledge for the markets. The main objects of the investments in EU by the large Korean companies are to gain more market share and to acquire the advanced technologies. Although such goals are also important for the SMEs, the most important objects for the investments by Korean SMEs in EU are usually to enter EU markets and to take advantage of the relatively cheap labor forces for the efficient operations. The effects of such passive strategies by the SMEs, however, are expected to extinct because the cost advantages in regions of the new EU members will not last in the long term, so the SMEs must take longer views for the choice of locations. Many empirical results suggest that the optimal FDI strategies for the Korean companies in EU could be worked mainly by more aggressive localization policy of companies and by the cooperations of SMEs and large enterprises for the reduction in costs of foreignness.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.96-101
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• 2010

Superconducting Magnetic Energy Storage (SMES) system is one of the key technologies to overcome the voltage sag, swell, interruption and frequency fluctuation by fast response speed of current charge and discharge. In order to evaluate the characteristics of over mega joule class grid connected High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) SMES system, the authors proposed an algorithm by which the SMES coil could be connected to the Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS). Using the proposed algorithm, users can perform the simulation of voltage sag and frequency stabilization with a real SMES coil in real time and easily change the capacity of SMES system as much as they need. To demonstrate the algorithm, real charge and discharge circuit and active load were manufactured and experimented. The results show that the current from real system was well amplified and applied to the current source of simulation circuit in real time.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.1-16
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• 2015

This paper aims to explore the small and medium sized enterprises'(SMEs') technological innovation through an open innovative strategy. Researchers have identified open innovation as external search 'breadth' and 'depth'. Although an open innovation strategy is well known as an effective way for SMEs' innovation, this stream of research examines differences between pursuing breadth of external knowledge and depth of external knowledge for SEMs' innovation. The sample comprises a total of 1106 SMEs included in the Korean Innovation Survey, and logistic regression analysis and odds ratio comparison were used to evaluate the relationship between external knowledge search and innovation outcomes. The results show that both 'breadth' and 'depth' positively affect the SMEs' innovation. When SMEs are simultaneously pursuing external searching for breadth and depth, however, a negative result on innovation outcome followed because of the lack of their internal resources and capacities. Despite these contributions, we have certain limitations that can be regarded as means of future research. Even though breadth and depth are adopted to measure the way of how a firm sources the external knowledge, companies may place the different weight on each source of knowledge. And also, it is difficult to understand how the knowledge gained through external search contributes to a firm's incremental and radical innovation, respectively.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.81-102
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• 2017

Financing, manpower support and tax are the most popular tools for policy for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper, however, will introduce information analysis support for SMEs and will prove that can be a good tool. The information analysis support means the support of technology and market information for the technology development or commercialization of SMEs. Therefore, the support is a customized one. In the theory domain, we adopt and prove two theoretical grounds as an SMEs policy such as market and system failure. In the policy tool domain, we suggest four requirements to be an SMEs policy and prove the tool to satisfy these requirements. All the data and proofs are from a government research institute called K.