• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.153-165
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• 2018

There must be a balanced development of both conglomerates and small and mid-sized companies in order to secure constant economic growth and competitive edge of South Korea. Accordingly, high expectations are being placed on win-win growth and joint overseas expansion of conglomerates and small and mid-sized companies. This study seeks efficient ways to promote joint overseas expansion of major retailers and small and mid-sized companies considering the distinctiveness of home shopping by conducting interviews about joint overseas expansion of home shopping companies and small and mid-sized consumer goods companies in South Korea. To do this, interviews were conducted with three home shopping companies and three consumer goods SMEs operating in overseas markets. The results are as follows. Home shopping companies contribute to opening up overseas markets for small and mid-sized consumer goods companies, and allows them to make use of business and marketing competencies that they lack. Home shopping companies also produce visual materials or provide language translations, and help draw up documents for customs clearance in trading. They also form market development teams and provide information about the overseas markets. However, since the actual benefits from joint overseas expansion are minor for home shopping companies, there is a need for a strategy for win-win growth of both parties in the long run. To this end, it is necessary to provide substantial benefits to encourage joint overseas expansion. Ultimately, balanced development between home shopping companies and small- and medium-sized consumer goods companies should be promoted.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.199-210
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• 2015

This study analyzes various aspects of the successful overseas expansion of SMEs that export consumer goods with their own brands. Through in-depth interviews with CEOs and marketing practitioners of fifteen SMEs that export consumer goods of their own brands, researchers examined the determinants of the decisions to export own-brand products, forms of expansion into foreign markets, firms' distribution networks, firms' technological and marketing capabilities, export barriers, and export support services offered by the government. The results indicate that these companies obtained competitiveness in the design and quality of their products through steady R&D investment, with a focus on niche markets. This study also shows that they established foreign branches, participated in overseas trade fairs, and tapped into foreign markets with Korean home shopping channels and department stores to build distribution channels and to find new buyers. However, the findings of this study reveal that many of those companies export both OEM/OEM products as well as their own-brand products due to the low level of brand awareness in foreign markets. Thus, efforts to improve their brand awareness in the global market are much needed. In addition, this paper demonstrates that the programs and services provided by state-run organizations need improvement in credibility and expertise. This research suggests recommendations for successful export programs, and provides meaningful insights for consumer-goods SMEs establishing foreign market entry strategies with their own brands.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.121-134
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• 2015

This study empirically analyzed the effects of international entrepreneurial proclivity of exporting small and medium enterprises on corporate capability and export performance according to product type of industrial and consumer goods. International entrepreneurial proclivity of exporting small and medium enterprises consists of risk-taking, proactiveness, and innovativeness, and corporate capability consists of technological capability and product differentiation capability. Risk-taking, innovativeness, and proactiveness had a significant impact on technological capability in case of industrial goods, and in case of consumer goods, only risk-taking and innovativeness had significant impact. Product differentiation capability of consumer goods was significantly influenced by the order of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking while only innovativeness had a negative impact on industrial goods. When the impact of corporate capability on export performance was examined, only technological capability had a significant impact on both financial and strategic performance in case of industrial goods while both technological capability and product differentiation capability had significant impact in case of consumer goods. After examining the direct impact of international entrepreneurial proclivity on financial performance, it was found that financial performance in the case of industrial goods was significantly influenced by the order of proactiveness and risk-taking, and in the case of consumer goods by the order of innovativeness and proactiveness. However, the impact of international entrepreneurial proclivity on strategic performance showed different results. In case of industrial goods, only risk-taking had a significant impact on strategic performance while in the case of consumer goods it was significantly influenced by the order of innovativeness, proactivenesspro, and risk-taking. The direct impact of international entrepreneurial proclivity on export performance was different in case of financial and strategic performance, and there was difference regarding product type as well. It suggests that different approach is needed according to product type in order to increase export performance since the impact of international entrepreneurial proclivity on corporate capability, the impact of corporate capability on export performance, and the impact of international entrepreneurial proclivity on export performance were all different according to product type.