• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2019

Purpose - This case study illustrates the story of eBay Korea, which owns two most leading Korean open market companies, AUCTION and Gmarket. The main concerns are to take over the Korean top domestic companies one by one, then, emerge these two giants through its well-developed post-merger Integration by eBay, an American multinational corporation. Research design, data, and methodology - This case explores various secondary resources such as periodicals, annual reviews, magazine, news articles, commentaries, even some interview materials related to 'eBay Korea' and industry source on condition of anonymity based on the critical reviewing of existing studies on these topics as well. Results - The findings of this study show the merger and acquisition of two market leaders in Korea is the only successful case in Asian Markets. The eBay's choice of entry mode is appropriate considering the timing, synergy and efficiency by sharing their resources. Conclusions - This study examines the successful entry and settlement process of foreign, multinational company through mergers and acquisitions in the Korean market. This would be a valuable in the studies of International Business and Global entry or distribution strategy in the e-commerce and open market dealing with M&A and its post-merger integration.

• International Journal of Internet, Broadcasting and Communication
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.269-279
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• 2024

The study explores the evolving landscape of overseas expansion strategies by Korean corporations, focusing on recent geopolitical tensions, the COVID-19 pandemic, and disruptions in global supply chains. It emphasizes the challenges faced by industries producing high-value products and delves into the concept of "Friend-Shoring" policies in the United States, leading major Korean companies to invest in local semiconductor, battery, and automotive factories. Recognizing the potential fragmentation of Korea's manufacturing sector, the paper introduces the "Mother Factory" strategy as a policy initiative, inspired by Japan's model, to establish core production facilities domestically. The discussion unfolds by examining the cases of major companies in Japan and the United States, highlighting the need for Korea to adopt a mother factory strategy to mitigate risks associated with friend-shoring policies. Inspired by Intel's "Copy Exactly" approach, the paper proposes a Korean mother factory model integrating smart factory technology and digital twin systems. This strategic shift aims to enhance responsiveness to geopolitical challenges and fortify the competitiveness of Korean high-tech industries. Finally, the paper proposes a Korean Mother Factory based on smart factory concepts. The suggested model integrates smart factory technology and digital twin frameworks to enhance responsiveness and fortify competitiveness. In conclusion, the paper advocates for the adoption of a comprehensive Korean Mother Factory model to address contemporary challenges, foster advanced manufacturing, and ensure the sustainability and competitiveness of Korean high-tech industries in the global landscape. The proposed strategy aligns with the evolving dynamics of the manufacturing sector and emphasizes technological advancements, collaboration, and strategic realignment.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.64-82
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• 2019

Purpose - This study's the ultimate goal is to analyze competitiveness improvement on multinational enterprises as firstly providing which factors are to strengthen or weaken competitiveness, secondly investigating if hypotheses development and research design is correct and thirdly finding significant implications for research and practices across country specific advantage. Design/methodology - Using feedback data provided by 250 firms, we extracted variable factors and hypotheses, which were empirically carried out by reliability and validity testing, correlation analysis, path analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis to prove which factors are to make the positive effect on the improvement of overseas subsidiaries' management performance and competitiveness. Findings - Through proceeding empirical analysis study, we found out that technology management capability, knowledge management capability, and local management capability had a statistically significant effect on the improvement of overseas subsidiaries' competitiveness, while linked activity capability revealed a negative effect. Originality/value - During business globalization, overseas investments and establishment of overseas subsidiaries have been essential. It is anticipated that this study results would be meaningful for analysis on multinational enterprises' competitiveness and helpful in promoting their entry into Korean market and enhancing their competitiveness. This paper would also help Korea government develops new FDI model and induce more investment from global major companies to Korea region.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.145-161
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• 2022

For multinational manufacturers, China is an attractive consumer market, but the unique attributes and tastes of Chinese customers present challenges in achieving desired investment performance. In this paper, the influence (mediating function) of consumer-centered market orientation adopted as a strategic means by multinational companies entering China on investment performance was examined utilizing samples collected through questionnaires and statical analysis through structural equation models. This paper, based on value chain and product attributes, divided market orientation into two types: production impacted market orientation and service impacted market orientation. The empirical analysis results of 233 samples showed that, service impacted market orientation with downstream activities and support service (as a variable) has a greater impact on investment performance than production impacted market orientation with upstream activities and product attributes. This indicates to managers that focusing on service impacted market orientation when implementing consumer-centered marketing strategies in the Chinese local market is an efficient/effective localization strategy to increase expected investment performance.

• Journal of Information Technology Applications and Management
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.131-152
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• 2015

Environmental differences across countries such as socio-cultural, political, economic, and technological differences require business strategies of multinational corporations to vary business practices across regions. Despite the keen awareness of the necessity for strategic adaptation to local context, IS management and strategy tend to remain similar across countries. One of the reasons is to maintain the stability and compatibility of information technology infrastructure. After a careful observation of retail business practice, this study finds IS strategy should also be highly responsive to the local context. This study shows how information resources including systems architecture, processes, human resources, and national context are interlinked together. Despite global excellence in general systems management, failure in such alignment can be a serious problem in extending competitive advantages across regions. This study aims to reveal issues to be taken care of in order to accomplish global technological alignment. Results of this study provide senior management with guidelines and a framework for aligning IT with regional strategic thrust that can improve local responsiveness of multinational companies.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.10
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• pp.45-50
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• 2015

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine IKEA in the context of corporate social responsibility to determine the reasons, if any, as to why IKEA has had more success in the implementation of its CSR policies and Code of Conduct where many other multinational companies seem to have failed. Research Design and Methodology - This is a case study, an analytical approach, which focuses on exploring and analyzing the CSR policies to measure IKEA's ethical behavior in a business environment. Results - IKEA stands out as a multinational company whose CSR policies are ingrained into the business itself as a part of its ethical operations, rather than a marketing event. Conclusion - Beyond profit, IKEA actively works together with its suppliers and the nation states to eradicate the harmful social causes of the various challenges it faces in the global business environment.

• East Asian Economic Review
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.139-154
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• 2012

This paper provides a theoretical setup for an analysis of strategic relationships inherent to activities of an innovative multinational enterprise (MNE) and a local company in a host country. Additionally, we explore the incentives of the host country's government to provide subsidies to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) and to protect outcomes of R&D activities conducted by the MNE. We show that the MNE's commercial interests may collide with local companies' over protection of IPRs. Therefore, the extent of knowledge spillovers from the MNE to the local company and the magnitude of incentives to the MNE perform a crucial function in determining the optimal policy mix of IPR protection and FDI subsidies of the host country's government.

• Educational Technology International
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.69-92
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• 2006

The research question in this study was to see whether there were similarities and differences in HR practices of IT-based companies in Korea. Interviews with 12 HR executives and a survey of 51 IT-based companies showed that there were IT industry-specific HR practices, but no group differences except one. The only one difference between two groups (small- and medium-sized firms versus multinational corporations) indicated that the latter was better positioned in various HR practices. Four HR themes emerged from analyses of interviews and a survey data: business environment, workforce management, HR practices, and HR for competitive advantage. The fact that none from large companies was found to have female HR executive calls for an in-depth study of what is occurring and what could be done to better the workplace in terms of diversity. A large-scale study using diverse methods in the future will produce more meaningful findings on HR practices in IT-based firms in Korea.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.7 no.11
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• pp.905-913
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• 2020

Internationalization of multinational companies in the globalized context is a popular topic in the academic world and it is also a strong concern of CEO/managers. However, this topic has not been well discussed in the academic community in Vietnam that can be contextualized in the typical transition economy. This paper is designed to explore critical success factors (CSF) of internationalization of large Vietnamese companies that have contributed major revenue from the international market. Through interviews with CEO/managers of successful companies geared toward world markets, the CSFs of internationalization have been identified and categorized into groups in which each CSF has interaction with each other, and together have combined impacts on the success of internationalization. The research results provide a conceptual framework to analyze factors affecting internationalization of large Vietnamese companies. Thank to this conceptual framework, further exploratory and/or confirmatory research can be developed to locate more success factors of internationalization. In addition, some particularly critical factors of internationalization success of Vietnamese companies are found to be useful to both CEO/managers and policymakers. CEO/managers can benefit from the research results by concentrate their limited efforts/resources in managing these CSFs, and policymaker may design CSF-based policies to boost the internationalization of domestic companies.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• v.1
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• pp.441-446
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• 2006

The world economy has came into unlimited competition with globalization since 1990. Opening markets to the world is in progress through the expansion of world free trade and internationalization of multinational enterprises. In the maritime transportation for world trade, shipping companies pursue "Hub & Spoke" strategy so a port which is not able to be located as a hub port is degraded as a feeder port. To attract shipping companies, it is necessary for existing ports to provide differentiated service. This paper devises marketing strategies for a competitive port after evaluating relation among the factors affecting port selection when a shipping company chooses a port of call. On the basis of determinants derived from existing researches, we study the relation as well as importance among the factors of port selection.