• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.69-83
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• 2015

This study proposes effective overseas market entry strategies that could allow Korean logistics companies to develop international capabilities and become global firms by adapting to environmental changes in global logistics. First, it reviews the overseas networks of Korean international freight forwarders and the recent trends in the global logistics market. Then, it surveys the conditions of two groups of freight forwarders, namely partnerships and subsidiaries, which are categorized according to type of entry into foreign markets. These companies' networks are concentrated in East and Southeast Asia regardless of network type. As a result, the ability for partnerships to network is higher than that of subsidiaries. However, subsidiaries are small in number and located in various regions because of their initial stage, which is why their businesses depend on the price competitiveness of the parent company. The satisfaction and performance of subsidiaries are both generally low according to the presented findings. In addition, the successful strategies of international freight forwarders include following operations, specializing their logistics services, building collaborations among small and medium-sized companies, recruiting and training professional human resources in international logistics, and entering markets together with their customers. Overall, this study highlights the importance of measuring and evaluating objectively the level and performance of overseas networking through a survey about the internationalization of Korean freight forwarder companies. To conclude, this study is considered to contribute to raising their global competitiveness by suggesting strategies derived from the survey findings and SWOT analysis.

• Journal of Distribution Research
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.55-80
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• 2012

I. Introduction Developing the relationships between companies is very important issue to ensure a competitive advantage in today's business environment (Bleeke & Ernst 1991; Mohr & Spekman 1994; Powell 1990). Partnerships between companies are based on having same goals, pursuing mutual understanding, and having a professional level of interdependence. By having such a partnerships and cooperative efforts between companies, they will achieve efficiency and effectiveness of their business (Mohr and Spekman, 1994). However, it is difficult to expect these ideal results only in the B2B corporate transaction. According to agency theory which is the well-accepted theory in various fields of business strategy, organization, and marketing, the two independent companies have fundamentally different corporate purposes. Also there is a higher chance of developing opportunism and conflict due to natures of human(organization), such as self-interest, bounded rationality, risk aversion, and environment factor as imbalance of information (Eisenhardt 1989). That is, especially partnerships between principal(or buyer) and agent(or supplier) of companies within supply chain, the business contract itself will not provide competitive advantage. But managing partnership between companies is the key to success. Therefore, managing partnership between manufacturer and supplier, and finding causes of conflict are essential to improve B2B performance. In conclusion, based on prior researches and Agency theory, this study will clarify how business hazards cause conflicts on supply chain and then identify how developed conflicts have been managed by two control mechanisms. II. Research model III. Method In order to validate our research model, this study gathered questionnaires from small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs). In Korea, SMEs mean the firms whose employee is under 300 and capital is under 8 billion won(about 7.2 million dollar). We asked the manufacturer's perception about the relationship with the biggest supplier, and our key informants are denied to a person responsible for buying(ex)CEO, executives, managers of purchasing department, and so on). In detail, we contact by telephone to our initial sample(about 1,200 firms) and introduce our research motivation and send our questionnaires by e-mail, mail, and direct survey. Finally we received 361 data and eliminate 32 inappropriate questionnaires. We use 329 manufactures' data on analysis. The purpose of this study is to identify the anticipant role of business hazard (environmental dynamism, asset specificity) and investigate the moderating effect of control mechanism(formal control, social control) on conflict-performance relationship. To find out moderating effect of control methods, we need to compare the regression weight between low versus. high group(about level of exercised control methods). Therefore we choose the structural equation modeling method that is proper to do multi-group analysis. The data analysis is performed by AMOS 17.0 software, and model fits are good statically (CMIN/DF=1.982, p<.000, CFI=.936, IFI=.937, RMSEA=.056). IV. Result V. Discussion Results show that the higher environmental dynamism and asset specificity(on particular supplier) buyer(manufacturer) has, the more B2B conflict exists. And this conflict affect relationship quality and financial outcomes negatively. In addition, social control and formal control could weaken the negative effect of conflict on relationship quality significantly. However, unlikely to assure conflict resolution effect of control mechanisms on relationship quality, financial outcomes are changed by neither social control nor formal control. We could explain this results with the characteristics of our sample, SMEs(Small and Medium sized Enterprises). Financial outcomes of these SMEs(manufacturer or principal) are affected by their customer(usually major company) more easily than their supplier(or agent). And, in recent few years, most of companies have suffered from financial problems because of global economic recession. It means that it is hard to evaluate the contribution of supplier(agent). Therefore we also support the suggestion of Gladstein(1984), Poppo & Zenger(2002) that relational performance variable can capture the focal outcomes of relationship(exchange) better than financial performance variable. This study has some implications that it tests the sources of conflict and investigates the effect of resolution methods of B2B conflict empirically. And, especially, it finds out the significant moderating effect of formal control which past B2B management studies have ignored in Korea.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2012

Under the international business circumstance, global supply chain management is considered a vital strategic challenge to small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) suffering from deficient resources and capabilities to exploit overseas markets comparing with large corporations. That is because they can expand their business domains into overseas markets by establishing strategic alliances with global supply chain partners. Although a wide range of previous researches have emphasized the cooperative networks in the chain, most are ignoring the importance of developing relational characteristics such as trust and reciprocity with the partners. Besides, verifying the relational factors influencing firms' export performances, some studies proposed different and inconsistent factors. According to the social capital theory, which is the social quality and networks facilitating close cooperation of inter-individual and inter-organization, provides the integrated view to identify the relational characteristics in the aspects of network, trust and reciprocal norm. Meanwhile, a number of researchers shows that global entrepreneurship is the internal and intangible resource necessary to promote SMEs' internationalization. Upon closer examination, however, they cannot explain clearly its influencing mechanism in the inter-firm cooperative relationships. This study is to verify the effect of social capital accumulated within global supply chain on SMEs' qualitative and quantitative export performance. In addition, we shed new light on global entrepreneurship expected to be concerned with the formation of social capital and the enhancement of export performances. For this purpose, the questionnaires, developed through literature review, were collected from 192 Korean SMEs affiliated in Korean Medium Industries Association and Global Chief Executive Officer's Club focusing on their memberships' international business. As a result of multi-regression analysis, the social capital - network, trust and reciprocal norm shared with global supply chain partner - as well as global entrepreneurship - innovativeness, proactiveness and risk-taking - have positive effect on SMEs' export performances. Also global entrepreneurship affects positively social capital which has mediating effect partially in the relationship between global entrepreneurship and performances. These results means that there is a structural process - global entrepreneurship(input), social capital(output), and export performances(outcome). In other words, a firm should consistently invest in and develop the social capital with global supply chain partners in order to achieve common goals, establish strategic collaborations and obtain long-term export performances. Furthermore, it is required to foster the global entrepreneurship in an organization so as to build up the social capital. More detailed practical issues and discussion are made in the conclusion.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.33-56
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• 2016

Many researchers have focused on developing bankruptcy prediction models using modeling techniques, such as statistical methods including multiple discriminant analysis (MDA) and logit analysis or artificial intelligence techniques containing artificial neural networks (ANN), decision trees, and support vector machines (SVM), to secure enhanced performance. Most of the bankruptcy prediction models in academic studies have used financial ratios as main input variables. The bankruptcy of firms is associated with firm's financial states and the external economic situation. However, the inclusion of qualitative information, such as the economic atmosphere, has not been actively discussed despite the fact that exploiting only financial ratios has some drawbacks. Accounting information, such as financial ratios, is based on past data, and it is usually determined one year before bankruptcy. Thus, a time lag exists between the point of closing financial statements and the point of credit evaluation. In addition, financial ratios do not contain environmental factors, such as external economic situations. Therefore, using only financial ratios may be insufficient in constructing a bankruptcy prediction model, because they essentially reflect past corporate internal accounting information while neglecting recent information. Thus, qualitative information must be added to the conventional bankruptcy prediction model to supplement accounting information. Due to the lack of an analytic mechanism for obtaining and processing qualitative information from various information sources, previous studies have only used qualitative information. However, recently, big data analytics, such as text mining techniques, have been drawing much attention in academia and industry, with an increasing amount of unstructured text data available on the web. A few previous studies have sought to adopt big data analytics in business prediction modeling. Nevertheless, the use of qualitative information on the web for business prediction modeling is still deemed to be in the primary stage, restricted to limited applications, such as stock prediction and movie revenue prediction applications. Thus, it is necessary to apply big data analytics techniques, such as text mining, to various business prediction problems, including credit risk evaluation. Analytic methods are required for processing qualitative information represented in unstructured text form due to the complexity of managing and processing unstructured text data. This study proposes a bankruptcy prediction model for Korean small- and medium-sized construction firms using both quantitative information, such as financial ratios, and qualitative information acquired from economic news articles. The performance of the proposed method depends on how well information types are transformed from qualitative into quantitative information that is suitable for incorporating into the bankruptcy prediction model. We employ big data analytics techniques, especially text mining, as a mechanism for processing qualitative information. The sentiment index is provided at the industry level by extracting from a large amount of text data to quantify the external economic atmosphere represented in the media. The proposed method involves keyword-based sentiment analysis using a domain-specific sentiment lexicon to extract sentiment from economic news articles. The generated sentiment lexicon is designed to represent sentiment for the construction business by considering the relationship between the occurring term and the actual situation with respect to the economic condition of the industry rather than the inherent semantics of the term. The experimental results proved that incorporating qualitative information based on big data analytics into the traditional bankruptcy prediction model based on accounting information is effective for enhancing the predictive performance. The sentiment variable extracted from economic news articles had an impact on corporate bankruptcy. In particular, a negative sentiment variable improved the accuracy of corporate bankruptcy prediction because the corporate bankruptcy of construction firms is sensitive to poor economic conditions. The bankruptcy prediction model using qualitative information based on big data analytics contributes to the field, in that it reflects not only relatively recent information but also environmental factors, such as external economic conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.265-279
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• 1993

The channel of distribution exists for the purpose of moving product from the manufactuerer to the final consumer. In order to satisfy consumer needs, channels provide for the those products to arrive at the right place, at the right time and in the quantity, quality and price desired. Currently, there has been an emerging interest in the improvement of distribution system in many areas of industries and Korean government because of a market liberalizatiion begun at 1989 and still has processed step by step. In the wave of market liberalization, an understanding of the channel of distribution and structure would be very crucial when developing the opportunities of competitive advantages in Korean apparel industry. The purposes of this study were to investigate the determinants of the distribution channel and to identify how to respond to the market liberalization for developing the possible future strategies in the apparel industry. Data for this study were obtained from interviews with managers in apparel company in addition to a questionnaire mailed to over 106 middle management position of apparel company. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics. The results of this study were summarized as follows. 1. In the distribution channel of the apparel industry, a vertical marketing system, comprising producer, apparel company, retailer, prevailed without intermediaries such as wholesalers or vendors. Especially, the apparel company controlled marketing channel members. This type of system may reflect added product cost and may be not advantageous to retailers and consumers because most apparel companies are responsible for its own transfortation, storage and stocks after season. 2. In the view of market liberalization, most apparrel companies showed double-edged viewpoints. In terms of positive aspect, it would give stimulus to broaden variety of fashion merchandise and to improve product quality of fashion merchanise which were the most disadvantageous factors in competing with oversea's brands. In terms of negative aspect, it would bring the bankruptcy of small or medium sized apparel firms and the foreign products' penetration in domestic market. From this study, severel recommedations were suggested forward to improve the present condition in apparel industry. They included eliminating the power of apparel company and reinforcing middlemen for more efficient distribution system and for satisfying consumer needs in rapidly changing environment. Also it included government supports, reinforcement of information system, improvement in channel structure, and career development program in conjunction with apparel companies and academic society for improving scientific management and future potential strategies in Korean apparal industry.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.49-62
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• 2016

Technology-based start-ups have great economic ripple effect such as economic growth and job creation. Therefore, a strategic approach is required in order for such start-ups to continuously grow. However, many technology-based start-ups do not survive the Death-Valley and are being eliminated from the market. This is an empirical study on influencing variables that have impact on their performance. This study presents growth intention and influencing variables that have impact on performance (financial performance, technological performance) based on previous research on technology-based start-up. Also, this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial competence, team commitment and growth intention, and finds the effect of controlling business-network. Structural equation modeling was performed in order to test the research hypothesis. Survey was conducted on the firms that have been certified by Youth Startup Academy of Small and Medium Business Corporation. A total of 306 samples were collected from the survey. An empirical test was conducted on the research hypothesis using SPSS 21.0 and Amos 22.0. The result of hypothesis test shows that growth intention has positive influence on both financial and technological performance, and entrepreneurial competence (technological competence, strategic management competence, creative competence and team commitment) has positive influence on growth intention. Also, the research proved that business-network has regulation effect between human resource trait and growth intention. The result of our study will provide practical insight to future start-ups for continuous growth and successful running of their firm.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.97-124
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• 1992

The recent sharp increase in wages has driven many Korean manufacturing firms to move into technology-intensive fields. The task of industrial restructuring is, however, rather difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (hereafter, "SMEs") which suffer from limited R&D resources. If the R&D activities of SMEs are left unattended, industrial restructuring process may be retarded. Hence, the government-sponsored programs can be justified when used to promote the technological level of SMEs. Because of the limited internal R&D resources of SMEs, in particular human resources, the government-sponsored programs that depend on financial subsidies to stimulate the R&D activities of SMEs may not be recommended. Rather, a more desirable policy is programs to subsidize outside sourcing of SMEs. Basic principles of the program are; (i) that the government should establish R&D laboratories which are specialized in joint researches with SMEs in each industry; (ii) research projects of the laboratories should be funded by SMEs; the government's support covers only fixed costs such as construction costs in order to avoid moral hazard problem. (iii) technology adviser programs sponsored by the government should be improved; geographical distribution is to be expanded and the activities are to be monitored by local governments. Also foreign networks need be strengthened.

• International Commerce and Information Review
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.31-53
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• 2011

The purpose of this study is to find out the factors affecting the usage and performance of e-Trade in Chinese Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs). To achieve the purpose of the study, the research model and hypotheses, depicting the relationship among external factors, internal factors, relationship characteristics, e-Trade usage level, and performance were developed based on the existing literature on e-Trade. To test the significance of the research model and hypotheses, an empirical survey were conducted to the Chinese SMEs in Yangtze River Delta area, which are actively using the e-Trade in their trade processes. According to the result of the statistical analyses on the 85 effective questionnaires from the sample firms, support of the government related institutions(one of the external factors) and CEO's support(one of the internal factors) had significant relationship with e-Trade usage level, but no significant relationship was found between the relationship characteristics and e-Trade usage level. Like the results of the most of the existing literature, e-Trade usage level were formed to significantly affected the e-Trade performance. Finally, based on results of the empirical survey, several implications on the Chinese SME's e-Trade strategies and policy alternatives were proposed as a concluding remark.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.175-192
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• 2008

Today's individual firms no longer compete as solely autonomous entities, but rather as supply chain. As such the competitive position of a port is not only determined by its internal strengths but also it is also affected by its links in a global supply chin. In other words, port competitiveness is becoming increasingly dependent on external coordination and control of the whole supply chain. The main purpose of this paper is to examine how a port embeds itself into supply chain in order to strengthen its competitive position by focusing on Dubai port case. This paper found that Dubai port used three phases-insertion, integration and dominance-as a strategies for how it can embedded into global supply chain successfully. Dubai's global supply chain strategies give some implications for the further development of the Port of Gwangyang. First, the Port of Gwangyang should fully utilize symbiotic relationship with Gwangyang free Economic Zone. Second, the integration between Korea Container Terminal Authority and GYFEZ can be recommended for fast decision-making and providing a one-stop-service. Finally, Gwangyang should pursue an aggressive supply chain strategy, aims at dominance in the regional port network through port alliance with small and medium ports in neighboring area.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.13-28
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• 2017

Entrepreneurship is an important factor not only for start-ups, but also for scale-up of businesses. In other words, the two aspects of establishment and growth of businesses must be balanced through entrepreneurship. However, it is true that entrepreneurship has been biased toward the former in previous researches and government policies. Here in this research, the causal relationships between the entrepreneurial characteristics of Korean firms and the performance of the company, which is measured by proposal, activity, and business performance are examined as a growth perspective. Based on these relationships, a model describing the operating mechanism of corporate entrepreneurship is derived and policy implications are provided. In conducting research, the hypotheses on the interrelationship of variables are builded using '2016 Entrepreneurship Situation Survey(Corporate)' data from Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation and analyzed by structural equation modeling. In addition, the moderating effect according to the firm size and the mediating effect between entrepreneurship and business performance are analyzed. As a result of this research, the fact that entrepreneurship affects business performance is identified and it is necessary to prioritize corporate vision and strategy for enhancement of entrepreneurship. In particular, necessity of operating system for SMEs is confirmed considering SMEs' entrepreneurship level. The implications of this research are expected to be applied by the government in establishing policy direction to enhance corporate entrepreneurship of SMEs in the future.