• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.241-248
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• 2021

Firms have many ways to expand their businesses including M&A. Big companies in online and offline businesses show different ways of expansion with different objectives to expand their digital businesses quickly. Expansions for technical reasons are to acquire technologies they do not have while those for business reasons are M&A for offline companies to have competence in markets by acquiring online companies. Other ways of expansions include spin-off and group participation after investments for startups. Various ways of expansions are chosen because they are optimal choices depending on situations the companies face, and they have different strengths and weaknesses. To analyze the strengths and weaknesses of those options for expansion at this stage would be academically valuable, and also practically meaningful in terms of providing insights for companies' decision making in choosing opitions for expansions. M&A of online companies to make multi-channels by offline companies have risks of failing to internalize online companies and have enough synergy effects. Also, spin-off is a relatively less risky way of expansion while the speed of expansion is slower than establishing external startups with some shares of equity and making them as affiliated companies. External startups are good for speed of expansion while there are risks of legal regulations and negative awareness by the public.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.177-205
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• 2022

Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have strong incentives to engage in open innovation to enhance innovation efficiency and effectiveness due to their 'liability of smallness.' Previous research examined the performance effects of various open innovation practices, but whether coupled open innovation practices positively affect SMEs' firm performance is somewhat controversial. To resolve the issue, this study examined the effects of coupled open innovation activities on SMEs' firm performance using Heckman's two stage model to control endogeneity of the firms' self-selection bias in open innovation engagement. This study used the Korean Innovation Survey (KIS) 2020 collected by the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI), and tested the effects of SMEs' coupled open innovation activities, R&D and non-R&D cooperation, on their innovative and financial performance indicators. The results showed that SMEs' R&D cooperation positively affects the new-to-market (NTM) product innovation only. Moreover, SMEs' non-R&D cooperation has positive effects on the product innovation, business process innovation, new-to-the-market product innovation, and new-to-firm (NTF) product innovation. However, the results showed that both R&D and non-R&D innovation cooperation activities have no significant effects on SMEs' financial performance indicators. This study contributes to research on SMEs' open innovation and provides insights for SMEs' managers and policymakers.

• Journal of Practical Engineering Education
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.601-608
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• 2022

This study examines the current status of smart manufacturing innovation policies in Germany and Korea, compares and analyzes the supply industry strategies of both countries, and suggests the direction for Korea's smart manufacturing innovation supply industry. Germany's supply industry strategy aims to strengthen the market dominance of domestic suppliers through high technology, compatibility, and high reliability based on reference for global demanding companies. On the other hand, the Korea's supply industry strategy remains at the level improvement of the demanding companies by stage, so it is time to take a long-term and consistent response with the goal of implementing smartization at the advanced level. By referring to Germany's supply industry strategy for the advancement of smart factories, it was intended to help in establishing government support policies and supplier strategies. In addition, based on the analysis results of the supply industry strategies of both countries, improvement measures for the advancement of Korea's smart factories were presented. Ultimately, the contents of this study can be used as basic data for policy establishment to strengthen the industrial competitiveness of Korea's small and medium-sized suppliers.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.785-796
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• 2023

The adoption of Environmental, Social, and Governance(ESG) practices in domestic construction firms is predominantly driven by major corporations. These companies not only publish reports on their ESG management but also engage in a meticulous process of identifying key issues and setting priorities. This process entails an in-depth evaluation of the severity of various issues and the gathering of insights from experts in the field. Interestingly, a comparative analysis of ESG assessments for construction companies, both domestically and internationally, reveals significant discrepancies in outcomes. These differences stem from the varied evaluation methodologies and criteria employed by different assessing bodies. Addressing this gap, our study proposes a suite of strategies aimed at bolstering ESG management within the construction sector. We advocate for enhanced policy support and financial backing, especially targeting small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) to facilitate their engagement in ESG practices. A critical step forward involves the standardization and transparent disclosure of ESG evaluation criteria, tailored to reflect the unique aspects of the construction industry. Moreover, the standardization and publication of ESG assessments for subcontractors are essential, equipping them with the necessary tools for effective ESG management and evaluation. Given the global nature of construction projects, particularly those commissioned by the European Union in regions like Africa and East Asia, adherence to ESG standards is imperative. Our long-term vision includes the development of a comprehensive database detailing ESG regulations and their impacts, segmented by region and country. This repository will serve as a valuable resource for companies venturing into international construction projects.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.21-37
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• 2018

Under ubiquitous work environment, innovative changes occur in work process with ICT. The work process for collaboration through mobile devices and network should be investigated. The research model consists of two major antecedents: autonomy and interdependence as a task characteristic and job satisfaction as ultimate consequence followed by work design theory. To elaborate work design theory, smartwork application (app) use, communication extent, and work-life balance were reviewed from the literature. Data were collected from three ICT firms, which adopted certain smartwork app, and a partial least squares analysis was made on 175 data points. The analysis results show that task interdependence exerts a statistically significant effect on the level of smartwork app usage. Communication extent directly affects job satisfaction and work-life balance. The remarkable point is that smartwork app usage does not affect employees' work-life balance; the former can only affect the latter indirectly by increasing communication extent. This study attempts to explain the organizational impact by considering smartwork app and the effects simultaneously. We proposed and empirically tested the extended work design theory including information technology and its environment. Based on the results, other theoretical and practical contributions are discussed at the end with limitations and further studies.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.81-95
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• 2024

This study empirically analyzed the effectiveness of government financial support policies for venture enterprises in the Daejeon region, using raw data obtained from the Small and Medium Venture Business Administration's survey results from 2016 to 2021. Daejeon, considering its economic significance, has a significant proportion of venture enterprises in its economy compared to the national average, with a focus on technological development. Conducting regression analysis yielded several key findings. Firstly, loan and guarantee support is effective for improving sales and market share, while R&D support is effective for technological development. Second, R&D and loan support have the most significant impact on sales in the fourth stage (maturity), while guarantee support is most influential in the third stage. Third, in industry analysis, the coefficients representing the effects of financial support were larger across all performance indicators compared to firm level data analysis. Based on these empirical analysis results, the study proposes several policy implications as follows. First, the government should actively provide funding support to venture companies rather than leaving investments to the capital market. Second, the methods and targets of funding support should vary according to the purpose of the support. Third, it is necessary to establish a platform that connects venture companies with private investors to commercialize developed technologies. Fourth, the funding support of venture capital for technology-intensive venture companies should be expanded.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.235-259
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• 2014

New product or new technology developments are directly linked to a firm's survival and thus their performance and improvement are gaining attention in the midst of rapidly changing business environment and aggravating competition. However, despite SMEs' significance in the national economy, they are limited in terms of size and resources in possession, so the government provides a variety of supports as a policy. According to a study on the organizational life cycle, a firm's limits and difficulties differ by growth stage, so the supports need to be tailored. Based on the data from 2,575 firms that responded to the "2011 SMEs Technological Statistics," how technological capability level and deviation in the R&D process affect the R&D sales performance was studied. The result of analysis revealed that the technological capability has a positive impact on the R&D sales performance. It was also learned that the relationship between deviation in the technological capability and R&D sales performance was moderated by the government support. For the hypothesis that the government support would have a different moderating effect by growth stage for the impact the technology level has on the R&D sales performance, the empirical analysis showed a different meaningful moderating effect for each growth stage. The theoretical implications of the study are that, instead of a simple relation of dynamics that does not take the growth stages into account, it suggested a more realistic causal relationship model that reflects the complex environment the SMEs are in and that the need for measuring and using the deviation in technological capability as a research variable has been justified. The practical implications are that the government policy for supports can be tailored to a growth stage and that the guidelines have been suggested to effectively use the government funding by encouraging the SMEs in a different growth stage to adapt to the customized policy.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.191-204
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• 2010

Recently, the CO2 emission and energy consumption have become critical global issues to decide the future of nations. Especially, the spread of IT products and the increased use of internet and web applications result in the energy consumption and CO2 emission of IT industry though information technologies drive global economic growth. EU, the United States, Japan and other developed countries are using IT related environmental regulations such as WEEE(Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), RoHS(Restriction of the use of Certain Hazardous Substance), REACH(Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of CHemicals) and EuP(Energy using Product), and have established systematic green business/IT strategies to enhance the competitiveness of IT industry. For example, the Japan government proposed the "Green IT initiative" for being compatible with economic growth and environmental protection. Not only energy saving technologies but energy saving systems have been developed for accomplishing sustainable development. Korea's CO2 emission and energy consumption continuously have grown at comparatively high rates. They are related to its industrial structure depending on high energy-consuming industries such as iron and steel Industry, automotive industry, shipbuilding industry, semiconductor industry, and so on. In particular, export proportion of IT manufacturing is quite high in Korea. For example, the global market share of the semiconductor such as DRAM was about 80% in 2008. Accordingly, Korea needs to establish a systematic strategy to respond to the global environmental regulations and to maintain competitiveness in the IT industry. However, green competitiveness of Korea ranked 11th among 15 major countries and R&D budget for green technology is not large enough to develop energy-saving technologies for infrastructure and value chain of low-carbon society though that grows at high rates. Moreover, there are no concrete action plans in Korea. This research aims to deduce the priorities of the Korean green business/IT strategies to use multi attribute weighted average method. We selected a panel of 19 experts who work at the green business related firms such as HP, IBM, Fujitsu and so on, and selected six assessment indices such as the urgency of the technology development, the technology gap between Korea and the developed countries, the effect of import substitution, the spillover effect of technology, the market growth, and the export potential of the package or stand-alone products by existing literature review. We submitted questionnaires at approximately weekly intervals to them for priorities of the green business/IT strategies. The strategies broadly classify as follows. The first strategy which consists of the green business/IT policy and standardization, process and performance management and IT industry and legislative alignment relates to government's role in the green economy. The second strategy relates to IT to support environment sustainability such as the travel and ways of working management, printer output and recycling, intelligent building, printer rationalization and collaboration and connectivity. The last strategy relates to green IT systems, services and usage such as the data center consolidation and energy management, hardware recycle decommission, server and storage virtualization, device power management, and service supplier management. All the questionnaires were assessed via a five-point Likert scale ranging from "very little" to "very large." Our findings show that the IT to support environment sustainability is prior to the other strategies. In detail, the green business /IT policy and standardization is the most important in the government's role. The strategies of intelligent building and the travel and ways of working management are prior to the others for supporting environment sustainability. Finally, the strategies for the data center consolidation and energy management and server and storage virtualization have the huge influence for green IT systems, services and usage This research results the following implications. The amount of energy consumption and CO2 emissions of IT equipment including electrical business equipment will need to be clearly indicated in order to manage the effect of green business/IT strategy. And it is necessary to develop tools that measure the performance of green business/IT by each step. Additionally, intelligent building could grow up in energy-saving, growth of low carbon and related industries together. It is necessary to expand the affect of virtualization though adjusting and controlling the relationship between the management teams.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.79-106
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• 2016

Service innovation is one means of gaining an advantage in a highly competitive environment. Although numerous studies have stressed the importance of service innovation, traditional good-dominant logic is still used in service innovation literature. Furthermore, few studies have been conducted on the link between service innovation and its antecedents in terms of service-oriented approach. To fill the gap, this article theoretically and empirically examines service innovation and its antecedents and consequences. Based on service-dominant logic and resource advantage theory, the current study aims to understand the effect of antecedents on service innovation as well as to identify the effect of service innovation on firm performance (i.e., non-financial and financial performance). Three service innovation activities, namely service creation-focused innovation, service delivery-focused innovation, and customer interaction-focused innovation, and four antecedents of service innovation, including human resource management capability, collaboration capability, marketing capability, and information technology capability, are identified based on Den Hertog (2000)'s service innovation framework. By using the empirical data collected from 189 service firms in Korea, this study explores the causal relationship among antecedents, service innovation and firm performance. Findings indicate that human resource management and marketing capabilities influence the three types of service innovation, whereas collaboration and information technology capabilities have a significant effect on both service creation-focused innovation and service delivery-focused innovation. In particular, human resource management capability is strongly related to customer interaction-focused innovation. The three types of service innovation have a positive influence on non-financial performance, whereas service delivery-focused innovation and customer interaction-focused innovation positively influence financial performance. These results support the crucial effects of antecedents, such as human resource management, collaboration, marketing and information technology capabilities, on service innovation.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2019

As a way to find new and innovative technologies, many companies have invested in and acquired skilled startups. Because startups are usually small in size and have a small history of past business experience, there are many risks involved in acquiring them as they have limited technical skills and business feasibility verification methods. Thus, venture capital plays an important role in discovering and investing competitive startups. While Independent Venture Capital generally values financial returns, Corporate Venture Capital, which plays investment roles in the firm, values business synergies with the parent company from a strategic perspective. In an industry sector where development of technology is rapid and whether new technology is held determines a company's competitiveness, existing companies incorporate startups with innovative technologies into their investment portfolios, collaborate together, and take over for comprehensive cooperation. In addition, new investments and acquisitions are carried out through the management of portfolio companies to obtain and utilize industry information. In this paper, major U.S. companies listed in the U.S. verified their investment activities through corporate venture capital and their impact on parent companies and startups through regression, while the parent company's acquisition performance was analyzed through an event study based on a stock price analysis. The criteria for startup were defined as companies with less than 12 years of experience, and the analysis showed that the parent companies with corporate venture capital with a larger number of investments actively take over startups. In addition, increasing corporate venture capital's financial investment activities shows a negative impact on the parent companies' acquisition activities, and the acquisition performance increased when the parent companies took over startups in its portfolio.