• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.1-33
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• 2017

In the last decades, technology-oriented small firms, i.e. venture businesses, have been increasingly engaged in R&D collaborations with external parties as strategic means for technological innovation. Despite ample evidence on the benefit of such collaborations for the firms, there has been less attention to examining whether and how the firms' social interactions with cooperating partners and their managerial characteristics contribute to that benefit. Drawing on the theories of social capital and entrepreneurial orientation, this study is to remedy this gap. The theory of social capital, referring to a sum of the value and potential resources embedded in social relationships of collectives, provides an integrated view of social factors among cooperating partners, e.g. strong ties, network stability, trust, reciprocity, shared vision and value. It categorizes these factors into structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions of social capital. Entrepreneurial orientation theory captures firms' managerial characteristics as a combination of innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking. This addresses firms' managerial process to utilize and combine internal and external resources for wealth creation and opportunity realization. Against this background, this study investigates what roles social capital among cooperating R&D partners and entrepreneurial orientation of the collaborating firms play for collective performance improvement in R&D collaborations. In terms of the collective performance, this study adopts two indicators: technological competitiveness and business performance. Technological competitiveness refers to the contribution of a technology developed by a cooperative R&D project to competitive advantage of a firm while business performance is defined as the financial and economic outcome of a collaboration. Using a sample of 218 Korean ventures engaging in R&D collaboration with external parties, the author finds the significant effects of social capital (i.e. structural, relational, and cognitive dimensions) and entrepreneurial orientation (i.e. innovativeness, proactiveness, and risk-taking) on both of the technological competitiveness and the business performance. Further, the higher the social capital among R&D partners, the more likely it is to foster the entrepreneurial orientation at firm-level. Most importantly, the entrepreneurial orientation at firm-level is an significant mediator of the relationship between social capital and collective performance. Beyond these novel empirical findings, this study contributes to the literature on R&D collaboration. The findings' implications for management and policy are deeply discussed in the conclusion.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.31-38
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• 2023

Due to water shortages caused by water pollution and climate change, total organic carbon (TOC) standards have been implemented for wastewater discharged from public sewage treatment facilities. Furthermore, there is a growing interest and body of research pertaining to the reuse of sewage treatment water as a secure alternative water resource. The membrane bio-reactor (MBR) method is commonly used for advanced wastewater treatment because it can remove organic and inorganic ions and it does not require or emit any chemicals. However, the MBR process uses a separation membrane (MF), which requires frequent film cleaning due to fouling caused by a high concentration of mixed liquor suspended solid (MLSS). In this study, process improvement and microbubble cleaning efficiency were evaluated to improve the differential pressure, water flow, and MF fouling, which are the biggest disadvantages of operating the MF. The existing MBR method was improved by installing a precipitation tank between the air tank and the MBR tank in which raw water was introduced. Microbubbles were injected into a separation membrane tank into which the supernatant water from the precipitation tank was introduced. The microbubble generator was operated with a 15 day on, 15 day off cycle for 5 months to collect discharged water samples (4L) and measure TOC. As the supernatant water from the precipitation tank flowed into the separation membrane tank, about 95% of the supernatant water MLSS was removed so the MF fouling from biological contamination was prevented. Due to the application of microbubbles to supernatant water from the precipitation tank, the differential pressure of the separation membrane tank decreased by 1.6 to 2.3 times and the water flow increased by 1.4 times. Applying microbubbles increased the TOC removal rate by more than 58%. This study showed that separately operating the air tank and the separation membrane tank can reduce fouling, and suggested that applying additional microbubbles could improve the differential pressure, water flow, and fouling to provide a more efficient advanced treatment method.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.157-172
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• 2023

The recent Fourth Industrial Revolution is accelerating changes due to digital transformation. According to this trend, the existing start-up paradigm is changing, and new business models based on new technologies and creative ideas are emerging. In addition, the diversity of mentoring relationships and environments such as online mentoring, reverse mentoring, group mentoring, and multiple mentoring is also increasing. However, most mentors in their 50s and 60s, who are mainly active in the start-up field, have been able to help mentees a lot based on their own experience and expertise, but they are having difficulty responding to the changing environment due to a lack of understanding and experience of new technologies and environments. To cope with these changes well, mentors must constantly study, acquire and apply the latest technologies to improve their understanding of new technologies and the environment. In addition, it is necessary to have an understanding and respect for the diversity of mentoring relationships and environments, and to maximize the effectiveness of mentoring by actively utilizing them. Therefore, mentors should recognize that they directly affect the growth and development of mentees, constantly acquire new knowledge and skills to maintain and develop expertise, and actively deliver their knowledge and experiences to mentees. Therefore, in this study, was tried to empirically analyze the relationship between mentoring's influence on mentor's job satisfaction through mentor's personal learning and self-efficacy. The results of the empirical analysis were as follows. Among the functions of mentoring, career function and role modeling were found to have a positive effect on both personal learning and self-efficacy, which are parameters, and job satisfaction, which is a dependent variable. On the other hand, psychological and social functions have a positive effect on personal learning, but they do not have an effect on self-efficacy and job satisfaction. In addition, as a result of analyzing the mediating effect, all mediating effects were confirmed for career functions, and only the mediating effect of self-efficacy was confirmed for role modeling. Through this study, mentoring is an important factor in promoting job satisfaction, personal learning and self-efficacy, and this study can be said to be academically and practically meaningful in that it confirmed personal learning and self-efficacy as factors that increase mentor's job satisfaction, and the focus of mentoring research was shifted from mentee to mentor to study the impact of mentoring on mentors.

• Korean small business review
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• v.42 no.3
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• pp.275-304
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to present implications for revitalizing start-ups and contribute to enhancing the success rate of start-ups by clarifying factors and processes for converting workers with knowledge, experience and networks in related fields into entrepreneur. Based on the Shapero's Entrepreneurial Event Model, this study demonstrated whether the job insecurity and entrepreneurship of the workers were precipitating events of the entrepreneurial intention and whether the perceived desirability and feasibility of the entrepreneurial behaviour mediated between them. According to the results of the study, first, it was confirmed that job insecurity, innovativeness, and risk-taking of workers are factors that increase the entrepreneurial intention. Second, the indirect effect of perceived desirability between all components of job insecurity and entrepreneurial intentions was not significant, but all components of entrepreneurship appeared to improve entrepreneurial intention through perceived desirability. Third, it has been confirmed that job insecurity, innovativeness, and risk-taking strengthen the entrepreneurial intention through the perception of feasibility for entrepreneurial behavior. Through this study, it is confirmed that in order to convert workers into entrepreneur, it is necessary to strengthen entrepreneurship education and support for internal ventures for workers to increase their positive attitude and confidence in implementation. Therefore, it is expected to help solve job problems and revive the sluggish economy by contributing to boosting start-ups.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.43-62
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• 2017

This study investigates the effect of bonding and bridging social capital on the technological innovation performance in the Pangyo Techno Valley. In particular, we consider the information technology (IT) usage in industrial cluster as an antecedent of social capital. IT instigates the intra and extra communication and information sharing between employees, thereby promoting the formation of a network of various members. Results show that the IT usage factor positively affects both bridging and bonding social capital, but an evident difference exists among the effects of social capital on the technological innovation performance. In case of Pangyo industrial cluster, bridging social capital exerts significant effect on the technological innovation performance, whereas bonding social capital shows insignificance. Bridging social capital is composed of the interactions of various networks. Bonding social capital is based on the strong tie from trust and internal cooperation. Results are related with the characteristics of Pangyo Techno Valley, where various IT ventures need active communication and information sharing with other organizations for technological innovation performance.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.45-60
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• 2014

In recent year's we have seen that due to education and social position there has been a significant increase in the number of women engaging in entrepreneurial activities. Concurrently research into the activities of women currently engaged in entrepreneurial activities has increased. This research has focused on the individuals themselves, their motivations and the performance of their ventures but there is not enough systematic research on the subject. Therefore it is necessary expand the criteria of the current research to examine every aspect of how these emergent entrepreneurs operate and to provide others with the same goals the appropriate skills and knowledge needed to succeed. This study wants to identify and evaluate the psychological, environmental and personal characteristics that these women possess and to assess the impact these factors have on the level of their success. This study will focus on those women who were empirical in their methods as this lends itself better to a detailed systematic analysis. It will examine the concept of entrepreneurial self-efficacy with regard to how they searched, planned, marshaled and implemented steps to influence the environmental and personal factors that affected them. In addition the searching phase of entrepreneurial self-efficacy directly influences entrepreneurial motivation and thus performance. The results of this study will suggest that as Korean women's interest in entrepreneurship grows it will have wide reaching theoretical implications and affect the direction of the policy that supports it.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.55-63
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• 2017

Crowdfunding recently receives a great deal of attentions as an alternative finance for small and medium-sized enterprises or business ventures that suffer from financial constraints. Crowdfunding is a new form of platform that enables a large number of people to invest a small amount of money for promising new business items directly. We analyzed the effect of type, period, method of projects on crowdfunding outcomes. We measure the outcome in terms of the ratio of the collected to the target amount. We collected data from three Korean crowdfunding platform companies, and the data consisted of 239 projects from 2012 to 2014. We use both logit and ordinary least square method for evaluation. Generally, the amount of target itself has no effect on the outcome. Equity crowdfunding shows higher success rate and better outcome than rewards crowdfunding. All or Nothing method leads to the higher ratio of the collected to the target amount than Keep It All. There is an inverted U-shape between the number of investors and the ratio of the collected to the target amount. Finally, the ratio of the collected to the target amount is decreasing in a crowdfunding period.

• Journal of Venture Innovation
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.17-39
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• 2024

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of the government's R&D support and the use of stock options by venture companies on the innovation of venture companies, that is, innovation capabilities and innovation performance. An empirical analysis was conducted using the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method using the data from the detailed survey of venture companies conducted on domestic venture confirmation companies. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the benefit of government R&D support had a positive (+) effect on strengthening the innovation capabilities of venture companies, and R&D support also had a positive (+) effect on the innovation performance of venture companies. Next, it was found that the use of stock options by venture companies had a positive (+) effect on the reinforcement of the innovation capabilities of companies and a positive (+) effect on the innovation performance of venture companies. In addition, it was found that the innovation capabilities of venture companies significantly mediate between the government's R&D support and the use of stock options by venture companies and the innovation performance of companies. These analysis results show that the government's R&D support and the use of stock option systems can play a meaningful role in the innovation of venture companies, and also show that the innovation capabilities of venture companies have an important meaning in the process of innovation. Therefore, it is necessary to continue the stance of R&D support for ventures and at the same time to introduce multi-faceted policy measures to support corporate capacity building, and legal and institutional maintenance and policy support to revitalize the stock option system need to be continuously provided.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.185-196
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• 2023

This paper investigates the effects of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases on business opportunity evaluation, given their strong entrepreneurial spirit, which is characterized by innovation, proactivity, and risk-taking. When making decisions related to business activities, entrepreneurs typically make rational judgments based on their knowledge, experience, and the advice of external experts. However, in situations of extreme stress or when quick decisions are required, they often rely on heuristics based on their cognitive biases. In particular, we often see cases where entrepreneurs fail because they make decisions based on heuristics in the process of evaluating and selecting new business opportunities that are planned to guarantee the growth and sustainability of their companies. This study was conducted in response to the need for research to clarify the effects of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases on new business opportunity evaluation, given that the cognitive biases of entrepreneurs, which are formed by repeated successful experiences, can sometimes lead to business failure. Although there have been many studies on the effects of cognitive biases on entrepreneurship and opportunity evaluation among university students and general people who aspire to start a business, there have been few studies that have clarified the relationship between cognitive biases and social networks among entrepreneurs. In contrast to previous studies, this study conducted empirical surveys of entrepreneurs only, and also conducted research on the relationship with social networks. For the study, a survey was conducted using a parallel survey method using online mobile surveys and self-report questionnaires from 150 entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises. The results of the study showed that 'overconfidence' and 'illusion of control', among the independent variables of entrepreneurs' cognitive biases, had a statistically significant positive(+) effect on business opportunity evaluation. In addition, it was confirmed that the moderating variable, social network, moderates the effect of overconfidence on business opportunity evaluation. This study showed that entrepreneurs' cognitive biases play a role in the process of evaluating and selecting new business opportunities, and that social networks play a role in moderating the structural relationship between entrepreneurs' cognitive biases and business opportunity evaluation. This study is expected to be of great help not only to entrepreneurs, but also to entrepreneur education and policy making, by showing how entrepreneurs can use cognitive biases in a positive way and the influence of social networks.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2018

This paper define the research problem as the jeopardized situation of most startups in early chasm. Korean government have put more policy focus on helping these startups to jump over the chasm. One of the effective policy measures helps these startups defining the core competencies validated from target customers, in-housing them effectively, and therefore enhancing the level of differentiation against the competitors by "Product Pivoting Training Boots Camp." It ultimately give the key nudge to startups in struggling with unsold products after initial launch to the market. This paper carried out the empirical test to the target sample of startups participating in this camp. In particular, this research analyze the level of satisfaction of startups, as move along with characteristics of the participant and training program, going through this camp whether it enhance their will of application into real business case. The survey were delivered and collected from 203 startups in attending "Product Pivoting Academy, the following program of Startup Jump-up package policy module. The research result shows that all startups participating in this academy were so much satisfied and motivated strongly to take the training process into applying real business case in order to increase sales. The quality of the training program and the characteristics of the participants had mediating variable effects on the will of application with respect to the level of satisfaction. It imply that the program should put more attention on improving coaches' nudge and learning motivation of participants to enhance the level program satisfaction.