• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.10 no.9
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• pp.387-398
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• 2010

Recently SMEs(small and medium enterprises) in Korea have experienced severe labor shortages. In particular, college graduates avoiding SMEs are widely spotted. According to previous studies, the main causes of the evasion by college graduates are the inferior working environment and low wages. Some studies also state that SME workers experience discrimination. However, most studies have focused only on unemployment issues of the young graduates. In this research, the results of follow-up surveys on the employment status and job conditions of recent college graduates was linked as a panel data, and the performance of the graduates was analyzed. Based on the analysis, we found college graduates who are employed SMEs are likely to have their initial career fixed to the SMEs. Second, the job separation records of the young SME workers does not show positive labor market performances such as upward movements or wage increases, and the process itself turned out to be entailed frequent separation. Third, the inferior wage level at SMEs and the fact that this effect is cumulatively amplified has been a key factor for evading SMEs. Thus, it is difficult to say that the early-stage careers in SMEs are constructive in future career development. On the contrary, the early careers at SMEs result in lower labor market outcomes, and frequent job separation.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.173-180
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• 2014

In this research, we aim to analyze how different external knowledge search strategies of small and medium enterprises affect technological innovation. In particular, since there has been little comparison between Korean small and medium firms, we investigated the differences of the two groups by employing the "Korean Innovation Survey 2010." As a result, it was found that "external search breadth", which refers to expanding the spectrum of external knowledge search due to lack of resources and capabilities inside small firms, spurred technological innovation. On the other hand, "external search depth", which implies seeking a long-term and close relationship with the subjects that provide outside knowledge for medium firms, catalyzed technological innovation. These results emphasize that we need to separately analyze technological innovation of small and medium firms, which was, in most previous studies, viewed as one group, i.e. SMEs. In addition, the results can be, from the perspective of a firm's growth, interpreted as follows. That is, it is more effective to formulate a "diversity" pursuing strategy in the "small firm" stage where little time has passed since its establishment, whilst it is more useful to apply a "focus" strategy on sophisticated knowledge in the "medium firm" stage where a firm has grown to some extent.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.1-9
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• 2023

Purpose: Marketing and especially distribution channels has proved challenging for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) worldwide due to its exorbitant cost. The objective of this study is to access the role and impact of digital marketing as a new distribution channel in companies located in Kosovo. Research design, data and methodology: To achieve the objective of the research, data was collected from 64 respondents/participants working in different organizations and sectors. Results: The result of the data collected showed that digital marketing plays a huge role and an effective medium in distribution of products and services, and helps in boosting sales of companies. The results showed that this form of marketing helps with retention of customers and cost effectiveness. Conclusions: The managerial implication of this study is that it is believed that customers in the topical conversation region are impacted by Kosovo businesses and their online marketing initiatives. The results of this study suggest that marketers and managers should take advantage of social media in order to accomplish the study's main objective. However, for enhanced productivity and high-level effectiveness of Digital marketing in Kosovo, there should be proper sensitization on the available digital marketing options and how it can be done.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.19 no.12
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• pp.215-228
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• 2019

This study micro-analyzed the impact of innovation capabilities on innovation performance by type of CEO, with innovative SMEs being subject to research. In addition, the impact of CEO type on innovative capabilities and the impact of innovative capabilities on innovation performance were studied together. In order to achieve the research objective, we conducted an empirical analysis of 250 innovative small and medium-sized enterprises registered in the medium-term department as research targets and the results are as follows. First, the analysis of the impact of the type of CEO on the capacity of innovation shows that market-oriented, technology-driven and consultant-type CEOs have a significant impact on the amount of technology change reduction, but managed CEOs do not see any statistically significant differences in the amount of technology change reduction areas. Managed CEOs did not see statistically significant differences in the amount of technology change-sensitive areas. In addition, it was analyzed that the current type of CEO of small businesses does not affect the R&D technology digestion capacity of technological innovation capabilities. Second, the analysis of the relationship between innovation capabilities and innovation performance did not have a statistically significant effect. Third, the analysis of the adjustment effect between the type of CEO and the capacity of innovation according to the growth stage of small businesses shows that the technology and the consultant-type CEO affect the amount of the area of technology change, but the managed and market-type CEOs did not have the adjustment effect. Fourth, the analysis of the capacity of innovation and the effect of adjustment between innovation and innovation in the growth phase of innovative SMEs did not have a statistically significant effect.

• Journal of Integrative Natural Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.11-20
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• 2021

On November 17, 2019, an infectious disease with symptoms of pneumonia, called the Wuhan virus at the time, occurred in Wuhan, China. Since then, the name has been changed to COVID-19, and the virus has spread all over the world, and the WHO has declared the highest warning level for infectious diseases, "Pandemic". The coronavirus has also caused great confusion in South Korea. This resulted in large infected people.The first confirmed cases occurred on January 20, 2020, and the number of infected patients is steadily increasing after experiencing several waves, and many corona confirmed cases are also occurring in 2021 after the year. As the whole world enters a pandemic, walls are created between people and people, companies and businesses, and countries and countries, and all growth stops or declines, including human relationships, domestic companies and industries, and foreign industries. As a result, society in general is experiencing a lot of stagnation. Among them, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the basis of all growth in Korea, and youth who are trying to contribute to the national development by entering society, are struggling to find jobs. Even before the coronavirus outbreak, the difficulty of job hunting and the prospect of small and medium-sized businesses were not very good. In this situation, as the country's overall economic situation is poor, the vitality of SMEs has decreased a lot, the prospects are not good, so jobs are reduced, and there are many difficulties due to reluctance to hire new employees. In this study, with 2019 before the corona era and 2020 after the corona era, we compare SMEs before and after the corona era and overall job search and job search activities through average difference analysis, and whether they are affecting through correlation analysis. Through this, it suggests a direction to increase job search through corporate and government policies after raising the prospects of SMEs first.

• Journal of Appropriate Technology
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.196-205
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• 2021

As industrial safety increases, various industrial accident prevention technologies using smart factory technology are being studied. However, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which account for the majority of industrial accidents, are having difficulties in preventing industrial accidents by applying these smart factory technologies due to practical problems. In this study, customized monitoring and warning systems for each type of industrial accident were developed and applied to the actual field. Through this, we demonstrated industrial accident prevention technology through appropriate smart factory technology used by SMEs. A customized monitoring system using vision, current, temperature, and gas sensors was established for the four major disaster types: worker body access, short circuit and overcurrent, fire and burns due to high temperature, and emission of hazardous gas. In addition, a notification method suitable for each work environment was applied so that the monitored risk factors could be recognized quickly, and real-time data transmission and display enabled workers and managers to understand the disaster risk effectively. Through the application and demonstration of these appropriate smart factory technologies, the spread of these industrial safety technologies is to be discussed.

• KDI Journal of Economic Policy
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.97-124
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• 1992

The recent sharp increase in wages has driven many Korean manufacturing firms to move into technology-intensive fields. The task of industrial restructuring is, however, rather difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises (hereafter, "SMEs") which suffer from limited R&D resources. If the R&D activities of SMEs are left unattended, industrial restructuring process may be retarded. Hence, the government-sponsored programs can be justified when used to promote the technological level of SMEs. Because of the limited internal R&D resources of SMEs, in particular human resources, the government-sponsored programs that depend on financial subsidies to stimulate the R&D activities of SMEs may not be recommended. Rather, a more desirable policy is programs to subsidize outside sourcing of SMEs. Basic principles of the program are; (i) that the government should establish R&D laboratories which are specialized in joint researches with SMEs in each industry; (ii) research projects of the laboratories should be funded by SMEs; the government's support covers only fixed costs such as construction costs in order to avoid moral hazard problem. (iii) technology adviser programs sponsored by the government should be improved; geographical distribution is to be expanded and the activities are to be monitored by local governments. Also foreign networks need be strengthened.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.135-144
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• 2016

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the moderating effects of social capital on antecedents factors path of export performance in the materials and components SMEs(Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) of Busan and Kyungnam region. In case of materials and components SMEs, they are always trying to achieve business performance including export sales and market share, but it is difficult for them to increase performance due to the limitation of inner & tangible resources. Therefore intangible asset such as technology capability and its antecedents factors which are technology innovation and learning orientation are getting more important to SMEs. In addition, it is supposed that social capital such as local network including distribution channel in overseas market plays an essential role to enhance export performance. Accordingly, the main goal of this study is to find out the relationship between export performance and antecedents factors and the validity of social capital as a moderating valuable. Research design, data, and methodology - Technology innovation, learning orientation and technology capability have been used as antecedents factors for export performance and social capital such as network diversity and intensity has been used for moderating effects analysis. In order to select these valuables mentioned above, this study examined the existing researches on a basis of Resources Based View, Organizational Learning Theory and Social Capital theory. To achieve the objective of this paper, 7 hypotheses including the moderating effects have been proposed with 6 potential variables measured by 24 questions. The survey was carried out from December 2014 to March 2015 and 137 samples out of total 175 were selected for the analysis. PLS(Partial Least Squares) has been used for the methodology of empirical analysis for both antecedents factors path and moderating effects. Results - Research findings are as follows. First, technology innovation has a significant impact on learning orientation, learning orientation has a positive effect on the technology capability and technology capability also has a significant impact on export performance. Therefore 3 valuables are proved as antecedents factors of export performance. Second, the social capital(both network diversity and intensity) plays a moderating role with learning orientation to technology capability. However, there is no moderating effects between both of social capital and technology capability regarding export performance. Conclusions - According to path analysis results, it is suggested that the materials and components SMEs should raise technology innovation and learning orientation in order to improve technology capability and export performance. Meantime, the moderating effect analysis shows that SMEs should consider local network diversity and intensity along with learning orientation to add up technology capability. But local network diversity and intensity does not work systematically with technology capability for export performance and it means that SMEs should find the appropriate local partners for the purpose of establishing concrete distribution channels based on marketing perspective, not for improving technology capability.

• Journal of Technology Innovation
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.33-62
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• 2021

This study compares and analyzes the efficiency of R&D activities of technology-innovative small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) between industries and proposes ways to improve efficiency. The research samples are 6,708 technology-innovative SMEs, which have received a guarantee by the KIBO from 2008 to 2011. Input variables are the level of R&D personnel, R&D investment, and output variables are patent applications, prototype. Efficiency is measured by the DEA model, and indirect comparisons that are individually measured by industry are performed. As a result of the analysis, the CCR for determining the optimal returns to scale is 0.19, the BCC for determining the optimal input distribution is 0.70, and the SE for determining the optimal output is 0.30. By industry type, the medium and low-tech industries have high CCR and BCC, while the high-end and high-tech industries have high SE. R&D activities need to be operated on an optimal scale through managing R&D performance because there is the inefficiency of scale across the industry. The contribution of the study is to analyze the R&D efficiency of each industry of technology-innovative SMEs by the technology evaluation data of the KIBO.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.61-67
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• 2015

Purpose - Exports have long been regarded as significant drivers of sustainable competitive advantage and growth among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The export activities of SMEs are particularly important in the context of export-oriented economies such as Korea. Although many studies have examined the determinants of exports, it is difficult to find empirical studies about the determinants of the export performance of regional SMEs. This study investigates the determinants of export performance in the regional SME context based on an integrated approach that combines the environment factor of industrial organization theory, competitive strategy theory, and the competences of the resource-based view. Research design, data, and methodology - To empirically analyze the determinants of export performance in the regional SMEs, data were collected from firms in the Daegu metropolitan area. Data were collected directly through questionnaire surveys; in addition, secondary financial data were also taken from the KIS-VALUE database. Out of the 175 responses that were received, 143 were considered to be worth examining. After testing the reliability and validity of the variables through multiple items such as environmental turbulence and competitive strategy, hypotheses were verified by using five multi-regression models. These models were: a control model with organizational size and age, an environmental model with technology and market turbulence, a competency model with R&D and foreign distribution channels, a strategy model with product and market differentiation, and an integrated model including all of these variables. Results - First, as a control variable, the organization size has significant positive effects on export performance. Second, technology turbulence based on industrial organization theory has significant positive effects on export performance, but market turbulence does not affect export performance. Third, the foreign market distribution competency of the resource-based view has strong positive effects on export performance, but the R&D competency does not affect export performance. Fourth, the product differentiation strategy from competitive strategy theory positively impacts export performance, but market differentiation does not affect export performance. Finally, in the integrated model, only the foreign distribution competency of the resource-based view has a significant effect on export performance. Conclusions - The empirical results of this study verified the usefulness of the rationales behind the three theories to explain the export performance of the regional SMEs, especially the importance of the foreign market distribution competency from the resource-based view. With regard to practical considerations, this study's implications suggest that the use of technological environmental changes by industries is better than the use of market changes. Further, the use of the product differentiation strategy is more effective than the use of the market-driving strategy, and the distribution channel competency plays a stronger role than the technology-oriented competency with regard to the export performance position of regional SMEs. Future studies should examine relational perspectives, such as trust among channel partners. Therefore, the configuration approach is more useful in enhancing pragmatism by comparing high- and low-export companies.