• Journal of Korea Trade
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• 제27권2호
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• pp.77-95
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• 2023

Purpose - This study aims to identify the importance of subsidiary entrepreneurship as a key factor when MNE attempts to invest in challenging overseas markets. Through the simultaneous consideration of institutional theory and entrepreneurship theory, this study would like to examine how Korean subsidiaries in the Middle East improve their performance locally. Design/methodology - To reflect the characteristics of emerging markets, this study conducted a survey of Korean subsidiaries in the Middle East in cooperation with KOTRA and analyzed the hypotheses using a structural equation model based on 249 valid responses. Findings - The findings of this study are as follows. First, we found that institutional and business distance would positively affect subsidiaries' entrepreneurship. The result that subsidiaries' entrepreneurship is positively affected by institutional and business distance implies that attempts to close the difference between heterogeneous markets would increase subsidiaries' innovative proactiveness, such as R&D and creative marketing strategies. Second, we confirmed that the institutional and business distance positively mediate the subsidiaries' entrepreneurship growth, leading to high performance. Therefore, Korean subsidiaries are required and prepared to establish strategies to better understand institutional and business distances in advance and reduce the liability of foreignness by conducting customized research and training programs before sending Korean expatriates to local subsidiaries in the Middle East. Originality/value - This study contributed to institutional and entrepreneurship theory by proving the traditional relationship between institutional and business distance to subsidiaries' performance and the mediation of subsidiary entrepreneurship.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.99-112
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• 2020

Purpose - With the increasing uncertainty of China's domestic political and economic environment in recent years, Korean MNC subsidiaries in the Chinese market face greater challenges and competition. Based on the insufficiency of existing research and the need for enterprise management practices, this paper uses the Chinese subsidiaries of Korean MNCs as an example to study and explore how knowledge management and dynamic capabilities affect ambidextrous innovation and the relationship between ambidextrous innovation and subsidiary performance. Design/methodology - From January to March 2019, this study collected 341 valid questionnaires using a survey company specializing in China for the members of the Chinese subsidiaries of Korean MNCs to verify the hypotheses. Using the collected data, the study model was verified using the Smart PLS 3.0 statistical package. Findings - Knowledge transfer and knowledge sharing have positive effects on dynamic capabilities and ambidextrous innovation, and dynamic capabilities have a positive impact on ambidextrous innovation. Ambidextrous innovation has been shown to have a significant effect on subsidiary performance. In addition, a partial mediating effect of dynamic capabilities on the relationship between knowledge management and ambidexterity innovation was found. Originality/value - In the academic context, this paper contributes theoretically to the relationship between knowledge management and ambidextrous innovation, as well as the mechanism of dynamic capability, and to verify the relationship between ambidextrous innovation and corporate performance. Against the background of MNC management, the results of this study provide further enlightenment for managers of subsidiaries.

• 마케팅과학연구
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.277-306
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• 2008

Knowledge1 is considered to be a key element of understanding how organizations gain and sustain competitive advantages. But very few firms are capable of creating the requisite knowledge and thus, firms should acquire and exploit new knowledge through knowledge transfer processes. The empirical part of this study involves examining relationships among adaptability of knowledge and knowledge transfer and marketing performance and testing the moderating roles of absorptive capacity, socialization and local marketing knowledge. This study is organized as follows: (1) Previous literature on knowledge, knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity is summarized, followed by the development of hypotheses derived from the knowledge-based view and absorptive capacity. (2) The hypotheses are tested with data collected from MNCs' subsidiaries performing marketing activities in Korea.Thestudyisclosedwithfindings,implications,andconclusions. Following six research hypotheses are drawn from literature review in related areas: H1: Adaptability of knowledge transferred from the MNCs' headquarters and other subsidiaries is positively associated with knowledge inflows into the receiving subsidiary. H2: The level of marketing knowledge transferred from the MNCs' headquarters and other subsidiaries is positively associated with marketing performance of the receiving subsidiary. H3: Increases in potential absorptive capacity will enhance the relationship between adaptability of knowledge and the level of marketing knowledge transfer. H4: Increases in realized absorptive capacity will enhance the relationship between the level of knowledge transfer and marketing performance of the receiving subsidiary. H5: Increases in socialization activity among the headquarters and subsidiaries will enhance the relationship between adaptability of knowledge and the level of marketing knowledge transfer. H6: Increases in the level of locally developed marketing knowledge will enhance the relationship between the level of knowledge transfer and marketing performance of the receiving subsidiary. The research framework that illustrates the proposed hypotheses is presented in figure 1. The unit of analysis for this study is knowledge transfer from the MNCs' headquarters and other subsidiaries to their subsidiaries operating in South Korea. The population for this study consists of subsidiaries established either as joint ventures or as wholly-owned subsidiaries. A group of 603 foreign firms were drawn from diverse industry organizations and business societies. After personal contact, telephone, fax, and e-mail to request that the respondents complete the questionnaire, 282 valid questionnaires from 133 initial sample companies were collected. The results of the empirical analyses significantly support all of the proposed hypotheses except hypothesis 3. Adaptability of external knowledge promotes knowledge transfer and the relationship is moderated by a firm's potential knowledge absorptive capacity. On the other hand, knowledge transfer improves a firm's marketing performance and a firm's realized knowledge absorptive capacity and local marketing knowledge moderate the relationship. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings in this study are as follows: (1) firms must take seeking, transferring, sharing and exploiting of external knowledge into serious consideration, while simultaneously creating knowledge to support the necessary business operations, remain competitive, and achieve superior performance. (2) Firms should continuously seek to develop their knowledge absorptive capacity (both potential and realized capacity) to absorb, learn and utilize valuable external knowledge. (3) Firms should emphasize not only absorptive capacity, but also development of local knowledge. Firms with strong absorptive capability and local knowledge can learn and transfer more external knowledge, which can be translated into greater levels of competence and performance.

• 국제지역연구
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.81-100
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• 2016

본 논문은 한국 다국적 기업의 자료를 이용하여 해외직접투자에서 현지화가 자회사의 경영성과에 미치는 영향을 분석하고자 한다. 이를 위해 한국수출입은행에서 제공하는 61개 국가에 진출해있는 2,116개 한국 다국적기업의 현지자회사에 대한 2008년에서 2011년까지의 자료를 사용하고 있다. 고정효과 패널선형모형을 사용해 분석한 결과 현지화가 자회사의 경영성과에 미치는 영향은 산업별, 국가그룹별로 매우 상이하게 나타났다. 제조업의 경우 현지매출비중의 증가는 중국에 진출해 있는 현지자회사의 경영성과에만 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 반면, 현지매입비중의 증가는 중국을 제외한 기타 개도국에서만 유의하게 정(+)의 영향을 나타내는 것으로 분석되었다. 반면, 서비스업의 경우 해당 투자대상국이 선진국일 경우 현지매출비중, 현지매입비중, 현지관리자비중 모두 긍정적인 영향을 미치며, 중국의 자회사에 대해서는 현지매출비중만이 긍정적인 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다.

• 지식경영연구
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• 제14권3호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2013

This study investigates how relational activities within MNC network affect knowledge transfer and performance of subsidiary. We separated the possible relationships between headquarter and overseas subsidiaries by support level, interaction level, and conflict level, and compared the impact on knowledge transfer, and performance. To understand the knowledge sharing, development and performance, we use structural equation modeling to analyze data from subsidiaries in China.

• 지식경영연구
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.231-249
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• 2019

Technology transfer from a multinational company to a local subsidiary is essential for successful local market operations. This study aims to analyze the impact of market, cultural and institutional environmental factors on international technology transfer and innovation performance based on the S-C-P paradigm. We collected data from one hundred ninety-five subsidiaries of Korean parent firms located in seventeen countries and used structural equation modeling to test hypotheses. The analysis findings are as follow; First, both market and cultural environment directly affect international technology transfer. However, institutional environment such as protection of intellectual property does not affect international technology transfer. Due to the less risk of technology disclosure involved in technology transfer within the MNE organization can be not relationship between protection of intellectual property in the host country and the foreign subsidiary's transfer of technology. The risk of infringement of intellectual property is relatively low in intra-firm transfer of technology. Second, the technology introduced from the parent company has a positive effect on the innovation performance of local subsidiaries. This implies that multinational companies that have entered unfamiliar overseas markets should be able to effectively transfer the inherent advantages of the parent company to their overseas subsidiaries, and that their ability to adapt to the local environment is important.

• 국제지역연구
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• 제16권1호
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• pp.197-220
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• 2012

한국 중소기업 해외자회사의 투자성과 차이를 가져오는 주요 경영관리역량은 무엇이며, 이들 경영관리역량을 구축하는데 영향을 미치는 요인은 무엇인가? 이를 파악하기 위해 베트남 호치민 지역을 방문하여 21개 기업의 경영자들을 1-2시간 동안 인터뷰한 다음, 경영자원론에 의거하여 도출한 분석모델에 따라 사례를 작성 및 분석하였다. 분석결과 유능한 관리자 확보, 원활한 의사소통 체제, 안정적인 노사관계 구축, 공장가동률 제고와 하청활용, 자사특유의 품질관리 시스템, 적기자금조달, 지역사회와 좋은 관계 구축 및 관련 공무원들과의 우호적인 관계 구축 등과 같은 경영관리역량이 주요한 영향을 미치는 것으로 분석되었다. 또한 경영관리역량을 향상시키는 요인들은 사전진출 경험과 지식뿐만 아니라 지속적인 학습, 단계적인 성장, 뛰어난 경영관리 시스템 등으로 분석되었다. 따라서 한국 중소기업들은 베트남 투자성과를 높이기 위해 사전진출 경험과 지식을 충분히 축적하여야 하며, 진출 이후에도 지속적인 학습을 바탕으로 환경변화에 맞게 주요 경영관리역량을 향상시켜 나가야 할 것이다.

• 유통과학연구
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• 제13권8호
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• pp.15-25
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• 2015

Purpose - There is a lack of research on how much corporate control is sufficient for effective subsidiary business-related decision making. To address this research gap, this study analyzes the impact of the level of control of a Korean corporation's headquarters on its overseas subsidiary performance. Research design, data, methodology - The study's sample comes from the Overseas Korean Business Directory of KOTRA. A multiple regression analysis empirically confirmed the relationship between the headquarters level of control over the subsidiaries and their performance. Results - The results show that the greater an organization's headquarters control over strategic issues, the greater the subsidiary's non-financial performance. However, quick decision-making through decentralization promotes the rapid selection of successful new products that can provide a competitive advantage. Conclusion - This study shows that the impact of control levels on subsidiary performance depends on the type of control involved. Specifically, while low levels of control over operational issues had a positive (+) influence on subsidiary non-financial performance, high control levels led to improved non-financial performance with regard to strategic issues among the subsidiaries.

• 산업경영시스템학회지
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.29-40
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• 2020

Korean firms have been vigorously searching and exploring overseas market opportunities through export and overseas investment. As of end of 2019, there were more than 80,000 Korean overseas subsidiaries all over the world. With Korean overseas direct investment increasing recently, it became one of the important issues for overseas investors to be successful in the global market. There are a lot of studies on factors influencing the performance of overseas subsidiaries such as 'firm' and 'country' factors. This study empirically examines subsidiary performance determinants with 'industry architectures' by using a sample of 292 overseas Korean firm subsidiaries. Industry architectures are the stable but evolving sets of rules and roles through which labor is divided within a sector. This article considers how industry architectures shape success in international expansion. Industry architectures differ between countries, are not necessarily technologically determined, shape firms' capabilities and their competitive environment, and constitute a distinct level of analysis. We extract antecedents of related theory and empirically test its impact with a survey of Korean firms expanding in emerging economies. We would say this is the first study which tries to focus on industry architectures with the performance of Korean overseas subsidiaries. We find that separability and similarity of industry architectures across countries and localization of subsidiaries are robust and important predictors of success in international expansion. Our results suggest that industry architectures should be added to firm and country as an intermediate level of analysis that helps explain success in international expansion. While we established a pattern, much more remains to be done. We focus on the success of foreign operations, but we do not consider the broader benefits of going abroad, such as the learning or network effects that accrue at the level of the entire firm. The next obvious question is whether the results would differ in the developed market context. These we leave for future research to consider.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• 제25권4호
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• pp.108-127
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• 2021

Purpose - On the basis of knowledge transfer theory, we empirically explored how three types of human resource (HR) innovation knowledge exchange within a Chaebol drive the global subsidiary performance of the headquarters (HQ) of a Chaebol's globally affiliated companies. Design/methodology - Using a sample of 176 Korean HQ firms of the top 53 Chaebols and 1,061 of their foreign manufacturing subsidiaries (n = 1,061), we tested the relationship between the exchange of explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms of Chaebols, their subsequent transfer of technical HR knowledge via technical schemas, and the subsequent impact on the global subsidiary performance. Findings - The Chaebols' decisions about the three strategic knowledge management options (i.e., the degree of exchange of explorative and exploitative technological HR innovation knowledge and the extent of HQ-subsidiary HR knowledge transfer) have highly significant relationships with the global subsidiary performance. The results help explains the conditions under which the explorative versus exchange of exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge pays off by showing the moderating role of the degree of HQ-to-subsidiary technical HR knowledge transfer, at least in the case of the Chaebol as one representative type of the emerging-market business groups. Originality/value - As the first of its kind in the field of sustainable HR innovation knowledge management at the business group level, the present study makes a clear contribution in demonstrating how the performance of Chaebols' manufacturing subsidiaries depends greatly on their strategy for management of knowledge, as reflected in the choices they make about sharing both explorative and exploitative sustainable HR innovation knowledge among HQ firms and the subsequent transfer of HQ's sustainable HR innovation knowledge to the foreign subsidiaries.