• Journal of Korea Society of Digital Industry and Information Management
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.155-173
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• 2009

Budget for the industry-university co-operation is expanded by the increasing of the importance of industry-university co-operation. Even though, industry and university do not co-operate voluntarily. Until now, there is no research about industry-university co-operation focusing on SMEs. This paper is about industry-university co-operation focusing on SMEs. In this paper, we introduce the status and structural problems of industry-university co-operation related with SMEs. And we derive the problems of industry-university co-operation in terms of co-operation purpose. Industry-university co-operation in terms of co-operation purpose can be categorized as R&D, technology transfer, infrastructure, and manpower training. And last, we suggest how we improve the industry-university co-operation system to benefit SMEs.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.41-63
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• 2008

Employing firm-level data during the period of 1980-2006, this paper analyzes the R&D efficiency of IT SMEs. We focus on comparing the R&D efficiency of IT SMEs with that of large-sized IT firms and non-IT SMEs. The results are summarized as follows. First, the R&D investment of IT SMEs has not been increased since 2000. In IT manufacturing industry, the portion of the R&D investment of IT SMEs is no more than 10.6% in 2005. Second, we analyze the innovation capacity of SMEs with the number of the patent application. The result is similar with the trend of R&D investment. The portion of the patent application of SMEs has not been increased since 2000. Third, the R&D efficiency of non-IT firms is higher than that of IT SMEs regardless of the firm size. The R&D efficiency of non-IT SMEs is over three times as large as that of IT SMEs. Meanwhile, The R&D efficiency of the large-sized non IT firms is 1.86 times as large as that of IT large-sized firms. Finally, we estimate the R&D elasticity and compare between IT manufacturing and service industry. The result shows that the R&D elasticity of IT service industry is higher than that of IT manufacturing industry, regardless of firm size.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.7
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• pp.1-18
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• 2021

Purpose - In this study, we explore the relationship between the degree of internationalization (DOI) and firm performance (DOI-P) of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector. Specifically, we investigate whether the costs and benefits dynamics concerning the internationalization of SMEs differ between high-tech and non-high-tech industries. Design/methodology - We extend the prior literature on this relationship by employing 5-year data on 589 Korean SMEs in the manufacturing sector and examining the moderating impact of the industry characteristics. Our findings reveal a U-shaped relationship between the DOI and SME performance. High-tech SMEs demonstrate an inverted U-shaped relationship, whereas non-hightech SMEs exhibit a U-shaped relationship. Findings - Our findings illustrate the importance of the industry factor in testing the performance impact of the internationalization of Korean SMEs. By incorporating industry dynamics, our results indicate that the DOI-P relationship depends on the context of the industry in which an SME operates. High-tech SMEs also display a higher DOI but are outperformed by non-high-tech SMEs for the entire internationalization path, which implies that high-tech SMEs face more challenges than non-high-tech SMEs while seeking internationalization. Originality/value - The findings strongly validate that significant benefits exist for SMEs undertaking internationalization. We also employ the contextual framework contributing to increasing the understanding of the intrinsic value of internationalization and resolving the mixed results issue on the DOI-P relationship, by illustrating that the industry factor leads to different dynamics of costs and benefits of SME internationalization; it also determines the shape and direction of the relationship.

• The Journal of Fisheries Business Administration
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.1-17
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• 2018

The Korean fisheries industry is a traditional business, the majority of which are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). It has played an important role in the South Korean economies in the past several decades, but it currently faces the limitations of growth potential and profitability due to declining workforce, aging populations, deteriorating fishery environments, climate changes, and rapid changes in the global industrial ecosystem. Many studies have suggested solutions for the fisheries industry in macro perspective, but there are rarely any studies taking the strategic approaches for the problem. If it is possible for governments to support the companies that are likely to increase their value-added selectively, it will break through the current situation more effectively. This paper introduces a study on the selection method utilizing data envelopment analysis (DEA) to find SMEs with potentials to increase profits and growth. We suggest selecting SMEs with high management efficiency and ability to utilize intangible assets as the target companies. We also suggest policy objectives for SMEs in the domestic fisheries industry based on the results of DEA analysis and propose a data-based method for the policy decisions.

• East Asian Journal of Business Economics (EAJBE)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2021

Purpose-This study examines how financial slack resources and subcontracting of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affect their internationalization. To identify slack resources, subcontracting, and internationalization of SMEs, 1,062 SME samples in the electronics industry are used in the logistic regression analysis to analyze their relationship with SMEs' export. Research design, data, and methodology-This study conducted the empirical analysis on 1,062 SMEs in the electronics industry using the sample survey method. The samples were based on data selected and distributed by the Ministry SMEs and Startups. The data analysis methods were descriptive, correlation analysis, and logistics regression analysis. Result-The analysis shows that only available resources are negatively related to SMEs' internationalization. It can be interpreted as a high tendency for SMEs to avoid relatively risky choices such as entering overseas markets if they have enough financial resources. Moreover, subcontracting has a negative relationship with internationalization. Conclusion-This study broadened the scope of SME research by analyzing subcontracting and slack resources together and provides practical implications for policymakers and managers.

• 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 Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.41-62
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• 2013

In order to facilitate the R&D of SMEs and foster innovative SMEs, the Small and Medium Business Administration is funding the SMEs in the focused supporting industries which are selected by a primary consideration of the political conformity. The correlations among the distribution of engaged SMEs, the distribution of SMEs which applied the fund, and the distribution of SMEs funded in the industries are analysed, in order to realize the effectiveness of the top-down method for selecting the focused supporting industries. As a result, there was a large deviation of both the number of the engaged SMEs and the number of the applied SMEs in the each industry, which means that the selected industries did not accurately reflect the needs for the technology development of SMEs. In addition, the distribution of the applied SMEs was strongly depended on the distribution of the engaged SMEs, which shows the trend that SMEs are trying to make R&D plans in their current industry rather than following the political drive. Moreover, because the distribution of the funded SMEs is strongly correlated with that of the applied SMEs, one could know that the selected industries were neither fostered strategically nor evenly but the fund was distributed simply according to the distribution of the applied SMEs. In this study, in order to complement the limitations of the top-down method, the bottom-up method which primarily consider the needs for the technology development of SMEs was suggested. It is desirable to consider in the order of the needs and the capabilities of SMEs, the technological perspective and marketability of the industry, and the political importance in the bottom-up method, and it is expected that the method could be flexibly used in the planning of the various programs.

• Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.61-72
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• 2013

This research aims to identify promising IT items from the perspectives of Korean SMEs and further to development a policy for SMEs in the IT industry. For this purpose, we adopted a bottom-up approach by discovering IT items on high demand by SMEs as their now growth engines and thus used a survey method. We also analyzed the ecosystem characteristics for the items to help policy-makers establish customized strategy to support their growth. We believe that this research is timely when the concept of ecosystem has emerged and the role of SMEs is emphasized in the IT industry. And the research results are expected to produce valuable information to make a policy for promoting IT items for SMEs and ultimately leading to balanced growth of large firms and SMEs.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.8 no.7
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• pp.151-160
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• 2021

The purposes of this research were: 1) to analyze the confirmatory factors with the business operational model of entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the textile and clothing industry, and 2) to verify the congruence of the model with the operational ways of the entrepreneurs of SMEs in the textile and clothing industry. The sample consisted of 500 small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs in the textile and clothing industry. This study was quantitative research and the instrument used to collect the data was a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using 1^st order and 2^nd order of confirmatory analysis (CFA). The findings of this research revealed that the model of SMEs in the textile and clothing industry was overall at a high level. Four main factors were used for the model of SMEs in the textile and clothing industry by their importance in descending order as follows: marketing mix (MM), collaboration network (CN), production inventory management (PIM), and creativity (CT). The results of verification of model congruence revealed the model of SMEs in the textile and clothing industry was fit and in accordance with the empirical data.

• Korean small business review
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.25-50
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• 2019

Although Korean government has implemented size-dependent policy, so called "the designation of SMEs-suitable industry", promoting SMEs growth, our understanding in the effectiveness of the policy is limited. We investigate the effect of the policy on SMEs performance in food product and beverages industry, which accounts for the majority in the SMEs-suitable industry. From the perspective of sales, profitability, and R&D intensity, which is regarded as indigenous effort for growth, we find the heterogeneity in the effectiveness of the policy across the sub-sectors in the industry. However, overall the policy does not significantly contribute to the growth of sales, profitability, and facilitation of R&D activity for indigenous innovative efforts of SMEs. Our study advances the theoretical discussion on the effect of the policy with the disaggregated level of analysis, i.e, sub-sector level. Our findings also contribute to the resolution of social and political conflicts between pros and cons of the policy. Our study suggests that policy makers should develop more sophisticated policy that incorporate the specific characteristics of individual sub-sectors. They also need to invest more resources in enhancing the effectiveness of the policy and accelerating SMEs innovative efforts.