• Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.147-165
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• 2012

Recently, the theory of open innovation emerges as a new innovation paradigm. This paper aims to examine open innovation activities of SMEs. Many firms tend to search new knowledge from various external sources and to pursue to achieve innovation resources or knowledge of external innovators. Particularly, this paper focus on the process of external knowledge networking and open innovation occurred in the process of technology innovation. The data used in this study were those that had been collected for total 3,400 sample SMEs that had conducted R&D. and in-depth interviews were conducted with 14 SMEs located at Chungbuk-Technopark. Empirical findings can be summarized as follows; SMEs tend to search new knowledge from various external sources and to pursue to achieve innovation resources or knowledge of external innovators, because they have lack of innovation resources. therefore, the conducting of open innovation affected positively the innovation performance of SMEs. In addition, empirical findings also indicated that expanding flexibility of labor market enhances open innovation activities of SMEs.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.147-153
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• 2017

This research empirically analyzes not only the direct impact of the external technological information network diversity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on the sales growth from their technology development but also the mediating impact of their productivity improvement and the moderating effect of the technology development driven by CEO on this direct impact in order to deepen the research stream on SMEs' external technological information network. Based on the ordinary least squares regression by using 2,200 data of South Korean SMEs, this study reveals the three findings. First, SMEs' external technological information network diversity positively influences their sales growth from technology development. Second, SMEs' productivity improvement partially mediates this positive influence of the external technological information network diversity. Third, SMEs' technology development driven by CEO moderates the positive influence.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.111-134
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• 2013

Today, TQM is used as a important tool of management innovation for enterprise's competitive power. Purposes of this paper are to find out the implementation strategy of TQM activities for SMEs through the analysis which examine the relationship between key activity factors and business performance. This study has been conducted using the data collected from 116 SMEs implementing TQM activity. By analyses of the questionnaires, empirical results shows that TQM activities has positive effect on business performance. The contribution of this study is that it provides a conceptual framework and empirical evidence of the causal relationship between key activity factors and business performance. The result of this study can be used for selection of the performance measurement indicators for target achievement in TQM activity. And it will contribute for objectivity of activity performance in case of displaying measurement indicator showing the performance of TQM activity.

• Journal of the Korea Society for Simulation
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.1-10
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• 2022

The packaging plastic manufacturing(blown film) industry has long developed in China, but most of them are small/medium-sized enterprises, and it is very rare to have appropriate operation plans suitable for their own business. The packaging plastic manufacturing industry(blown film) follows a typical Make-To-Order method, and the sequence of processing orders is very important. Waste of materials incurred by frequent conversions of production cannot be avoided, and generally, related costs incurred during conversion production are also different. Therefore, this study developed a job sequence determination model for improving operating profits using @RISK simulation software, compared and analyzed 3 actionable clustering treatment methods proposed by technical managers and field experts under the actual situation of the factory.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.197-216
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• 2023

This research aims to examine and reevaluate the risk management procedures required for facilitating E-Commerce exports by Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) in the context of customs risk management procedures. Based on risk management studies, this research focuses on three research questions. First, what courses comprise the export risk management structure? Second, what are the key issues in risk management in facilitating E-Commerce export clearance? Third, based on the research results, what are the implications and improvements for export customs risk management in boosting SMEs' E-Commerce exports? The research concluded that risk control for SMEs' E-Comerce exports should be further strengthened based on a compliance management approach. To achieve this, the customs authorities should develop a new method of reasoning about the difficulties SMEs face in exporting and the risks of failure to comply with the regulations at the foreign markets.

• Journal of Korean Society for Quality Management
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.647-664
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to derive major policies that domestic small and medium-sized manufacturing companies should consider to maximize productivity and quality improvement by utilizing manufacturing data and AI, and to find priorities and implications. Methods: In this study, domestic and international issues and literature review by country were conducted to derive major considerations such as manufacturing AI technology, manufacturing AI talent, manufacturing AI data and manufacturing AI ecosystem. Additionally, the questionnaire survey targeting 46 experts of manufacturing data and AI industry were conducted. Finally, the major considerations and detailed factors importance were derived by applying the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Results: As a result of the study, it was found that 'manufacturing AI technology', 'manufacturing AI talent', 'manufacturing AI data', and 'manufacturing AI ecosystem' exist as key considerations for domestic manufacturing AI. After empirical analysis, the importance of the four key considerations was found to be 'manufacturing AI ecosystem (0.272)', 'manufacturing AI data (0.265)', 'manufacturing AI technology (0.233)', and 'manufacturing AI talent (0.230)'. The importance of the derived four viewpoints is maintained at a similar level. In addition, looking at the detailed variables with the highest importance for each of the four perspectives, 'Best Practice', 'manufacturing data quality management regime, 'manufacturing data collection infrastructure', and 'manufacturing AI manpower level of solution providers' were found. Conclusion: For the sustainable growth of the domestic manufacturing AI ecosystem, it should be possible to develop and promote manufacturing AI policies in a balanced way by considering all four derived viewpoints. This paper is expected to be used as an effective guideline when developing policies for upgrading manufacturing through domestic manufacturing data and AI in the future.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.59-65
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• 2014

Purpose - The competitiveness of logistics in the 21st century rests on ensuring the efficiency and effectiveness of its local hub. While considering entry into a niche market in local logistics, it is pertinent to note that Budapest is emerging as a hub in EU enlargement in Eastern Europe. Big, small, and medium-sized businesses in Korea entered Hungary in the early 1990s since then, there has been a significant increase in Korean presence, of approximately 130 times. This study aimed to identify the key distribution issues that have emerged in relation to Eastern Europe. Research design, data, and methodology - This study indicates that 33 major Korean companies were located in Hungary, which serves as an out post to enter the European marketplace. However, Korea's exports to Hungary have declined (-32.0% in 2012) because of a loss of competitiveness against multinational corporations, due to factors such as the rise in current local distribution costs and wages. Hungary, on the other hand, through diversification and expansion of foreign trade with the non-EU markets, including Korea, is increasing its exports. Strategies of emerging countries are compared and reviewed in this study, by examining the vicissitudes of Hungary's distribution methods. Results - There are issues regarding Hungary's innovative ability. Hungary has a history of low wages and high skilled labor. However, the outflow of high-quality human resources for high-wages has become more extensive, and this underlines concerns that the CEE's trade hub is moving to neighboring countries. After the European financial crisis in 2010, the Hungarian economy is now developing, because of the IMF's measures, and it is being transformed into a trade surplus nation, while regaining distribution volumes rapidly. However, if there is continued lack of investment, the supply chain is weakened and exports decline amidst competition with TNCs or with China's distribution networks. Conclusions - It is necessary to create a new logistics approach for increasing trade between Korea and Hungary. First, Korean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should build trust by working with advanced Hungarian talent, and they should expand into state-of-the-art fields instead of being confined to traditional sectors. Second, this study focuses on limiting and lowering their high expectations for success according to foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and the role in the CEE distribution hub Korea should try to strengthen the distribution hub with its centralized population, using better, more highly educated human resources, thereby sustaining more innovative ability. Further, the positive effects of these measures are manifested in enhanced business on both sides of Hungary, namely, the EU and non-EU nations such as Turkey and emerging markets around Europe, and a better engagement in the core placement of culture and industry. For this, Korea can contribute to, and benefit from, a Hungarian logistics center, for adopting the high-tech cluster systems and commercializing distribution technology such as RFID·USN.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.199-204
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• 2017

Good product quality is so essential to enabling firms to succeed that how to make the product quality better through technology development is one of the most important issues that many CEOs think over. With regard to the product quality improvement from firms' technology development, this study has made an attempt to empirically investigate the effect of the external information network diversity on the product quality improvement of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information technology (IT) sector, mediated by their production process improvement. This research illuminates the following two points by empirically analyzing the 310 IT SMEs through the ordinary least squares regression analysis. First, IT SMEs' external information network diversity has a positive influence on their product quality improvement from technology development. Second, IT SMEs' production process improvement partially mediates the impact of their external information network diversity on the product quality improvement.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.41-62
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• 2023

Given that SME workers are the driving force of national competitiveness and the basis and cornerstone of the industry, it is meaningful to study workers' job satisfaction and the factors that affect job satisfaction. In addition to variables related to corporate competitiveness and organizational justice, this study introduced variables such as environmental(E) activities, social(S) activities, and governance(G) activities, which th national government uses as major management evaluation indicators. Therefore, a literature study and empirical analysis were conducted on how self-efficacy affects job satisfaction when workers are faced with a changed work environment. To conduct this study, 300 copies of data were collected from workers in small and medium-sized enterprises and used for analysis. For data analysis, the SPSS statistical program (Ver. 25.0) was used. The study finds, first, that product or service quality and employee competency among corporate competitiveness had a significant positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Secondly, among ESG management activities, social(S) activities and governance(G) activities were found to have a significant positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Third, among organizational justice, distribution justice and procedural justice were found to have a positive(+) effect on job satisfaction. Fourth, self-efficacy was found to mediate the effect of product or service quality, employee competency, social(S) and governance(G) activities among ESG management activities, and procedural justice among organizational justice on job satisfaction. The academic value of this study is that it empirically analyzed the factors that ESG management activities affect workers' jobs,. As a result, it was confirmed that workers were satisfied with their jobs by actively showing interest in social(S) activities and governance(G) activities among ESG management activities and participating in corporate management. In addition, workers sensitive to changes in the external environment can become satisfied with their jobs through self-efficacy when SMEs actively enhance corporate competitiveness, execute ESG management activities, and provide a fair organizational culture. Finally, this study suggests that there's a possibility of improving the competitiveness of SMEs through a virtuous cycle created by a change in perception of job conversion and a decrease in turnover.

• Journal of Practical Agriculture & Fisheries Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.118-126
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• 2024

Recently, the alternative meat (food) market is growing rapidly due to the increase in meat consumption due to global population growth and income improvement, as well as issues such as equal welfare, carbon neutrality, and sustainability. The government is also developing a green bio convergence new industry development plan to foster alternative foods, but there are difficulties in commercialization due to the lack of technology and insufficient production facilities among domestic small and medium-sized enterprises, so it is necessary to build joint utilization facilities and equipment to resolve the difficulties faced by companies. am. In addition, small and medium-sized enterprises are having difficulty developing and commercializing plant-based meat substitutes due to a lack of technical skills, and related equipment is expensive, making it difficult to build equipment on their own. Accordingly, Jeollabuk-do is pursuing a strategy to secure the source technology for development, processing, and industrialization of plant-based substitute meat at the level of developed countries by establishing a plant-based alternative meat industrialization center. In this study, an economic feasibility analysis study was conducted when a plant-based alternative meat industrialization center is built in Jeollabuk-do. As a result of the analysis, B/C=1.32, NPV=374 million won, and IRR=4.8%, showing that there is economic feasibility in establishing an alternative meat industrialization center. In addition, as a result of analyzing the regional economic ripple effect resulting from the establishment of an industrialization center, if 38 billion won is invested in Jeollabuk-do, the nationwide production inducement effect is 74 billion won, the added value inducement effect is 29.8 billion won, and the employment inducement effect is 672 people