• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.53-77
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• 2013

As advertising and promotions are categorized as operating expenses, managers tend to reduce marketing budget to improve their short term profitability. Gauging the value and accountability of marketing spending is therefore considered as a major research priority in marketing. To respond this call, recent studies have documented that financial market reacts positively to a firm's marketing activity or marketing related outcomes such as brand equity and customer satisfaction. However, prior studies focus on the relation of marketing variable and financial market variables. This study suggests a channel about how marketing activity increases firm valuation. Specifically, we propose that a firm's marketing activity increases the level of the firm's product market information and thereby the dispersion in financial analysts' earnings forecasts decreases. With less uncertainty about the firm's future prospect, the firm's managers and shareholders have less information asymmetry, which reduces the firm's cost of capital and thereby increases the valuation of the firm. To our knowledge, this is the first paper to examine how informational benefits can mediate the effect of marketing activity on firm value. To test whether marketing activity contributes to increase in firm value by mitigating information asymmetry, this study employs a longitudinal data which contains 12,824 firm-year observations with 2,337 distinct firms from 1981 to 2006. Firm value is measured by Tobin's Q and one-year-ahead buy-and-hold abnormal return (BHAR). Following prior literature, dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts is used as a proxy for the information gap between management and shareholders. For model specification, to identify mediating effect, the three-step regression approach is adopted. All models are estimated using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods to test the statistical significance of the mediating effect. The analysis shows that marketing intensity has a significant negative relationship with dispersion in analysts' earnings forecasts. After including the mediator variable about analyst dispersion, the effect of marketing intensity on firm value drops from 1.199 (p < .01) to 1.130 (p < .01) in Tobin's Q model and the same effect drops from .192 (p < .01) to .188 (p < .01) in BHAR model. The results suggest that analysts' forecast dispersion partially accounts for the positive effect of marketing on firm valuation. Additionally, the same analysis was conducted with an alternative dependent variable (forecast accuracy) and a marketing metric (advertising intensity). The analysis supports the robustness of the main results. In sum, the results provide empirical evidence that marketing activity can increase shareholder value by mitigating problem of information asymmetry in the capital market. The findings have important implications for managers. First, managers should be cognizant of the role of marketing activity in providing information to the financial market as well as to the consumer market. Thus, managers should take into account investors' reaction when they design marketing communication messages for reducing the cost of capital. Second, this study shows a channel on how marketing creates shareholder value and highlights the accountability of marketing. In addition to the direct impact of marketing on firm value, an indirect channel by reducing information asymmetry should be considered. Potentially, marketing managers can justify their spending from the perspective of increasing long-term shareholder value.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.17-35
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• 2017

This study investigates the determinants of strategic positional change. Specifically, the study suggests performance feedback affects to a firm's strategic repositioning. Performance feedback is a concept that a firm decides whether success or not by comparing its performance relative to its aspiration level. Prior studies successively discover diverse behaviors. The study suggests three unexplored relationships between performance gaps and strategic positioning. First, when a firm's performance is below relative to its aspiration level, that firm's strategic position will be deviate from the industry norm. Second, as the degree of industrial density increases, the tendency that a firm's strategic position becomes deviate from the industry norm decreases. Third, when the degree of reference group's performance decreases, the tendency that a firm's strategic position becomes deviate from the industry norm decreases. For empirical analysis, this study examines data of 538 firms that in North America crude petroleum and natural gas industry. The result reveals that the direction of a firm's strategic change is shaped when firms' performance is below relative to aspiration level. Also, this relationship is moderated as industrial density changes or when reference groups' performance decreases. This study contributes to the current literature by explaining how a firms' strategic position is decided. Also, this study reveals that reference groups' performance could affect to organizational choice.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.145-173
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• 2007

Using patent and firm-level panel data for 1982-2001, this study investigates spillover effects of patents and the strengthening of intellectual property rights on Productivity and Innovation. As well as we consider the effect of intra-industry spillovers, we extend the effect to inter-industry spillovers which implies the effects of IT industries on non-IT industries. The empirical results are summarized as follows. First, allowing for firm-level variables, market competition and technological spillovers, the strengthening of intellectual property rights does not play a significant role on innovative activities. Second, while innovative activities of domestic firms affect significantly firms' innovative activities, those of foreign firms do not. Third, innovative activities of IT industries as inter-industry spillovers play a significant role on innovative activities and labor productivities of domestic firms.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.539-557
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• 2012

This study purposes to analyze how the level of diversification affects cost stickiness behavior. Specifically, we document that cost stickiness behavior is bigger in case of firm with a high level of related diversification. The purpose mentioned above are empirically tested using 1,508 firm-year data listed on Korea Stock Exchange from 2000 to 2009 and regression analysis methods were used for the analysis of the research hypotheses. The following are the results of this study : First, the increase in SG&A(selling, general and administrative costs) as sales increases is greater than the decrease in SG&A in respect to the equivalent decrease in sales. Second, cost stickiness behavior is bigger in case of firm with a high level of diversification. Also, cost stickiness behavior is bigger as the level of related diversification increase. These results imply that the level of diversification effects on the cost stickiness behavior.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.65-88
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• 2021

Purpose - This paper aims to examine the determinants of SWFs' investment in Asian countries and to identify consistent investment patterns of SWFs in specific target firms from Asia, particularly China and South Korea. Design/methodology - This study extends the Tobin's Q model to examine the relationship between SWF investments in target firms and their returns with other firm-level control variables. We collect consistent data on SWF investments and the matched firm-level data on target firms, which of observation is 1,512 firms (333 in South Korea and 1,179 in China) targeted by 20 SWF sources during 1997-2017. The panel random effect model is used to estimate the extended Tobin's Q model. The robustness of the estimations is tested by the simultaneous equation models and the panel GEE model. Findings - The evidence shows that sovereign wealth funds are more inclined to invest in the financial sector with a monopoly position and in large firms with higher growth opportunity and superior cash asset ratios in China. In contrast to their investments in China, sovereign wealth funds in South Korea prefer to invest in strategic sectors, such as energy and information technology, and in large firms with high performance and low leverage. Sovereign wealth funds' investments tend to significantly improve the target firm's performance measured by sales growth and returns in both Korea and China. Originality/value - The existing literature focuses on examining the determination of SWFs investment in the developed countries, such as Europe and the United States. Our paper contributes to the literature in three ways; first, we analyzes case studies of SWF investments in Asian markets, which are less developed and riskier. Second, we examine whether the determination of SWF investment in Asian target firms depends on the different time periods, on types of sources of SWFs, and on acquiring countries. Third, our research uses vast sample data on target firms in longer time periods (1997-2017) than other previous studies on the SWFs for Asian markets.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.123-138
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• 2016

This study investigates intents of acquisitions in information technology industries. Mergers and acquisitions are a strategic decision at corporate-level and have been an important tool for a firm to grow. Plenty of firms in information technology industries have acquired startups to increase production efficiency, expand customer base, or improve quality over the last decades. For example, Google has made about 200 acquisitions since 2001, Cisco has acquired about 210 firms since 1993, Oracle has made about 125 acquisitions since 1994, and Microsoft has acquired about 200 firms since 1987. Although there have been many existing papers that theoretically study intents or motivations of acquisitions, there are limited papers that empirically investigate them mainly because it is challenging to measure and quantify intents of M&As. This study examines the intent of acquisitions by measuring specific intents for M&A transactions. Using our measures of acquisition intents, we compare the intents by four acquisition types: (1) the acquisition where a hardware firm acquires a hardware firm, (2) the acquisition where a hardware firm acquires a software/IT service firm, (3) the acquisition where a software/IT service firm acquires a hardware firm, and (4) the acquisition where a software /IT service firm acquires a software/IT service firm. We presume that there are difference in reasons why a hardware firm acquires another hardware firm, why a hardware firm acquires a software firm, why a software/IT service firm acquires a hardware firm, and why a software/IT service firm acquires another software/IT service firm. Using data of the M&As in US IT industries, we identified major intents of the M&As. The acquisition intents are identified based on the press release of M&A announcements and measured with four categories. First, an acquirer may have intents of cost saving in operations by sharing common resources between the acquirer and the target. The cost saving can accrue from economies of scope and scale. Second, an acquirer may have intents of product enhancement/development. Knowledge and skills transferred from the target may enable the acquirer to enhance the product quality or to expand product lines. Third, an acquirer may have intents of gain additional customer base to expand the market, to penetrate the market, or to enter a foreign market. Fourth, a firm may acquire a target with intents of expanding customer channels. By complementing existing channel to the customer, the firm can increase its revenue. Our results show that acquirers have had intents of cost saving more in acquisitions between hardware companies than in acquisitions between software companies. Hardware firms are more likely to acquire with intents of product enhancement or development than software firms. Overall, the intent of product enhancement/development is the most frequent intent in all of the four acquisition types, and the intent of customer base expansion is the second. We also analyze our data with the classification of production-side intents and customer-side intents, which is based on activities of the value chain of a firm. Intents of cost saving operations and those of product enhancement/development can be viewed as production-side intents and intents of customer base expansion and those of expanding customer channels can be viewed as customer-side intents. Our analysis shows that the ratio between the number of customer-side intents and that of production-side intents is higher in acquisitions where a software firm is an acquirer than in the acquisitions where a hardware firm is an acquirer. This study can contribute to IS literature. First, this study provides insights in understanding M&As in IT industries by answering for question of why an IT firm intends to another IT firm. Second, this study also provides distribution of acquisition intents for acquisition types.

• The Journal of the Convergence on Culture Technology
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.259-265
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• 2024

This paper analyzed the relationship between human resource development intent, human resource development implementation, firm's competitiveness. In addition, the indirect effect of organizational commitment was also assumed. The data for the research were integrated at the company level(500 companies) and used the data of 9,516 employees collected in the 2nd survey of "the Human Capital Company Panel II" of the "Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training". The structural equation modeling was useed to analyze the analysing model. According to the analysis results, HRD intent had a positively significant effect on firm's competitiveness. And HRD implementation had a positively significant effect on firm's competitiveness. From the indirect effect through bootstrapping analysis, the organizational commitment showed indirect effects from HRD intent and HRD complementation to firm's competitiveness.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.65-91
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• 2016

Although the success of industrial clusters largely depends on whether clustering firms can achieve economic performance, there has been less attention on investigating factors and conditions contributing to the performance enhancement for clustering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Along this vein, we adopt the theories of social capital and organizational learning as those success factors for clustering SMEs. This study thus aims at examining what effect social capital accrued in the relationships among actors within clusters has on firm performance of clustering SMEs and what role organizational learning plays in the linkage between social capital and firm performance. For the empirical analysis, we operationalized the variables and their measures to develop questionnaires through the theoretical reviews on literatures. As a sample of 227 clustering SMEs, our collected data was analyzed by hierarchical regression analysis. The results confirmed that a high level of social capital, represented by network, trust, and norm, has positive effect on firm performance of clustering SMEs. We also found that clustering firms presenting high organizational learning, represented by absorptive and transformative capability, achieve better performance than those placing less value on organizational learning. Furthermore the significant relationship between social capital and firm performance is mediated partially through organizational learning. These findings imply not only that the territorial agglomeration of industrial cluster does not guarantee the performance creation of clustering SMEs but that they need to develop social capital among various actors within clusters, facilitating their knowledge diffusion. In order to absorb and mobilize the shared knowledge and information into strategic resources, the firms should improve their capability associated with organizational learning. These expand our understanding on the importance of social capital and organizational learning for the performance enhancement of clustering firms. Differentiating from major studies addressing benefits and advantages of industrial cluster, this study based on the perspective of firm-internal business process contributes to the literature advancement. Strategic and policy implications of this study are discussed in detail.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-16
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• 2019

Jobless Growth, one of the most issue keywords for Korea's economy at this moment, stands for an economic situation where the unemployment rate once edging up at the downturn does not fall sharply even after a business cycle is on the stage of its recovery. A remarkable progress of ICT has intensified the apprehension of technology displacing human labor. A remarkable progress of ICT has intensified the apprehension of technology displacing human labor historically. Nowadays, ICT as the main cause for recent jobless growth in Korea ends up with pointing out. This study is to investigate whether the ICT leads to an economic situation of jobless growth. We served an empirical analysis using firm-level panel data from 2009 to 2013 and estimated the effects of ICT on both firm's employment and productivity. A result suggests not only does the employment increase with the rise of ICT investment, but also the employment becomes a complete mediator in terms of linking ICT and firm's productivity. It turns out to be a groundless fear that the ICT rules out human labor causing jobless growth for Korea's economy according to the result revealed.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.39-55
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• 2022

Purpose - This study empirically examines the effect of the Korean government export promotion program (EPP) on small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) export performance using firm-level data. Unlike most previous studies that investigated some specific samples of firms, this study analyzes a vast amount of SME data of the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration over the period 2005 to 2008. Design/methodology - An endogeneity problem arises when a firm's probability of being selected is correlated with the likelihood of successfully implementing EPPs. To control for the endogeneity of the EPPs in a relatively short-period sample, we employ 2-Stage Residual Inclusion (2SRI) RE-Tobit and bivariate Tobit procedure. Findings - Analyses show that Korean government EPPs have positive significant effects on SME exports. Empirical results also show that SME export activities are significantly encouraged by R&D investment and capital intensity, but not obviously by labor productivity. Originality/value - This study provides evidence that SME capital intensity, R&D investment, and the number of workers are significant determinants to SME exporting activities, whereas per worker labor cost and employee education are not. These results imply that even for SMEs, firm size is a major factor in promoting exporting activities.