• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.25-37
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• 2017

The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of the growing activities of large purchasing enterprises on the trust of small and medium size contractors, which is mediated by 'purchase accompany activity'. This subject study includes the first and second contractor companies in Korea. The results of this study are as follow. First, the knowledge and cost price sharing activities of major purchase vendor with cooperative company had a positive effect on the trust of cooperative company, however this was not so with the information sharing activities in that case. Second, the trust of contractors on large purchasing enterprises was positively influenced by sharing activities with purchasing activities of major company. Third, the knowledge and cost price sharing activities of purchasing enterprise with contractors on the sharing activities were mediated by the trust of contracting company on the large purchase enterprise. According to this study, the mediated effect of trust relationship can influence a contracting company. Whereas preceding studies of sharing activities were conducted about unidirectional instruct of large purchase enterprises to small and medium size contracting companies, this study was conducted on bidirectional effects, which included knowledge, cost price, information sharing activities between contracting companies and large purchasing enterprises. Conclusively, this study showed the possibility of spreading cognitive and change about mutual benefits strategy between small and medium size contracting company and large purchasing enterprise.

• Journal of Industrial Convergence
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.87-94
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• 2020

This paper belongs in a literature of sustainablity policy determination. This paper offers an actual status and explanation to corporate social responsibility of SMEs in Korea. This study examines CSR situation focused on developing mechanisms to enable the SMEs sector. Firstly, this study suggests introducing the third-party professional assurance service on sustainablity reports and/or asking global accreditation such as ISO14001 and ISO26000 when entry as a provider in government e-procurement system. Secondly, this study introduce the CSR Committee headed by the CEO and coordinates group-wide committees to discuss the CSR Guidelines. Third, because CSR does not only have to do with the SMEs, but pertains to the local community and business partner, this study offered the opportunity to work with large companies in aspects of CSR.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.51-70
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• 2021

This study measured the environmental efficiency of 21 international airports based on sustainability reports issued by each airport for 2018. As many sectors in the industry paid attention to social and environmental responsibilities, airport operators comprise one of the leading sectors that streamlined their facilities to become increasingly sustainable and environmental. Nevertheless, studies on the environmental operations of airports are insufficient compared with studies on economic or operational efficiency. Therefore, the current study aims to determine any possible improvement in the environmental inefficiency of airports with the utilization of directional distance function (DDF) and to examine operational efficiency with the application of the data envelopment analysis (DEA). The majority of airports have operated their facilities efficiently, but not all have effectively managed pollutants generated by airports. Furthermore, many airports can still potentially reduce CO₂ and water consumption. This study suggests several implementable environmental improvements to the aviation sector. Moreover, other industrial sectors may use the research as a benchmark for enhancing environmental efficiency.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.37 no.4_spc
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• pp.786-793
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• 2024

Latin America is a culturally, geographically, politically, and economically diverse region. Agriculture in Latin America is marked by a remarkable diversity of production systems, reflecting various agroecological zones, farm sizes, and technological levels. In the last decade, the swine industry increased by 30.6%, emerging as a great contributor to food security and economic development in Latin America. Brazil and Mexico dominate the pig production landscape, together accounting for 70% of sow inventory in the region. The swine industry in Latin America is predominantly comprised of small and medium-sized farms, however, in the past 30 years, the number of pig producers in Brazil dropped by 78%, whereas pork production increased by 326%. Similar to the global pork industry, the growing demand for pork, driven by population growth and changing dietary habits, presents an opportunity for the industry with an expected growth of 16% over the next decade. The export prospects are promising, however subject to potential disruptions from global market conditions and shifts in trade policies. Among the challenges faced by the swine industry, disease outbreaks, particularly African Swine Fever (ASF), present significant threats, necessitating enhanced biosecurity and surveillance systems. In 2023, ASF was reported to the Dominican Republic and Haiti, Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) in Mexico, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Venezuela, and Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea (PED) in Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, and Ecuador. Additionally, feed costs, supply chain disruptions, and energy expenses have affected mainly the smaller and less efficient producers. The swine industry is also transitioning towards more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices, including efficient feed usage, and precision farming. Ensuring long-term success in the swine industry in Latin America requires a holistic approach that prioritizes sustainability, animal welfare, and consumer preferences, ultimately positioning the industry to thrive in the evolving global market.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.103-117
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• 2022

The recent corporate economy, such as the COVID 19 pandemic that has spread all over the world since the beginning of 2020, the acceleration of the 4th industrial revolution, and supply chain management risks triggered by the US-China conflict and the Ukraine crisis, is more serious than ever before. CEOs who have started and managed small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are more concerned than ever about the sustainability of their businesses in this reality. Nevertheless, there were few empirical studies on the factors that influence the intention of SME CEOs to discontinue business. In this study, the perception of the business environment of SMEs (intensity of competition in key business areas, difficulty in manpower management), corporate competency (employee competency, company product or service competitiveness, supply chain and consumer relations, digital competency and technical expertise), and CEO's competency(trust between employees and the CEO, management competency and perceived health status of CEO) on CEO's intention to discontinue business was discussed. As a result of the study, the intensity of competition in the main business field, and the difficulty in manpower management had a positive (+) effect on the intention to discontinue the business, and the employee competency, product (service) competitiveness, digital competency of the company, and the CEO's Health status had a negative (-) effect on intention to discontinue business. The relationship between these influences was found in the order of CEO's health status, product competitiveness, employee competency, digital competency, competitive strength in the main business, and difficulty in manpower management. It was analyzed that supply chain and consumer relations, trust between employees and the CEO, and management capabilities did not significantly affect the intention to discontinue business. On the other hand, business confidence has a mediating effect between the intensity of competition in the main business field, the difficulty in manpower management, product or service competitiveness, digital competency, trust between employees and the CEO, and the management capability and intention to discontinue business was tested. This study had academic significance in that it empirically analyzed factors related to intention to discontinue business targeting small and medium-sized business CEOs. In practice, as it has been found that business environment awareness, corporate competency, managerial competency, and business confidence are factors that influence the intention to discontinue business, if an action ideas that can reinforce this part can be found, SMEs can achieve sustainable growth or it may help CEO find an meaningful exit.

• Clean Technology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2022

Research and development of biofuels as one of the means to mitigate global warming and to avoid fossil fuel depletion has occurred for more than 30 years. However, there has only been limited distribution of a few first- and second-generation biofuels, and widespread supply and consumption of biofuels is still far from a reality. Although a relatively recently studied third-generation biofuel derived from seaweed biomass has been shown to have many advantages, it is yet to be deployed in commercial-scale seaweed biorefineries. This review paper examines the advantages and disadvantages of seaweed biorefineries for the entire value chain covering from seaweed and its cultivation to biofuel production based on an extensive literature search and the author's experience of conducting feasibility studies pertaining to seaweed biorefineries for over 10 years. For this purpose, the literature survey will cover the current status of seaweed production and its research and development worldwide, conversion technologies for biofuel production from seaweed based on bench-scale experiments, and large-scale techno-economic feasibility studies for seaweed conversion to biofuels and bioenergy. In addition, the main problems expected with the commercialization of seaweed-based biofuels will be identified. Finally, the current status of seaweed biorefinery technology and the author's views on its promising future will be summarized.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2024

Car-sharing is a representative model of the sharing economy, and it is a service that rents or uses a car for the necessary time without owning a car. This industry is growing due to various factors such as technological advances, increasing awareness of environmental protection, and increasing demand for solving traffic congestion problems in cities. Accordingly, there is a need for a strategic approach for companies providing car-sharing services to respond quickly to market changes in order to expand market share and differentiate services. Accordingly, this study conducted a case study on open innovation activities between Gongcar and existing rental car companies, focusing on the research question "What effects do open innovation activities between car-sharing companies and existing rental car companies cause?" As a result of the study, it was confirmed that Gongcar have (1) the ability to actively respond to market fluctuations by establishing a flexible vehicle supply chain based on demand, (2) have significantly reduced growth capital expenditure (Growth Capex), and both cafe and rental car companies have (3) performed successful open innovation by improving key KPI indicators and recording financial performance. This study reveals how open innovation acts as a key business growth engine in the car-sharing industry, and its significance is found in that it empirically confirmed the successful implementation conditions of open innovation based on resource dependence theory.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.231-241
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• 2024

Discovering innovative startups that use public technologies from universities and government-funded research institutes is crucial for maintaining national competitiveness. Advancing public R&D technology, discovering entrepreneurs from research institutes, and fostering and investing in deep-tech startups are very important at the national level. However, there is a lack of research on activating startups using public technologies, and research analyzing each governance entity is needed to activate the innovation startup ecosystem. Therefore, this study conducted an empirical analysis of the priorities for revitalizing the innovation startup ecosystem among researchers, research institutes, innovative startups, and the government, which constitute the public technology governance. The results of this study revealed that the sustainability of innovative startups (0.308), government innovation startup activation (0.298), research institutions discovering and fostering startups (0.221), and researcher's characteristics (0.173) were the most significant factors in the public R&D technology innovation startup ecosystem. And the sub-factors of researcher's characteristics, seizing business opportunities (0.305) was most important, and creating a startup-friendly culture (0.293) was most important among the sub-factors of research institutions discovering and fostering startups. Investment funds and procurement (0.373) was the most critical sub-factor for the sustainability of innovative startups, while a dedicated fund for public technology (0.305) was the most important among the sub-factors of government schemes for promoting innovative startups. A total of 20 factors were analyzed sequentially according to their importance in the weights for evaluation factors and sub-factors. By sub-factor, investment and financing for innovative startups (0.115), dedicated government fund for public technology (0.091), securing high-quality human resources for innovative startups (0.078), improving government regulations and permits related to innovative technologies (0.074), and creating a startup-friendly culture in research institutions (0.065) were the most important. This result emphasizes the significance of securing competitiveness to become a sustainable public technology startup. In addition, based on entrepreneurship experience, 'dedicated funding for public technology' was most important for the group with startup experience, while the group with no experience needed more 'investment and funding'. Furthermore, By region, 'improving government regulations and permits' was the highest priority in the Seoul metropolitan area, while 'attracting investment and financing' was the most important in Daejeon. Therefore, the results of this research, it is important to give policy priority to innovative startup companies in order to activate the innovation startup ecosystem in the public technology sector. The political and practical implications were derived that long-term (10 years or more) investment and funding for deep tech companies and the establishment of public technology-only funds are the most urgent and important.