• Korea Trade Review
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.103-124
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• 2022

For venturing into international markets, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have not only emphasized internal resources but entrepreneurial orientation has also become the need of the day due to its significant role in increasing firm's competitive capabilities. Although research indicates that the competitive strategies can significantly impact export performance, minor attention is given to the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation, business competitive strategy and export performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This study scrutinizes the effect of each dimension of entrepreneurial orientation (i.e., innovativeness, risk-taking, and proactiveness) and each of generic competitive strategies (i.e., cost leadership and differentiation) on the export performance of Chinese SMEs. And we investigated the moderating effect of entrepreneurial orientation on the relationship between the competitive strategies and export performance. We surveyed 217 Chinese SMEs through a structured questionnaire. For the data analysis and hypotheses testing, we used AMOS. 27. The findings display that differentiation and cost leadership strategies significantly improve export performance. The innovativeness, risk-taking and proactiveness also spur Chinese SME's export performance. Further we find that adding entrepreneurial orientation significantly improves our model of the relationship between the competitive strategies and export performance. Thus, our study extends the entrepreneurial orientation literature and provides interesting new insights into how entrepreneurial orientation helps firms create more successful export operations.

• Korean small business review
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.139-160
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• 2017

Today, changes in the environments surrounding companies are so uncertain that corporate entrepreneurship should be activated to enhance the competitiveness of firms and to improve their profitability. In particular, The practice of entrepreneurship by small and medium sized enterprises (hereafter SMEs) is suggested as an important factor for the enhancement of competitiveness of firms. In this context, this study examined the effects of the organizational climates on the entrepreneurship activities of SMEs in Korea and China. The data obtained from 300 SMEs in Korea and China through questionnaire surveys were analyzed. The results demonstrate that the organizational climates have significant positive effects on SMEs in the countries belonging to emerging markets such as Korea and China. However, the practice of corporate entrepreneurship could be manifested in diverse forms, such as innovation or strategic renewal, and the effects of organizational climates were shown to sightly different effects on the corporate entrepreneurship activities. In addition, SMEs in Korea and China, which belong to common cultural areas, did not show any statistically significant difference in organizational climates in general. Furthermore, the effects of these factors did not show significant differences in general. However, SMEs in Korea with more flexible organizational structures and higher job autonomy were shown to be more advantageous in practicing corporate entrepreneurship than those in China. The results of the study provide meaningful implications for SMEs in Korea in terms of the efforts that should be made to enhance their competitiveness, implement innovation, and achieve comparative advantages over China.

• Information Systems Review
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.1-23
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• 2021

The national economic policy paradigm is constantly changing according to the global business environment. Among them, fostering SMEs is a core policy of many developed countries. The growth of SMEs contributes to the creation of jobs and the development of local communities in the era of employment-free growth. In particular, the growth of SMEs is the foundation for growth into mid-sized and large enterprises. Therefore, the growth of SMEs plays an important role in the national economy. Information and communication technology (ICT) became important much more with the emergence of the 4th industrial revolution. Among them, the growth of ICT SMEs is the nation's future asset. Therefore, this study examines and verifies the main factors affecting the performance of ICT SMEs from the view of their R&D resources. On the basis of 1,999 SMEs dataset, empirical analysis was performed to investigate the influence of R&D resources on their corporate performance. Its results are as follows. First, based on theresource-based theory, ICT SMEs' R&D investment, R&D manpower, and government support policies were found to have a positive effect on securing a company's competitive advantage. Second, it was found that the level of product has a positive effect on the company's performance. Finally, it was found that M&A and technology acquisition method strategies differ according to the growth stage of the company. Therefore, in order to achieve technological innovation and corporate performance of ICT SMEs, the government support policy and investment into internal R&D personnel play as main factors. In addition, it was found that technology acquisition strategies differ depending on the growth stage of the company.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.607-641
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• 2017

Recently, there has been an increase in government-wide demand for technological cooperation between government funded research institutes (GFRIs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), while there remain a tension between positive and negative views regarding the support given by GFRIs to encourage the technological innovation of SMEs. Although preceding studies have found that the support given by GFRIs to SMEs tends to have the effect of enhancing the technological innovation outcomes of SMEs, this study examines the question of why the agent that provides technological cooperation to SMEs should be limited to GFRIs. To answer this question, in this study, we first examined the qualitative changes in the external technological cooperation behavior of SMEs over time, from 2007 to 2014. Next, we performed cluster analysis to examine whether there were distinctive characteristics of SMEs that engage in technological cooperation with GFRIs, compared to the various other alternatives available as technological cooperation partners for SMEs. Lastly, to help us identify the characteristics of the companies that technologically cooperate with GFRIs and to facilitate the administrative or practical effort to find companies that would be strong candidates for technological cooperation with GFRIs, we used discriminant analysis to define a discriminant formula for such companies likely to engage in technological cooperation. The results of this study were as follows. First, GFRIs were the most competitive -- as demonstrated by the highest level of satisfaction, etc. - compared to the other alternatives for external technological cooperation available to SMEs. This confirmed the necessity for GFRIs to provide technological cooperation to SMEs. Secondly, the issue of whether the small and medium-sized enterprise had engaged in technological cooperation specifically with GFRIs was found not to be a very significant factor in distinguishing these companies. It was found, however, that SMEs engaged in technological cooperation were distinctive, regardless of the type of institution involved in the technological cooperation. Thirdly, SMEs that were in technological cooperation with GFRIs had the characteristics of being already active in joint research and already familiar with utilizing the systems available for governmental support. The findings of this study offers various insights relevant to establishing national R&D strategies using GFRIs and improving the efficiency of policies and administrative practices intended to help GFRIs assist SMEs.

• Journal of Korea Technology Innovation Society
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.783-814
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• 2012

Innovations of SMEs are critical for economic growth and creating employment. Collaborative innovations between SMEs and Public Research Institutes has been increasingly important to overcome limitation of SMEs innovation capability. Many studies on the collaborative innovation have been focused on the issues of absorptive capacity, project administration, and relationships of actors. This study, however, focus on attribute of project leader and partnership. Data on 149 R&D collaborative projects between SMEs and a Public Research Institute were collected. Empirical results show that project leaders' capabilities and partnerships including informal collaborative relationship unification, administrative unification, and contractual unification appear to affect performances both economical and technical. It also shows that the previous experience of R&D collaboration appear to effect the relationship between project leaders' capabilities, contractual unification, and administrative unification and technical performances.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.153-168
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• 2021

Purpose - In this study, we aim to explore new distribution strategies for sustainable growth in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, focusing on SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises) in Korea, and suggest ways to upgrade the government's official distribution channel to the next level. Design/methodology - First of all, this paper explored the prior research, the current status of sales support for SMEs, and the changes in the distribution industry due to COVID-19 pandemic. Based on Moon (2016)'s ABCD strategic model - Agility, Benchmarking, Convergence, and Dedication, the study then derived directions in which official distribution channels should move and the new distribution strategy for Korean SMEs to secure competitive advantage. Findings - First, in terms of 'Agility', in order to upgrade official distribution channels, which are currently at some competitive disadvantages compared to private distribution companies, we must quickly introduce technologies for the 4th industrial revolution, such as AI, Big Data, etc., and establish precise strategies to strengthen the capabilities of SMEs. Second, in terms of 'Benchmarking', the use of "Chamelezones" has been increasing to enhance the competitiveness of offline stores in line with recent ontact trends. Therefore, official distribution channels should also benchmark such cases, strengthening their competitiveness by utilizing offline spaces more efficiently and effectively. Third, in terms of 'Convergence', in line with the rapidly changing trend of the times, official distribution channels should also promote active partnerships with media commerce, e-commerce and ICT platforms, as well as cooperation with private retailers, and focus on creating synergy effects through them. Finally, from the perspective of 'Dedication', digitalization should be promoted step by step, finding the sector that can accelerate digital among the value chains of official distribution channels, and continuing to discuss how to digitize it realistically. Originality/value - Based on this analysis, we have presented strategies and implications for innovating official distribution channels for SMEs, which will contribute to enhancing the competitive advantage of official distribution channels in the post COVID-19 pandemic era.

• Proceedings of the Korea Institute of Applied Superconductivity and Cryogenics Conference
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• 2001.02a
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• pp.125-127
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• 2001

For the development of a SMES system we fabricated and tested the 1 MJ superconducting magnet The test results show that the magnet is excellent in comparison with previously fabricated magnets outside. The recovery current of the conductor plays an important role in the fabrication of the stable magnets for a SMES system.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.71-100
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• 1999

This article is concerned with the importance of organisation management and its characteristics in business performance in SMEs, and tested by four main aspects: managerial strategies, organisational structure, leader behaviour, and R&D activities. These relationships were tested with questionnaire data from a random sample of 87 firms. Results from simple statistics on each issue showed that SMEs have focused on the corporate growth and management goals, the democratic leadership, decentralisation in organisational structure, and the technology development plans. Results from correlation analyses not only found significant relationships between managerial strategy and R&D activities but also showed differences in R&D activities according to structural status or leadership style, respectively.

• Journal of Convergence for Information Technology
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.88-99
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• 2019

The objectives of this study is to Systematic literature review of internationalization of SMEs. Due to the economic characteristics of Korea, which depends on economic growth by exports, internationalization has become an essential management activity, not an option for SMEs. As a result, more than 400 studies related to the overseas expansion and internationalization of SMEs have been published in the past 20 years, focusing on major academic journals (such as KCI). Accordingly, the research trends used as advance research in internationalization research were analyzed of SMEs. Research targets were defined as the internationalization of SMEs and searched through 'RISS' (Research Information Sharing Service) as 'internationalization', 'global ', 'export', 'overseas expansion' and 'theory'. The analysis was carried out using a Systematic literature review. It was selected as the 76 studies and According to international research subjects and characteristics, the four areas of internationalization motive, process, outcomes, and support were analyzed. The results of the study confirmed that the most active research is focused on internationalization outcomes. This study could provide a support and the parties concerned in the ecosystem of SMEs in Korea with implications for the SMEs overseas market.

• Korea Trade Review
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.251-276
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• 2017

The utilization of Digital and Social Network has become be a key success factor in business operations as information technologies evolve rapidly. This study is to identity the relationship between ICT & digital utilization, global orientation and export marketing capability in Korean SMEs. Survey data of Korean SMEs in south regional areas was collected and analyzed for empirical hypothesis test by PLS structural equation method. The key findings are as follows. First, ICT utilization such as SNS, homepage and online portal does not impact directly on export marketing capability. It means that SMEs would not still take advantage of utilization of social network availability. Second, ICT utilization has positive influences on global market orientation and global network orientation. Finally, both global market orientation and network have significant impacts on export marketing capability. In conclusion, global orientation has full-mediation effects on relationship between ICT capability and global marketing. This study provides evidences and some practical insights that digital utilization have indirect influences on global marketing through global markets and network orientation in Korean SMEs. In information technology era, ICT utilization will play an important role in the process of SMEs' internationalization. Therefore, for sustainable growth and survival SMEs should manage and intensify ICT capability more strategically as one of core competence. The value of ICT capability in SMEs would be depended on their strategic perspectives toward digitalization. Additional empirical research about digital capability based on larger sample will be needed.