• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.108-127
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• 2021

Purpose - On the basis of knowledge transfer theory, we empirically explored how three types of human resource (HR) innovation knowledge exchange within a Chaebol drive the global subsidiary performance of the headquarters (HQ) of a Chaebol's globally affiliated companies. Design/methodology - Using a sample of 176 Korean HQ firms of the top 53 Chaebols and 1,061 of their foreign manufacturing subsidiaries (n = 1,061), we tested the relationship between the exchange of explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms of Chaebols, their subsequent transfer of technical HR knowledge via technical schemas, and the subsequent impact on the global subsidiary performance. Findings - The Chaebols' decisions about the three strategic knowledge management options (i.e., the degree of exchange of explorative and exploitative technological HR innovation knowledge and the extent of HQ-subsidiary HR knowledge transfer) have highly significant relationships with the global subsidiary performance. The results help explains the conditions under which the explorative versus exchange of exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge pays off by showing the moderating role of the degree of HQ-to-subsidiary technical HR knowledge transfer, at least in the case of the Chaebol as one representative type of the emerging-market business groups. Originality/value - As the first of its kind in the field of sustainable HR innovation knowledge management at the business group level, the present study makes a clear contribution in demonstrating how the performance of Chaebols' manufacturing subsidiaries depends greatly on their strategy for management of knowledge, as reflected in the choices they make about sharing both explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms and the subsequent transfer of HQ's sustainable HR innovation knowledge to the foreign subsidiaries.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.101-118
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• 1999

Factory automation(FA) is a part of technological innovation to make production process more efficient and it also facilitates technological innovation by accumulating the internalization ability of newly imported technology Introduction of FA, however, does not guarantee the increase of production efficiency and high product quality, moreover, the competitiveness of firm. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between firm's behavioral characteristics during implementation process of FA and organizational performance, and to find out success factors of FA. Results of the case studies for 4 SME's show that financial stability and the fitness between corporate strategy and the purpose of FA are the necessary conditions for successful implementation of FA. But the organizational restructuring for new manufacturing system, openness of all communication channels, and common mind of employees are also needed to achieve the high degree of performance from FA, especially the benefits of qualitative or organizational level.

• 한국벤처창업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.35-64
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• 2007

Despite the tremendous efforts to boost them, domestic SMEs lack competitive power and it intensifies bipolarization between the conglomerates and SMEs. Furthermore, degree of industry-academy collaboration still falls far behind of that of developed countries even with government' s various policies and continuous increase in investment to strengthen the SMEs' technology innovation capability. Although many internal factors are suggested to affect technological performance, focus of existing studies has been restricted to immediate impact of industry-academy collaboration on technology innovation and it is not known how internal factors are related. This research conducts empirical analysis on the impact of industry-academy collaborations and absorptive capacity on technological performance in Korean SMEs. Sample frame is SMEs with more than five employees located in the nation wide industrial complex and 1,077 questionnaires are collected with the help of Korea Industrial Complex Corporations. 940 sample data excluding those with insufficient response are used in analysis. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the industry-academy collaborations and innovative HRM system, on important dimension of absorptive capacity, are positively correlated to technological performance. Furthermore, there exists a positive interaction effect between industry-academy collaborations and innovative HRM system. These findings make contributions to the formation of SME innovation policy and management. When funding industry-academy collaborations, government should consider SMEs' internal effort for innovation, that is, the possession of innovative HRM system, as well as firm's technology capability. Also, as technological performance cannot be achieved simply with R&D investment, both quantitative and qualitative assessment of SMEs' technological capability should be done to evaluate the candidate SMEs. As for management, it is important for SMEs with limited internal resources and capabilities to fully employ external resources to achieve higher technological performance. The development of innovative HRM system will be particularly helpful not only for internal R&D, but also for adoption of technology and knowledge from outside.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technology Innovation Society Conference
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• 2017.05a
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• pp.357-391
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• 2017

In this study, we suggest a new perspective on the linkage between alliance portfolio diversity and innovation performance based on a contingency approach. Using a longitudinal data set on alliance portfolios and patents of 182 firms in the U.S. manufacturing industries, we examined that alliance portfolio diversity has a U-shaped relationship with firm-level innovation. Internal value creation capabilities in terms of routine and ability are found to moderate the relationship between alliance portfolio diversity and innovation performance: Organizational search routine strengthens the relationship of alliance portfolio diversity and innovation performance while technological capabilities weaken and flip the relationship.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.115-126
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of the factors that hinder innovation of SMEs on innovation activities of Korean firms. Many existing literature studies remain focused on factors that promote innovation activities. However, in order for companies to promote innovation, it is important to analyze the factors that hinder innovation as well as those that promote innovation. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between technological innovation inhibition factors and technological innovation performance of 4,075 SMEs in Korea using the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Policy statistical data. The research model and hypothesis test of this study consist of three stages. First, the reliability of the variables used was verified using exploratory factor analysis. Second, the proposed hypothesis was modeled using structural equation modeling. Finally, validity of the structural equation was verified using confirmatory factor analysis. As a result, the lack of need for innovation influenced innovation performance and the government support system mediated them. SMEs should establish technological innovation strategies to maximize the effect of technological innovation with limited resources, and government should make polices to promote innovation of SMEs. It's expected to be used in the case of establishing a support policy.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.118-143
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• 2008

This paper examines the effect of innovation strategy and R&D organization on the innovation performances in the Korean small and medium sized enterprises(SMEs). For the SMEs with limited resources and capabilities, the one of key strategic issues is to allocate innovation resources to the exploitation of existing technological capabilities and/or the exploration of new technological capabilities. Based upon survey data from 769 SMEs, this study investigated relationships among exploitation and exploration strategies, the existence of R&D organization, and innovation performance. Exploration is positively related to product and process innovation performances across the industrial sectors. However, exploitation is positively related only to the process innovation performance in the traditional manufacturing sectors. The existence of R&D organizations has positive effects on the product innovation performance and not on the process innovation performance. Finally, it discusses the managerial implications, the limitations of this study and the future research directions.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.1212-1242
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• 2017

In this study, the effectiveness of the innovative company certification system, which is one of the important means of the SME innovation promotion policies, was examined in terms of technological innovation activity and performance. To this end, we used the results of 'SME Technology Statistical Survey' conducted by the Small and Medium Business Administration and the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business in 2013~2015 to compare the innovative SMEs that have received the certifications such as Venture Certification, Innobiz Certification, and Mainbiz Certification with the general SMEs that did not. As a result, it was found that the innovative SMEs have comparative advantage in many detailed indicators related to the technological innovation activity and performance. However, the ratio of external use of R&D expenditure, the number of technology development attempts and the number of successes were not different according to the survey year, so it is necessary to strengthen the follow-up management of the system. On the other hand, the proportion of self-procurement R&D expenditure of the general SMEs was significantly higher than that of the innovative SMEs in all three-year surveys. Therefore, it is necessary to regulate the government funding for the innovative SMEs to be used as a complementary material, not as a substitute for their own R&D investment. In addition, the technological innovation activity and performance of a company were more influenced by the size of the company and the participating industry rather than by the certification, so it is necessary to consider it when establishing the technology innovation promotion policies.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.263-274
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• 2014

The present study is aimed at examining in multilateral ways the structural relationship among technological orientation, market orientation and product development performance of manufacturing companies, which are deemed to be key factors for them to increase absorptive capacities. From the study, it was revealed that: First, in terms of the relationship between market orientation and absorptive capacities, it was made clear by the analysis that the market orientation sought after by manufacturing companies has influence upon their absorptive capacities. Second, with regard to the relationship between technological orientation and absorptive capacities of manufacturing companies, the analysis found that the technological orientation pursued by them affects their absorptive capacities. Third, as for the relationship between absorptive capacities and product development performance, the analysis made it clear that the absorptive capacities of manufacturing companies exerts influence upon their product development performance. Fourth, in respect to the relationship between market orientation and product development performance, it was concluded from the analysis that market orientation produces effect upon product development performances like technological innovation and acquisition of new technologies needed for product development. Finally, regarding the relationship between technological orientation and product development performance of manufacturing companies, it became obvious from the analysis that the technological orientation affects the product development performance.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.139-150
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• 2017

In Korea, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an pivotal role in the national economy, accounting for 99.9% of all enterprises, 87.9% of total employment, and 48.3% of production. In spite of their crucial role in the national development, most of SMEs suffer from a lack of R&D related resources. Public R&D organizations such as government-funded research institutes can provide SMEs with valuable supplementary technological knowledge and help them build technological capacity. In this regard, this study estimated the effect of internal R&D investment and private-public R&D cooperation on technological innovation of ICT SMEs based on 2016 ETRI Survey. Building on previous literatures, the study established and tested a research model using binary logistic regression analysis. First, internal R&D investment and preferences for open innovation demonstrated the strengthening of R&D collaboration. Second, internal R&D investment and R&D cooperation showed a positive effect on both product and process innovation. Therefore, internal R&D capability and taking advantage of R&D collaboration are needed to achieve technological innovation for SMEs in ICT sector. This study also discuss implications for encouraging private-public R&D cooperation.

• IE interfaces
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.125-139
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• 2003

This paper reports an empirical study on assessment of R&D best practices. The principles of quality management and their tools such as best practices or benchmarking have been so prevailing in the operational process that the R&D management recently consider extensive use of them for their innovation process. However, characteristics of the two processes may be different each other. Are the principles or the tools that were effective in the operational field still going to be effective in the innovative field? In order to answer the question, we statistically examine how R&D best practices contribute to the innovative performance. Upon literature review on technological innovation, we present a R&D process model whereby we set forth research hypotheses. Using data from 66 successful R&D efforts carried out among Korean firms mostly between 1999-2001, regression analyses reveal that best practices used in most stages throughout the R&D process are found not to significantly contribute to the innovative performance. Only those in technology strategy and prototyping stages are proven effective for technical and commercial performance respectively. Interestingly, efforts in a problem solving and improvement stage are counterproductive in the case of the innovation process. Discussions on our empirical observations are presented followed by some managerial implications.