• Title/Summary/Keyword: Small Business Sector

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The Social Economy Organizations in Rural South Korea - Trends and Challenges - (농촌의 사회적 경제 조직, 실태와 과제)

  • Kim, Jeongseop;Lim, Ji-Eun
    • Journal of Agricultural Extension & Community Development
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.53-72
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    • 2016
  • Our main concerns in this paper are with the several kinds of social economy organization in rural South Korea, in where social exclusion is likely to be prevalent over time. Approximately, there are 2,500~3,000 social economy organizations which have been set up from 1990s. Most of their operational social aims are either to offer jobs or to provide social services for the vulnerable social groups in rural communities. They have several normative principles as a social economy organization. But the two principles were less supported than the others; 1) the community's initiative and participation, and 2) sharing surplus with community. The social economy organizations are involved in various types of business. The greatest number of social economy organizations are doing businesses in agriculture and agro-industry. On average, their value of asset is worth of 300 million wons. They are indebted for 130 million wons, averagely. Their average surplus is 110 million wons. Most of them are small businesses. It is enough to say that the social economy is at an early stage in rural South Korea. The social economy is confronted with some challenges, as follows. Firstly, the social economy organizers should be based on the needs of community in both setting up a new social economy organization and managing businesses. Secondly, networking and cooperation between social economy organizations should be expanded and strengthened. Thirdly, the sound governance with public sector should be built.

Internet Revolution in Bangladesh

  • Rahman, Mizanoor
    • Proceedings of the CALSEC Conference
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    • 2004.02a
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    • pp.65-72
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    • 2004
  • The Internet is a social and economic foundation, apparently destined for human communication and interaction. It is supposed to allow for more interactive and innovative ways for people to do what they do in 'real lift'. There is no shilly-shallying to say that at present, Internet has become a commanding and useful tool for empowerment and income making in developing countries. It is very difficult to say that at present internet has turned into a popular and useful thing among the Bangladeshi people like students, doctors, engineers, businessmen, researchers as well as politician who are being logged into the internet for getting information what they want. Though the Internet was invented in 1970 but it came late in Bangladesh through UUCPs (Unix-to-Unix copy) email connectivity in 1993 and IP connectivity in 1996. Having launched Internet, on June 1996 National polls result were broadcast through the using of World Wide Web (WWW) that was the first ever practice trial in Bangladesh. On June 1996, the government has approved to allow VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) in the country's private sector to operate as Internet Service Provider (ISPs). At the end of year, there were only two ISPs in the country and number of users near about one thousand only. But next year in 1997, the total number of ISPs was more than a dozen and the clientele growth was ten times higher than that of the previous year. From then, the number of Internet users and ISPs are increasing significantly in Bangladesh. About 40 ISP are providing internet service among as many as 3, 20,000 users at present out of almost 130 license holder ISP provider but among the ISPs, most of the ISPs are placed in Dhaka and few are working in Comilla, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Chittagong and Khulna. It should be mention that currently, broadband internet (Radio, Cable) connection is working side by side dial -up connection where broadband accounts 10,000. This paper will have a comprehensive discussion on the current situations of Internet and some of the contemporary issues in the matter concerned.

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Analysis of Industry-dependent Employment Change Factors in Rural Areas: Targeting 5 Counties in Chungnam (농촌지역 산업별 고용변화요인 분석 - 충남 5개 군을 대상으로 -)

  • Kim, Jung Tae
    • Journal of Korean Society of Rural Planning
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.123-135
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    • 2013
  • The purpose of this study is to investigate industry-wise employment growth factors in rural areas. Regional economic vitalization is sensitive to internal and external interaction changes among various industrial and occupational sectors. Thus, rural regional economic vitalization requires a comprehensive approach in analyzing industry-dependent employment structures and growth factors in rural areas. However, research conducted thus far has mostly focused on agriculture and farmers. Considering the evidence that rural communities continue to be stagnant and 80% of the rural population is engaged in nonagricultural activities, it becomes necessary to review industry-specific employment change factors in rural areas. This study targeted 5 counties in Chungnam. The results revealed that agriculture, forestry, and fisheries occupied the foremost positions with regard to population employed and regional GRDP share. The influence of national growth on employment and business variation effects was as high as 98.1% and 78.6%, respectively, thus demonstrating the high likelihood of rural economy to be influenced by external factors. Growth in the public sector appeared to support employment structure. Moreover, wholesale and retail businesses, constituting 14.4% of employment in rural areas, showed a strong trend toward degeneration, to the extent that difficulties have been forecasted for the supply of goods and services essential for basic livelihood of the rural residents. The implications based on the above observations need to be considered for policy-making to ensure that industrial structure is modified on the basis of internal demand of the region, and support for small businesses is integrated in rural area development projects.

Annual Greenhouse Gas Removal Estimates of Grassland Soil in Korea

  • Lee, Sang Hack;Park, Hyung Soo;Kim, Young-Jin;Kim, Won Ho;Sung, Jung Jong
    • Journal of The Korean Society of Grassland and Forage Science
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    • v.35 no.3
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    • pp.251-256
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    • 2015
  • The study was conducted to determine greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories in grasslands. After 'Low Carbon Green Growth' was declared a national vision on 2008, Medium-term greenhouse gas reduction was anticipated for 30% reduction compared to Business As Usual (BAU) by 2020. To achieve the reduction targets and prepare to enforce emissions trading (2015), national GHG inventories were measured based on the 1996 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Guidelines (IPCC GL). The national Inventory Report (NIR) of Korea is published every year. Grassland sector measurement was officially added in 2014. GHG removal of grassland soil was measured from 1990 to 2012. Grassland area data of Korea was used for farmland area data in the "Cadastral Statistical Annual Report (1976~2012)". Annual grassland area corresponding to the soil classification was used "Soil classification and commentary in Korea (2011)". Grassland area was divided into 'Grassland remaining Grassland' and 'Land converted to Grassland'. The accumulated variation coefficient was assumed to be the same without time series changes in grassland remaining grassland. Therefore, GHG removal of soil carbon was calculated as zero (0) in grassland remaining grassland. Since the grassland area increases constantly, the grassland soil sinks constantly . However, the land converted to grassland area continued to decrease and GHG removal of soil carbon was reduced. In 2012 (127.35Gg $CO_2$), this removal decreased by 76% compared to 1990 (535.71 Gg $CO_2$). GHG sinks are only grasslands and woodlands. The GHG removaled in grasslands was very small, accounting for 0.2% of the total. However, the study provides value by identifying grasslands as GHG sinks along with forests.

A Study on Practical Approaches for CSR in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Korea (한국 중소기업 CSR 경영 실태 분석과 개선방안에 관한 연구)

  • Jeung, Gil-Chea
    • Journal of Industrial Convergence
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    • v.18 no.2
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    • pp.87-94
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    • 2020
  • This paper belongs in a literature of sustainablity policy determination. This paper offers an actual status and explanation to corporate social responsibility of SMEs in Korea. This study examines CSR situation focused on developing mechanisms to enable the SMEs sector. Firstly, this study suggests introducing the third-party professional assurance service on sustainablity reports and/or asking global accreditation such as ISO14001 and ISO26000 when entry as a provider in government e-procurement system. Secondly, this study introduce the CSR Committee headed by the CEO and coordinates group-wide committees to discuss the CSR Guidelines. Third, because CSR does not only have to do with the SMEs, but pertains to the local community and business partner, this study offered the opportunity to work with large companies in aspects of CSR.

IT SMEs' External Information Network Diversity and Product Quality Improvement in the Era of Technology Convergence: The Mediating Role of the Production Process Improvement (기술 융합 시대에 IT 중소기업의 외부 정보 네트워크의 다양성과 제품 품질 개선: 생산 공정 개선의 매개적 역할)

  • Hau, Yong Sauk
    • Journal of Digital Convergence
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    • v.15 no.4
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    • pp.199-204
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    • 2017
  • Good product quality is so essential to enabling firms to succeed that how to make the product quality better through technology development is one of the most important issues that many CEOs think over. With regard to the product quality improvement from firms' technology development, this study has made an attempt to empirically investigate the effect of the external information network diversity on the product quality improvement of the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the information technology (IT) sector, mediated by their production process improvement. This research illuminates the following two points by empirically analyzing the 310 IT SMEs through the ordinary least squares regression analysis. First, IT SMEs' external information network diversity has a positive influence on their product quality improvement from technology development. Second, IT SMEs' production process improvement partially mediates the impact of their external information network diversity on the product quality improvement.

The Impact of Country Image on the Chinese Consumers' Purchase Intention (국가이미지가 중국 소비자의 구매의향에 미치는 영향에 관한 연구)

  • Su, Shuai
    • Journal of Distribution Science
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    • v.8 no.1
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    • pp.43-52
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    • 2010
  • Country images of Korea and Japan based on economic development, education level, goods' quality, R&D, political democratization and quality of life, perceived by Chinese university students in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong province of chinese emerging markets as the representative of a potential buying power group, are surveyed, which, then are used to study how the perceived country images effect on their purchasing intention for Korean and Japanese products, such as, foods, cars, fashions, music CDs, electronic products and living goods. The study shows that, in chinese emerging markets, country image affects on the purchase intention of each products differently. The country image of Korea was less influential than that of Japan on the Chines students' purchasing intention for the goods other than the electronic goods. Despite the small number of the sample, this study showed the importance of country image in the in chinese emerging markets and suggested the need for both the government and private sector to take a strategy to enhance the country image by finding the relation between the elements of country image and the intention to purchase certain product.

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Macroeconomic Buffer Effects of Mega-FTA Formation: A CGE Analysis for Korea

  • Jung, Jae-Won;Kim, Tae-Hwang
    • Journal of Korea Trade
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    • v.23 no.3
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    • pp.118-137
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    • 2019
  • Purpose - As global trade disputes intensify and global trade uncertainty increases due to the prevailing trade protectionism all over the world, mega-FTAs such as the RCEP and CPTPP are suggested as strategic trade policy options for export-driven small open economies, such as Korea. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of Korea's mega-FTA participation and the induced implications for the Korean economy. Design/methodology - We use a multi-region, multi-sector global CGE model, and investigate the different effects of both the US-China and US-EU trade wars on the relative changes in GDP, welfare, and trade under different trade policy regimes; (i) Korea does not participate in any mega-FTA, (ii) Korea participates in the RCEP, and (iii) Korea participates in the CPTPP. Findings - We show, among others, that though industrial effects might be largely varied, the overall enlarging of free trade zones through multilateral mega-FTA participation may contribute significantly to the macroeconomic soundness and stability of Korea, even when global trade protectionism prevails. Under RCEP and CPTPP trade regimes, Korea's GDP may increase even when the global trade environment deteriorates as trade wars occur and intensify between the US and China, or between the US and EU. It is also estimated that RCEP participation increases Korea's GDP, welfare (measured in equivalent variation), and total trade by 1.12%, $1.09 billion, and 2.54%, respectively, while CPTPP participation increases them by 0.19%, $0.92 billion, and 0.13%, respectively. Originality/value - Existing studies usually focus on the direct impacts of mega-FTA participation on macroeconomic variables such as GDP, welfare, and trade, and do not consider the possible buffer effects of a mega-FTA when the global trade environment worsens. In this paper, we analyze and quantify not only the direct impacts of RCEP and CPTPP on the main macroeconomic variables but also the possible buffer effects of the RCEP and CPTPP in the cases of the US-China and US-EU trade wars.

New Distribution Strategies of Korean SMEs in Post COVID-19 Pandemic Era: Focusing on the Innovation of Official Distribution Channels

  • Lee, Min-Jae;Jung, Jin-Sup
    • 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.

Analysis of the Firm Support Effects of the Innovation Procurement Policy Using Propensity Score Matching and Difference in Differences (성향점수매칭(PSM)-이중차분(DID) 결합모형을 이용한 혁신조달 정책의 기업지원 효과 분석)

  • Juwon Kim;Wonik Park
    • Journal of Technology Innovation
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    • v.31 no.3
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    • pp.201-230
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    • 2023
  • The Innovation Procurement Policy was introduced as part of the strategic public procurement policy to improve firms' innovation capabilities and enhance the public sector's ability to solve social problems by designating and purchasing so-called 'innovative products.' The pilot procurement project for innovative products was first introduced in 2019, and the policy system for designating and discovering innovative products by government departments, as well as the priority purchase system, was established in 2020. Hence, this study conducted a quantitative analysis focusing on the effectiveness of the innovation procurement system in supporting firms after it was fully implemented. For this purpose, corporate financial and employment data from 2017 to 2021 were used, and propensity score matching(PSM) and difference-in-difference(DID) methods were utilized as analytical tools. The study found that the innovation procurement system contributed to corporate growth and employment and created additional public and private sales channels. Moreover, it is necessary to enhance the innovation procurement system, such as matching innovative product-producing companies with existing SME support policies, for companies to become self-sustaining after the innovative product designation ends.