• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.277-285
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• 2022

There has been significant increase in demand of launch opportunities from the small satellite sector that represents the new space era. Providing smallsat-dedicated launch service at an affordable price is a new business model many startup companies have pursued, which requires innovative solutions for cost reduction in combination of low cost components, volume production and optimized manufacturing. We set out a preceding study at KARI to develop a suite of critical and cost-cutting technologies in preparation for a two-staged small launch vehicle development, based on the liquid rocket engine technologies developed from the Nuri program in accordance with the 3^rd master plan for national space development. In this work, we introduce the concept of a two-staged small launch vehicle that aims to be innovative and cost competitive for small satellites, and describe mission design results including staging as well as overall vehicle configuration of the launch vehicle.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-43
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• 2022

This study measures the realized rate of return of venture capital(VC) fund at the level of investment agreement(as opposed to fund level returns reported by most of the relevant studies). It also measures the stock price return of the VC's portfolio firms (unlisted start-ups) at firm level(as opposed to fund returns) and its variance for the first time using unique data of the VC funds held by the Korean Venture Capital Association. Results of the analysis confirm that VC fund returns exceed individual stock price returns. Additionally, it is confirmed that VC portfolio firms exhibit a positive relationship between risk and return measured by total risk. Finally, we find that stock price returns at firm level are lower than that implied by the associated levels of risk. Consequently, this may make individual investors hesitate to directly buy unlisted startups' stocks even when investment in individual startup companies guarantees high risk-high returns relationship.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.87-113
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• 2023

Purpose - Focusing on Haier, a successful corporate venture in China, we analyse the operating mechanism and success factors of corporate venture, and reveal the necessary factors for the successful implementation of corporate venture. Design/methodology/approach - This study is a single case study centred on Haier, a successful corporate venture in China. Findings - The operational process of Haier's corporate venture includes six key aspects: project selection, team building, resource allocation and support, project implementation, risk control measures, performance evaluation and rewards. In terms of success factors, the support of top management with leadership capability of value creation and sharing is very important for the success of corporate venture. Secondly, a multi reward mechanism can be introduced to motivate employees and improve performance. Thirdly, it is important to integrate corporate culture into the operating mechanism of an corporate venture. Fourthly, flexible operations that break down rigid organisational boundaries and transform the organisation into a more open platform for entrepreneurship can increase the likelihood of success. Finally, empowering employees with operational discretion can also have a positive impact on the success of an Corporate Venture. Research implications or Originality - This study contributes to theory and practice by analysing the success conditions of corporate venture, providing new understanding and drawing new perspectives, especially from the experience of Haier. The results suggest strategies and flexibility for successfully pursuing corporate venture, and provide important experience for international companies to help them gain competitive advantage in global competition. It also helps corporate leaders to promote new directions and innovations and improve their strategies to respond to dynamic environments.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.97-110
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• 2019

This study analyzed various factors of influence affecting the will to start a business and established and empirically analyzed a research model to see which factors significantly affect the will to start a business. To this end, we investigated the general characteristics and experiences of individuals, conducted a study on the will to start a business, and analyzed the entrepreneurship passion for startups, the ability to find business opportunities, and the ability to connect with partner companies. The intent to start a business survey was investigated in a recertive style with a 7 point scale, and the reliability and feasibility review were analyzed through the PLS analysis method, which enables the implementation of a measurement model and a structural model. To collect valid data, the survey was conducted using an entrepreneurial curriculum class hours to collect and analyze 421 data. In summary, the results are as follows: First, college students have many opportunities to develop their capabilities through competitions held by universities and support institutions, and by utilizing them, they have no fear of starting a business. Second, the ability of students to discover product clients themselves has been improved by fostering entrepreneurship in the special lectures on startup in universities. Third, it can be seen that it has received various information on startups from support agencies to enhance its commitment to startups. The implications are as follows. First, they should foster entrepreneurship among college students by offering practical oriented courses that can broaden their understanding of startups. Second, it needs to be improved from entrepreneurial enthusiasm to a program that can grow into a company that can collaborate with partner companies and confirm its commitment to corporate establishment and product development and determine market opportunities. Third, it is necessary to establish an ecosystem of start-ups that can carry out systematic planning and performance management as it is weak to carry out projects with will to startups.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.237-258
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• 2022

As the global market environment changes, the domestic ICT industry has a growing influence on the world economy. This industry is regarded as an important driving force in the national economy from a technological and social point of view. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the ICT industry are regarded as essential actors of domestic economic development in terms of company diversity, technology development and job creation. However, since it is small compared to large-sized enterprises, it is difficult for SMEs to survive with a differentiated strategy in an incomplete and rapidly changing environment. Therefore, SMEs must make a lot of efforts to improve their own capabilities, and the government needs to provide the desirable help suitable for corporate internal resources so that they can continue to be competitive. This study classifies the types of ICT SMEs participating in government support programs, and analyzes the relationship between resources and performance creation of each type. The data from the "ICT Small and Medium Enterprises Survey" conducted annually by the Ministry of Science and ICT was used. In the first stage, ICT SMEs were clustered based on common factors according to their experiences with government support programs. Three clusters were meaningfully classified, and each cluster was named "active participation type," "initial support type," and "soloist type." As a second step, this study compared the characteristics of each cluster through profiling analysis for each cluster. The third step carried out in this study was to find out the mechanism of R&D performance creation for each cluster through regression analysis. Different factors affected performance creation for each cluster, and the magnitude of the influence was also different. Specifically, for "active participation type", "current manpower", "technology competitiveness", and "R&D investment in the previous year" were found to be important factors in creating R&D performance. "Initial support type" was identified as "whether or not a dedicated R&D organization exists", "R&D investment amount in the previous year", "Ratio of sales to large companies", and "Ratio of vendors supplied to large companies" contributed to the performance. Lastly, in the case of "soloist type", "current workforce" and "future recruitment plan", "technological competitiveness", "R&D investment", "large company sales ratio", and "overseas sales ratio" showed a significant relationship with the performance. This study has practical implications of showing what strategy should be established when supporting SMEs in the future according to the government's participation in the startup program and providing a guide on what kind of support should be provided.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.141-158
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• 2023

From the perspective of an entrepreneur, one of the most important factors for understanding the inherent limitations of a startup, reducing the risk of failure, and succeeding is the composition of the talent, that is, the founding team. Therefore, a common concern experienced by entrepreneurs in the pre-entrepreneurship stage or the early stage of startup is the choice between independent startups and co-founding start-up. Nonetheless, in Korea, the share of independent entrepreneurship is significantly higher than that of co-founding start-up. On the other hand, focusing on the fact that many successful global innovative companies are in the form of co-founding start-up, the success factors of co-founding start-up were examined. Most of the related preceding studies are studies that identify the capabilities and characteristics of individual entrepreneurs as factors influencing the survival and success of entrepreneurship, and there is a lack of research on partnerships, that is, co-founding start-up, which are common in the field of entrepreneurship ecosystems. Therefore, this study attempted a multi-case study through in-depth interviews, collection of relevant data, analysis of contextual information, and consideration of previous studies targeting co-founders of domestic startups that succeeded in opportunistic startups. Through this, a model for deriving the phased characteristics and key success factors of co-founding start-up was proposed. As a result of the study, the key element of the preliminary start-up stage was 'opportunity', and the success factors were 'opportunity recognition through entrepreneur's experience' and 'idea development'. The key element in the early stages of start-up is "start-up team," and the success factor is "trust and complement of start-up team," and synergy is shown when "diversity and homogeneity of start-up team" are harmonized. In addition, conflicts between co-founders may occur in the early stages of start-ups, which has a large impact on the survival of start-ups. The conflict between the start-up team could be overcome through constant "mutual understanding and respect through communication" and "clear division of work and role sharing." It was confirmed that the core element of the start-up growth stage was 'resources', and 'securing excellent talent' and 'raising external funds' were important factors for success. These results are expected to overcome the limitations of start-up companies, such as limited resources, lack of experience, and risk of failure, in entrepreneurship studies, and prospective entrepreneurs preparing for a start-up in a situation where the form of co-founding start-up is attracting attention as one of the alternatives to increase the success rate. It has implications for various stakeholders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.8
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• pp.246-253
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• 2018

The main industries in Chungcheongbuk-do are the smart IT parts; bio-health; and transportation machinery, materials and parts. The transportation, machinery, materials and parts (TMMP) industry is a key source technology for environmentally friendly and intelligent vehicles related to future vehicles in the machinery sector. Business support projects to improve this industry are currently underway. In this study, the number of enterprises, number of employees, amount of shipment, and added value of the enterprises in Chungbuk area were analyzed for the downstream and rear industries of the transportation, machinery, materials, and parts industry to set targets and directions for the technical support projects during the enterprise support. In particular, for the SMEs with less than 50 employees, the changes in the value added per enterprise were analyzed according to the period from the year of foundation. In the case of the rear industry, the value added by companies within three years after foundation has decreased gradually each year, so technical support is needed at the beginning of the startup. Companies between the ages of five and nine years are showing a fluctuating trend each year. Therefore, it is necessary to support business diversification or find new items.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.147-161
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• 2017

Korea is a country having shortage of natural resources, but to overcome this issue and to nurture national competitiveness it is challenging for national-lead economic policy, citizen's dedicated efforts and technological innovation for achieving economic growth. Since the financial crisis, the government has boldly promoted policies to nurture venture companies to make structural adjustments for the sophistication of the industrial structure and job creation. Various policies for establishing the foundation of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which the process of start-up, growth, recovery and reinvest are virtually circulated are presented by the Business Incubators. Recently the Business Incubators neither present a direction differentiated from the vocation of Business Incubator, and nor the operating methods for leading the changing of Business Incubator environment, which threatening the role of Incubating and growing early startup companies. In order to explore the development change of the business incubator, in this research we analyzed the published papers from 1998 to 2016 of business incubator government polices, research methods, related research topics and other major variables. The analysis of the research trends of business incubator revealed the lack of depth case studies, diversity of research topics, and the study of certain limited variables. For the development of the business incubator, case studies of the institutions which carried out excellent incubator and research on the incubation system of the institutions, that are similar to the incubation center are required. This research suggest further research on the case studies of excellent business incubator and agencies, and the center director and manager, which is the center of human resources, and hopes for the revitalization of business incubator researches.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.45-57
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• 2020

Among the fintech businesses that are actively developing around the world, payment and settlement are the most prominent. Korea has a well-developed IT industry and a good existing card payment environment, however, its innovative movement is overwhelmingly slower than that of other countries in the fintech. In this study, we try to assess the regulations on fintech and their impacts on the startup ecosystem by comparing the cases of U.S., China, and Korea. We have found that both the United States and China have lowered barriers to entry for the newly launched fintech industry, allowing startups and IT companies to start fintech businesses at the existing financial sector. Particularly the implementation of predictable regulations in U.S., and the failure to apply the financial regulations in China, help start-up companies' growth in the fintech industry. This finding provides us with a lesson that current positive regulations in Korea should gradually change into negative regulations, and predictable regulations that strictly enforce post-management except major items rather than pre-approval. The policy implications are discussed with the perspective of start-ups in fintech industry.

• Knowledge Management Research
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.1-25
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• 2020

This study analyzed key success factors of Korean car-sharing enterprises, Socar and Greencar, and the responsive strategies of Korean car-manufacturing company, Hyundai Motor Group, in the face of emerging sharing economy under the specific economic and regulatory system in Korea. The outcomes of the analysis are as follows. 'Timely market entry' in early startup phase and 'use of external resources' in early growth phase were key success factors common to both Socar and Greencar. However, the differences in the eventual business directions of the two companies also resulted in different key success factors in the expansion phase of their business. For Socar which focused on maintaining its independence and the external growth of B2C business, customer relation marketing and sufficient capital raising were key success factors. For Greencar which became a part of a business group and focused on improving the efficiency of business operations, timely market entry (B2B market) was key success factor. The use of external resources and cooperation with large corporations emerged as key success factors common to both companies in the rapid growth phase. The responsive strategies of the Hyundai Motor Group were collaboration, investment and direct management of DeliveryCar. The short-term goal of the responsive strategy was the operation of test-bed in collaboration with car-sharing company while the mid/long term goal was planning new mobility services by utilizing collected data. Securing opportunities for early market dominance for autonomous car industry was also found to be an important goal.