• World Technopolis Review
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.21-42
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• 2019

The purpose of this research was to investigate the factors influencing global expansion/scalability of Kenyan Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Factor analysis and multiple/multivariate regression analysis to determine the functional relationship between independent variables (factors) and the dependent variable was used. The independent variables were: innovation & technology, fitness/appropriateness of management, global marketing strategy; and support environment and the dependent variable, global expansion/scalability. Data was collected from a survey of randomly selected firms of 205, drawn from a population of 440 firms from Kenya Manufacturers Directory, with 175 firms responding. The key findings from the research in relation to Kenyan SMEs were that: there is a functional relationship between global market strategy and global expansion; there is a functional relationship between innovation and technology orientation and global expansion, there is no significant functional relationship between supportive environment of firms and their global expansion; and there is no significant functional relationship between fitness/appropriateness of management and global expansion/scalability. The implications for practice is that the ranking of the factors in order of priority supports focusing concern on the orientation of business strategy toward global market strategy, market research geared at obtaining foreign market intelligence, innovation and technology, product adaptation, service orientation, collaborative ventures, and long-range vision as key factors in making Kenyan firms successful in the international market. The implication for policy and practice is that there is need for collaboration between industry and government in pursuing policies for global expansion/scalability and among SMEs and large enterprises particularly in areas of rapid technological change.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.75-110
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• 2023

This paper aims at discussing the evolution of innovation theory from the beginning of the last century to present. Innovation theory has begun by Joseph Schumpeter in the beginning of the last century and his theory had not attained much attention compared to the mainstream economic theory. In the 1960s, some neo-classical economists analyzed the effect of technological change on economic growth and emphasized the role of demand in innovation process. However, in the beginning of the 1970s, Schumpeter's innovation theory, which emphasized the role of innovation and entrepreneurship in economic and social development, attained enormous attention by many liberal economists. They were called neo-Schumpeterians as they followed the theories and ideas of Schumpeter. In the middle of the 1980s, neo-Schumpeterians identified the concept of national innovation system(NIS), which is the total mobilization system of innovation resources for generating, appropriating and diffusing technological innovations. Soon this theory diffused very quickly at regional and sectoral level. As a result, there have been very active empirical studies on innovation systems in the world. Since the beginning of the 2000s the transition study have been actively carried out mainly in European countries. This study emphasizes the transition of existing innovation systems into more sustainable ones. In Korea we need to activate transition study, because there have been only few studies in this new theory.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.157-171
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• 2014

This study has empirically analyzed the effect of government technology development supports on the performance of SME's (Small-and-Medium-Sized Enterprises). To analyze the effects of government technology development supports on the performance of SME's, this paper collected data from 271 Korean SMEs and tested hypothesis on the key questions. The result shows that government technology development supports had a meaningful positive effect on the performance of SMEs in terms of innovation. It was also understood that the closer the ties were with large enterprises, the higher the R&D personnel ratio was. Furthermore, when the SME was a certified venture, the government technology development supports had less influence on the SME's technological innovation. On the other hand, SME's technological innovation performance in relation to the government supports showed an improvement when the business environment of SME's was hostile. This study offers theoretical and practical implications, as it more accurately analyses the effect of government technology development supports on the performance of SME's, for which data were collected and analyzed for the same companies two separate times. Last of all, the limitation of this study is discussed in terms of the sample selection, data collection method, variables measurement method, etc.

• Asian Journal of Innovation and Policy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.396-416
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• 2019

The key conditions for the promotion of innovative technology-based start-ups are expanding the market for innovative technology products and services, increasing equity-based funding opportunities, promoting the commercialization of technological innovation, and establishing a fair-trade system for start-ups to compete fairly in the market. Besides, there is a need for a support system that minimizes the cost of failure in case of business failure to facilitate re-challenge and provides education and training opportunities to enhance entrepreneurial capabilities. To activate technology-based start-ups, the Korean government introduced the TIPS policy in 2013. It is a program that creates technology start-up with private investment led by successful venture entrepreneurs, which has shown remarkable achievement and is regarded as the most successful policy in this field up to now. The most critical factor contributed to the success of this program is to invite private investors to select a technology entrepreneurship team and provide mentoring with the investment. The government provides R&D funding with matching investment, commercialization and marketing support to ensure that technology start-ups survive crossing the death-valley. Subsequent investments from domestic and abroad investors are actively made and it is becoming a representative technology-based start-up program in Korea.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2013

The purpose of study is to promote the development of medium size enterprises(MSE) by analyzing the causal relationship between technology acquisition strategy and firms' performance. In this study, we use the number of intellectual property, sales growth rates, and return on sales as proxy variables of technological and financial performances. This study includes internal R&D investment, cooperative R&D with academy, foreign technologies transferred, and their interaction effects as the independent variables. The results of study are as follows. Frist, R&D Investment, Foreign Technologies Transferred and their interaction effects are positively influence on technological performance. Second, Cooperative R&D with academy and the interaction effects of R&D Investment and Cooperative R&D with academy are negative influence on technological performance. On the other hand, all of the main independent variables and the interaction effects have non-significant relationships with financial performances. These results imply that technological innovation efforts of MSEs do not effectively increase their financial performances. Furthermore, technological supports of government and academy on MSEs' innovation do not effectively increase their innovation outputs. Finally, this study discussed its theoretical and practical implications and the limitations of the study.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.201-223
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• 2024

This study undertook an empirical analysis to examine the impact of various factors on entrepreneurial intention among young people, with a particular focus on the role of startup mentoring. Employing a survey distributed nationwide, data from 250 valid respondents were subjected to structural equation modeling to investigate these dynamics. The analysis uncovered that workplace stress, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control positively influence the entrepreneurial intentions of youth. Meanwhile, technological constraints negatively affected these intentions. The study did not explore the potential effects of future uncertainty and the burden of failure. Significantly, it was found that startup mentoring plays a crucial role in mitigating the negative impacts that may deter young individuals from pursuing entrepreneurship. Mentoring was instrumental in reducing negative influences, thereby fostering a more conducive environment for entrepreneurial ambition. By integrating the Push-Pull-Mooring (PPM) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) models, this research not only validates these frameworks within the context of youth entrepreneurship but also underscores the essential function of startup mentoring in enhancing entrepreneurial intentions. The insights from this study highlight the importance of mentoring programs in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit among the youth, suggesting that targeted mentoring support can play a pivotal role in overcoming barriers to entrepreneurship.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.193-216
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• 2020

Due to the recent mid- to long-term slump and falling growth rates in the global economy, interest in organizational structures that create new products or services as a new alternative to survive and develop in an opaque environment both internally and externally, and enhance organizational sustainability through changes in production methods and business innovation is increasing day by day. In this atmosphere, we agree that the growth of small and medium-sized venture companies has a significant impact on the national economy, and various efforts are being made to enhance the technological innovation capabilities of the members so that these small and medium-sized venture companies can enhance and sustain their performance. The purpose of this study is also to investigate how the technological innovation capabilities of small and medium-sized venture companies correlate with the performance of knowledge management and to analyze the role of network capabilities to organize the strategic activities of enterprise to obtain the resources and organizational capabilities to be used for value creation from external networks. In other words, research was conducted on the impact of technological innovation capabilities of small and medium venture companies on knowledge management performance by using network capabilities as parameters. Therefore, in this study, we would like to verify the hypothesis that innovation capabilities will have a positive impact on knowledge management performance by using network capabilities of small and medium venture companies. Economic activities based on technological innovation capabilities should respond quickly to new changes in an environment where uncertainty has increased, and lead to macro-economic growth and development as well as overcoming long-term economic downturns so that they can become the nation's new growth engine as well as sustainable growth and survival of the organization. In addition, this study was conducted by setting the most important knowledge management performance within the organization as a dependent variable. As a result, R&D and learning capabilities among technological innovation capabilities have no impact on financial performance. In contrast, it was shown that corporate innovation activities have a positive impact on both financial and non-financial performance. The fact that non-financial factors such as quality and productivity improvement are identified in the management of small and medium-sized venture companies utilizing their technological innovation capabilities is contrary to a number of studies by those corporate innovation activities affect financial performance during prior research. The reason for this result is that research companies have been out of start-up companies for more than seven years, but sales are less than 10 billion won, and unlike start-up companies, R&D and learning capabilities have more positive effects on intangible non-financial performance than financial performance. Corporate innovation activities have been shown to have a positive (+) impact on both financial and non-financial performance, while R&D and learning capabilities have a positive (+) impact on financial performance by parameters of network capability. Corporate innovation activities have been shown to have no impact on both financial and non-financial performance, and R&D and learning capabilities have no impact on non-financial performance. It could be seen that the parameter effects of network competency are limited to when R&D and learning competencies are derived from quantitative financial performance. It could be seen that the parameter effects of network competency are limited to when R&D and learning competencies are derived from quantitative financial performance.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.197-214
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• 2024

This study aimed to investigate students' perceptions at science and technology specialized universities towards entrepreneurship support policies and to derive policy improvement measures by applying a bottom-up approach to reflect the requirements of the policy beneficiaries, i.e., the students. Specifically, the research explored effective execution strategies for student entrepreneurship support policies through a survey and analysis of KAIST students. The findings revealed that KAIST students recognize the urgent need for improvement in sharing policy objectives with the student entrepreneurship field, reflecting the opinions of the campus entrepreneurship scene in policy formulation, and constructing an entrepreneurship-friendly academic system for nurturing student entrepreneurs. Additionally, there was a highlighted need for enhancement in the capacity of implementing agencies, as well as in marketing and market development capabilities, and organizational management and practical skills as entrepreneurs within the educational curriculum. Consequently, this study proposes the following improvement measures: First, it calls for enhanced transparency and accessibility of entrepreneurship support policies, ensuring students clearly understand policy objectives and can easily access information. Second, it advocates for student-centered policy development, where students' opinions are actively incorporated to devise customized policies that consider their needs and the actual entrepreneurship environment. Third, there is a demand for improving entrepreneurship-friendly academic systems, encouraging more active participation in entrepreneurship activities by adopting or refining academic policies that recognize entrepreneurship activities as credits or expand entrepreneurship-related courses. Based on these results, it is expected that this research will provide valuable foundational data to actively support student entrepreneurship in science and technology specialized universities, foster an entrepreneurial spirit, and contribute to the creation of an innovation-driven entrepreneurship ecosystem that contributes to technological innovation and social value creation.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.13-27
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• 2016

Companies strive to have the ability to flexibly respond to environmental changes in modern society with its rapidly changing business environment. That is, companies try to achieve the corporate performance by using a variety of strategies since companies that don't go along with changes in industry are likely to fall behind. Also, the corporate performance is a key element in national competitiveness, and government is willing to support companies to maximize their performance in various ways. This study examines whether there is a difference between corporate strategies and government policies according to the retention and the type of certification of innovation. The company's strategy configuration effort is largely divided into exploration and exploitation of external knowledge, while the government's policy is divided into direct support, indirect support, and financial support. The corporate performance is analyzed using technological performance; innovative perspective and the sales; and the actual corporate performance as proxy variables. As a result, the variable affecting the performance differs according to the retention of certification of innovation. The variable affecting the corporate performance differs according to the type of certification of innovation as well. Therefore, it was found that companies can achieve the corporate performance by considering the situation at hand and the differentiated action strategies depending on the type of certification of innovation.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-52
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• 2006

Industry-academy Collaboration alms to produce synergy-empowerment through co-opt between university and business within R&D and human resource management. The lack of indigenous R&D capabilities makes Korean small businesses not have sustainable competitive advantages. While the Korean government has increased the budgetary supports on small businesses since the late 1990s to enhance technological capabilities of small businesses, the competitiveness gap between large and small firms has been widened. The alternative for the government support is considered as active industry-academy collaboration. After exploring various policy measures for the collaboration with classifying them and pointing out their problems from a technological innovation perspective, this study shows the more expected roles of the collaboration to be a catalyst coordinating the R&D activities among the local small businesses, local universities, and public research institutes. Based upon the analyses, this study suggests several policy alternatives to facilitate the technological innovations of small businesses in the regional innovation clusters.