Enterprises In Korea Research Articles

Main contents and implications of the 2023 revision of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises*

Purpose This study aims to provide the main contents of the revision of the 2023 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and suggest implications for the Korean government and multinational enterprises.Design/methodology/approach Following the brief history of the revision of OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, this study reviews and evaluates major substantive and procedural revisions of the 2023 OECD Guidelines, and then suggests countermeasures for Korean government and businesses.Findings The most significant substantive change of the 2023 revision is that expectations for environmental due diligence and disclosure obligations, including climate change and biodiversity, for multinational enterprises have been expanded and strengthened. Regarding procedural changes, the biggest change is the introduction of a basis rule for the National Contact Points for Responsible Business Conduct (NCPs for RBC) to judge each issue and a rule that the final statement must include follow-up details and deadlines, which is expected to strengthen the effectiveness of the NCP dispute resolution mechanism.Originality/value This study is the first academic paper to introduce major substantive and procedural revisions to the 2023 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises in Korea. This study also provides implications for the Korean government and companies following the 2023 revised OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises as follows. First, the Korean government must establish a public–private partnership to closely communicate to prevent Korean companies from being harmed by failing to meet strengthening international Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) standards. In addition, Korean government should actively participate in ESG-related international forums, including the OECD, and strive to reflect the needs and interests of Korean companies. Second, the Korean NCP should strengthen its activities to prevent potential damage by expanding education and promotions for Korean businesses on related overseas legislative trends and NCP dispute case studies so that Korean companies can effectively deal with the strengthened ESG standards. Third, Korean multinational enterprises should preemptively establish an advanced ESG management system to seize new opportunities in the global supply chain previously concentrated in China and India in the process of reorganizing global supply chains according to the trend of strengthening ESG standards and the US value alliance strategy.

A study of the influence of social skills on partnership support and social performance

PurposeThis study systematically assesses and empirically examines the research question: How do social skills influence resource acquisition and social performance? Specifically, this study applies RBV theory from strategy to link social skills, resource conditions and the performance of social enterprises.Design/methodology/approachFor this, we surveyed social enterprises in Korea to collect data and used SPSS 18.0 for hierarchical regression analysis.FindingsIn the Korean context, first, the results show that all social skills of social entrepreneurs are positively related to social performance. Second, among independent variables, self-promotion is positively associated with financial support and expressiveness is positively associated with marketing support. However, the rest of the independent variables have no significance. Finally, obtaining financial support from their partner mediates the relationship between self-promotion and social ventures' social performance, and obtaining marketing support from their partner mediates the relationship between expressiveness and social ventures' social performance.Originality/valueThis study provides two contributions. First, this is the first study to apply and test the RBV systematically and empirically in the context of social enterprises. Second, the results suggest that social skills and support types are important to social value creation.

문화예술분야 사회적기업 성과지표에 대한 탐색적 연구

Arts and cultural social enterprises are organizations that create diverse social values through cultural activities. This study aims to explore performance indicators for arts and cultural social enterprises to enhance our understanding of their performance and investigate their sustainability. To this end, we reviewed and synthesized literature on arts and cultural social enterprises both domestically and internationally, focusing on the Social Value Index (SVI) and the Art & Culture Social Performance Evaluation Model (ARC-SPEM) currently in use. This synthesis informed the proposal of new performance indicators spanning social, economic, and artistic dimensions. Subsequently, a survey among arts and cultural social enterprise experts and a hierarchical analysis process (AHP) were conducted. The analysis highlighted the relatively recognized importance of social performance indicators compared to economic and artistic ones. ‘Cultural welfare and appreciation’ and ‘arts and cultural education’ emerged as priorities in the social dimension; ‘providing jobs for artists’ was prominent in the economic dimension; and ‘art as a social activity’—which employs art to generate diverse values— was underscored in the artistic dimension. However, a case study on the current performance measurement practices of arts and cultural social enterprises in Korea revealed inconsistencies in the criteria, terminology, and categories used across organizations, along with a lack of comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data for appropriate performance assessment. We conclude that to ensure the sustainability of arts and cultural social enterprises, it is crucial to concurrently consider the peculiarities of art jobs, donations and sponsorships, service-oriented activities, and genre-specific value chains from social, economic, and artistic perspectives. Furthermore, artistic performance indicators not only impact artistic outputs but also influence social and economic outcomes, highlighting the need to acknowledge each organization’s unique artistic nature. This study’s significance lies in its systematic and comprehensive identification of performance indicators, acknowledging the unique attributes of arts and cultural social enterprises. It provides a foundation for revisiting previously overlooked performance metrics and facilitates communication with various stakeholders by introducing new artistic performance indicators tailored to the arts and cultural sector.

Multilevel Analysis of the Effect of Corporate Entrepreneurship and Learning Capabilities on the Attitudes of Key Personnel in Small and Medium Enterprises in Korea: The Moderating Effect of Social Capital

This study investigates the multilevel impact of corporate entrepreneurship and learning capability on job satisfaction and organizational commitment and reveals the moderating effect of social capital. Using a quantitative approach based on secondary data from the Human Capital Corporation Panel (HCCP) provided by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education & Training (KRIVET). A total of 344 people working for 67 SMEs were processed to infer the results through the hierarchical linear model (HLM). We found that corporate entrepreneurship and learning ability had significantly positive effects on organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Further, social capital had a moderating effect only on the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and organizational commitment, and there was no moderating effect on the relationship between corporate entrepreneurship and job satisfaction as well as the relationship between learning capability, organizational commitment, and job satisfaction. To inspire corporate entrepreneurship, individuals or teams should work with the company to create new organizations or incite innovation within the organization. Through social interaction, we must build and expand the consensus of our members and share values, attitudes, and objectives. Drawing on these findings, we suggest directions for future research.

Intra-Stakeholder Heterogeneity Perspective on the Hybridity of Competing Institutional Logics for Social Enterprises

Both academics and businesspeople are interested in how to make social enterprises sustainable. The focus of this research is on the different kinds of stakeholders within a group that make it easier for competing logics to coexist in social enterprises. Based on intra-stakeholder heterogeneity and competing institutional logics, we identify key sub-categories among market stakeholders such as investors, customers, and employees. We tested our hypotheses using survey data collected from 190 social enterprises in Korea. Our research shows that the hybridity of competing logics is better when there are more ethical investors in the investor stakeholder group and cross-sector employees in the employee stakeholder group. However, impure altruistic buyers do not have much of an impact on the hybridity of competing logics among consumer stakeholder groups. Our study’s analysis of intra-stakeholder heterogeneity provides theoretical insight into the hybridity of institutional logics in social entrepreneurship. This study also makes the practical suggestion that in order to achieve hybridity, managers of social enterprises should put in a lot of time and effort to understand the different institutional logics of within-group stakeholders.

국내 중소기업의 스마트 팩토리 구축방안 연구

제조업은 국가 발전과 번영 그리고 인구 증가의 핵심 요소이며 국가의 장기적인 경제 성장은 제조업 없이는 존재할 수 없다. 또한 4차 산업혁명으로 인한 제조 패러다임의 변화는 기업에 저비용, 고품질, 유연성, 민첩성, 대응성을 요구하였고, 이는 제조업 스마트화의 필요성을 야기하였다. 이러한 배경에서 중소기업은 스마트 팩토리를 도입하고 있지만, 여전히 대부분 기초 단계에 머물러 있다. 따라서 본 연구는 중소 제조기업의 성공적인 스마트 팩토리 구축을 위해 문헌 연구를 기반으로 스마트 팩토리의 개념을 정리하여 종합적으로 제시한다. 더불어 스마트 팩토리 구축 기초 단계에서부터 수직적 통합 단계의 실제 사례를 통해 주요 성공 요인을 탐색하고 적절한 스마트 팩토리 구축 전략을 제시하고자 한다. 본 연구는 기술적 측면 위주로 이루어진 기존 연구와 다르게 기술적 역량이 부족한 중소기업의 성공적인 스마트 팩토리 구축을 위해서는 공급 업체 선정, 패키지 커스터마이징 등의 조직 외부 요인과 최고경영자의 리더십 및 기업 분석 등의 조직 내부의 요인이 중요하다는 점을 확인하였다. 이와 더불어 중소기업이 스마트 팩토리를 구축할 때 고려해야 하는 성공 요인을 도출하여 업계에 필요한 전략을 실질적으로 제안하였다는 점에서 실무적 시사점을 갖는다.

스마트공장에서 객체인식과 휴먼 동특성 분석을 통한 AI융합 알고리즘 개발과 적용 연구

Many small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea have built smart factories with government support. However, the majority of SMEs are producing products that are difficult to automate and require a lot of manpower on behalf of large companies. In particular, it is difficult for manufacturing companies to enter smart factories because it is difficult to input real-time data. According to research needs as described above, in this study, in order to improve the fact that humans collect information by relying on visual information for more than 70%, object recognition and human dynamics analysis are used to overcome the problem of blind spots in performance aggregation. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, first, the requirements were investigated by qualitative and quantitative methods, and based on this, a prototype model was designed and implemented. Second, the implemented prototype system was applied to actual small and medium-sized manufacturing companies to prove the effectiveness of the AI convergence algorithm through qualitative and quantitative evaluation. The results of this study are expected to provide basic information necessary for calculating standard costs and building digital twins of smart factories by overcoming the limitations of SMEs’ smart factory and enabling real-time data aggregation.

Analyses of the Effects of Government Export Promotion Programs on Export Performance: Empirical Evidence for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Korea

Purpose - This study empirically examines the effect of the Korean government export promotion program (EPP) on small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs) export performance using firm-level data. Unlike most previous studies that investigated some specific samples of firms, this study analyzes a vast amount of SME data of the Korean Small and Medium Business Administration over the period 2005 to 2008.
 Design/methodology - An endogeneity problem arises when a firm’s probability of being selected is correlated with the likelihood of successfully implementing EPPs. To control for the endogeneity of the EPPs in a relatively short-period sample, we employ 2-Stage Residual Inclusion (2SRI) RE-Tobit and bivariate Tobit procedure.
 Findings - Analyses show that Korean government EPPs have positive significant effects on SME exports. Empirical results also show that SME export activities are significantly encouraged by R&D investment and capital intensity, but not obviously by labor productivity.
 Originality/value - This study provides evidence that SME capital intensity, R&D investment, and the number of workers are significant determinants to SME exporting activities, whereas per worker labor cost and employee education are not. These results imply that even for SMEs, firm size is a major factor in promoting exporting activities.

FOM Solution을 활용한 제조공정 데이터의 신뢰도 향상

Many small- and medium-sized enterprises in Korea are introducing smart factories to maintain competitiveness. The smart factory collects and monitors production process and equipment data in real time. When an abnormality occurs, the smart factory can immediately identify the problem, minimizing equipment downtime and product defect and increasing corporate profits. In this study, 4M (human, machine, material, method) data, a key element of manufacturing, was collected and analyzed to build a smart factory, and the reliability of the collected data was very high. The reliability of the data was verified using the factory operation management solution and improved through on-site customized training. The data for the manufacturing site were collected, applied, and verified from small and medium-sized enterprises that manufacture automobile parts.

How Does Corporate Social Responsibility Affect Sustainability of Social Enterprises in Korea?

Social enterprises (SEs) are a new concept, integrating corporate profitability and social purposes. SEs seek to realize sustainable social values, rather than short-term profits. It is therefore important to study the factors that affect the sustainable management of SEs. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is known to improve corporate image and performance; it can also promote the sustainable development of companies. Innovation has been described as the driving force behind corporate growth and ultimate performance. This study aims to investigate whether CSR can affect sustainability through the economic and social performance of SEs. In addition, it attempts to verify the moderating role of innovativeness in the relationship between CSR and social enterprise (SE) performance. Using survey data from 226 employees of 204 SEs in Korea, we have empirically tested this conceptual framework. The results suggest that, while CSR can improve sustainability through economic and social performance, innovativeness has no moderating effect on the relationship between CSR and SE performance. This study enriches our understanding of the important role played by CSR in driving SE sustainability. It provides new insights into the mechanisms through which SEs can achieve sustainable development. It also contributes to the literature by emphasizing the need for innovation through technical support for SEs.

How corporate entrepreneurship affects the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea: The mediating and moderating role of vision, strategy, and employee compensation

How corporate entrepreneurship affects the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea: The mediating and moderating role of vision, strategy, and employee compensation

Comparative Analysis of Local Public Enterprises in Korea and Japan: Focusing on the Local Water Supply Business

대부분의 국가에서 수도사업은 정부가 직접 공급하는 방식을 취하고 있는데, 국민생활과 밀접한 연관성이 있을 뿐 아니라 산업연관효과가 매우 크고, 경쟁이 오히려 비효율적인 자연독점적 성격을 지님에 따라 정부가 직접 공급하는 방식을 취하였다. 경영형태적 관점에서 볼 때 우리의 지방공기업은 1969년 지방공기업법이 제정되면서 시작되었는데, 가장 먼저 적용된 사업이 수도사업이며 사업의 공익적 특성상 정부가 직접 공급하는 방식(지방직영기업)을 채택하고 있다. 일본의 지방상수도사업은 지방공영기업 형태로 운영되는데, 지방공영기업은 자치단체가 직접적으로 경영하는 형태로서 우리의 지방직영기업과 동일한 구조를 갖고 있다. 조직인사적 관점에서 볼 때 한국과 일본의 수도사업 운영방식은 지방자치단체가 직접 공급하는 형태지를 지니지만, 관리자의 경우 우리는 공무원으로 선임하는데 비해 일본은 공무원 이외에 일반 전문가도 선임될 수 있으며, 임기제를 당연규정으로 운영하고 있다. 특히 관리자의 선임 조건과 관련하여 우리는 자격조건만을 언급하고 있으나, 일본은 자격조건 이외에 능력조건을 규정하고 있다. 재무적 관점에서 볼 때 한국과 일본은 모두 영업손실을 경험하고 있으나, 일본은 영업외수익과 특별이익을 통해 영업손실을 상쇄하고 있으며, 우리보다 요금 현실화율이 높게 나타나고 있다. 또한 영업손실 대비 타회계전

Review and Improvement of Chemical Hazard Risk Management of Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency.

In 2012, the Korean Occupational Safety and Health Agency developed Chemical Hazard Risk Management (CHARM) as a risk assessment tool. This study aims to reorganize the CHARM technique by complementing its logical loopholes, while evaluating the risk to enterprises and verifying this technique by applying it to some enterprises in Korea. The optimized technique changed the method of quantitative assessment and evaluation criteria, matched the risk level with the required control level, and specified the use of control practice. For the target enterprises, for several assessment methods, risk levels, hazard bands, exposure bands, and the risk assessment results were derived, and the same types of options were compared. Fewer informational methods resulted in more conservative results of risk levels and hazard bands. Since the control status of the enterprises could not be confirmed and the substances handled at the target enterprises were limited in this study, a follow-up study should be performed with more target materials and additional information on the current control status of the enterprises.

A Study on the Impact of Offshoring on Total Factor Productivity

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of offshoring on manufacturing firms’ total factor productivity (TFP) by establishment size. Design/Methodology/Approach - Using data on manufacturing enterprises in Korea between 2014 and 2018, we first apply Levinsohn and Petrin’s (2003) method to construct firm-level total factor productivity (TFP). Then we examine the effect of offshoring activities on manufacturing firms’ productivity by comparing regression results from pooled OLS, random effect panel analysis, and system GMM. Findings - When estimated for the entire manufacturing industry, the effect of offshoring is found to be positive, indicating offshoring activities can be considered as productivity-enhancing. When estimated by establishment size, the offshoring activity was not found to be associated with total factor productivity among large-sized manufacturing firms, while the effect remained to be positive and statistically significant among small and medium-sized firms. Research Implications - The results from various estimation exercises show that the effect of offshoring activities on total factor productivity varies by establishment size. We confirm that the effect of offshoring is concentrated among small and medium-sized enterprises, indicating that the benefits associated with engaging in offshoring activity are greater for smaller firms, perhaps due to (relatively) higher opportunity costs of participating in the vertically integrated supply chain.

Current Status and Challenges of Longevity of Micro Enterprise in Korea

Current Status and Challenges of Longevity of Micro Enterprise in Korea

An effect of educational quality on learning outcomes and organizational performance: focused on Korean small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of education for employees on learning outcomes and educational quality characteristics on organisational performance through analysis of the relationship between education quality characteristics, learning satisfaction, learning outcomes, and organisational performance. In this study, a research model based on IS-Success Model of Delone and McLean (2003) was established. A total of 320 questionnaires were distributed to small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, among which a total of 258 questionnaires were analysed, and the following results were obtained. First, information quality and system quality had significant effects on learning satisfaction and learning outcomes, but service quality had a significant effect on only learning outcomes. In particular, it was ascertained that the educational design in the system quality aspect that has high job relatedness and applicability to work-site operations had a high level of influence. Second, learning satisfaction was found to have a significant effect on learning outcomes. Lastly, learning outcomes had a significant effect on job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and perceived financial performance. The results have significant implications for companies that hesitate to invest in education and training based on the belief that it equates to cost increase not to the increase in the organisational performance.

Une analyse socio‐économique de la trajectoire institutionnelle de l'entreprise sociale : le cas de la Corée du Sud

AbstractAs a unique case in Asia, South Korea has developed for about 15 years a complex eco‐system for encouraging the promotion of various forms of social enterprises, i.e. enterprises pursuing a social aim and/or operating under a democratic governance. This paper analyses the institutional trajectory of social enterprise in Korea and its close relation with the concept of social economy. A socio‐economic analysis of this trajectory reveals that it is strongly driven by successive consensus towards socially useful organisational forms that remain first relatively unknown and local, and then tend to attract the attention of a growing number of stakeholders, including central and local governments, to eventually generate specific public schemes and laws. Through this analysis, one can understand how far an economic concept like social enterprise is the result of a social construct that depends on the involvement of the public side and the civil society and social movement. It also stresses how important is the decisive role played by relatively minor actors to generate a consensus between different stakeholders and disseminate thus social innovation to reshape public action and public/private forms of partnerships.

The Impact of Cultural Intelligence and Job Embeddedness on Foreign Workers’ Job Crafting

직원들의 주도적인 직무변화행동인 잡크래프팅(job crafting)은 조직과의 적합, 직무열의 등을 촉진 한다는 점에서 관심을 받아왔다. 그러나 생소한 근로환경에 있는 외국인들에게 이러한 수준 높은 행동 을 끌어내기 위해서 어떤 역량과 인식 혹은 성향 등이 요구될지 구체적으로 알려진 바가 거의 없다. 이에 따라 본 연구는 잡크래프팅을 촉진하는 데 있어 외국인근로자들의 문화적 역량인 문화지능과 착근 도를 반영하는 직업배태성의 영향력을 검토했다. 뿐만 아니라 문화지능과 직업배태성 간 지각된 과잉자 격, 직업배태성과 잡크래프팅 간 조절(촉진 및 예방)초점의 조절효과도 함께 고려했다. 연구에 사용된 데이터는 중소업체들에서 근무 중인 216명의 외국인근로자들로부터 획득했다. 분석한 결과 문화지능과 직업배태성은 각각 잡크래프팅에 대한 유의한 예측변수임이 입증되었다. 하지만 예상과 달리 과잉자격 지각과 예방초점은 해당 관계를 강화 대신 약화시켰다. 또한 촉진초점의 조절효과는 없었다. 이러한 발 견은 숙련된 외국인근로자들의 장기고용을 희망하는 사업주들에게 문화지능을 선발에서 고려할 것과 유지에서 있어서도 그들의 직업안정 측면이나 개인 동기 등에 주시할 필요가 있음을 시사한다.Although a well-known role of job crafting in helping employees shape their person-job fit and job engagement, it is still unclear what competencies, perceptiveness, or personalities lead to this behavior of foreign workers working in different cultural settings. In this regard, the purpose of this work is to investigate the effect of foreign workers’ cultural intelligence and job embeddedness on their job crafting. Additionally, we also consider the moderating effect of perceived overqualification between cultural intelligence and job embeddedness, and regulatory focus (promotion focus, prevention focus) between job embeddedness and job crafting. From a survey of 216 foreigners working in small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, results supported our hypothesis that cultural intelligence and job embeddedness are positively associated with job crafting. However, perceived overqualification and prevention focus showed a weakening effect rather than a strengthening effect, and the moderating effect of promotion focus was also not significant. These findings suggest that businesses seeking long-term employment of foreign labor need to pay attention to the role of the foreign workers’ cultural competence and their perceptions of job and organization.

Circular Economy Business Models with a Focus on Servitization

During the fourth industrial revolution, based on information and communication technology (ICT), service-led growth has been an increasingly important development area. This paper focuses on service-led growth as an innovative business model in the circular economy and offers the ‘product as service model’. A business model needs to be flexibly adjustable for changes in the market in response to changes in technology, the economy, and the environment. For firms facing increasing scarcity of resources, the right business model for using resources is becoming crucial for their growth. In a circular economy, a new method of business modelling is essential. This paper introduces the ‘product as a service model’ using a conceptualized and case study methodology. We illustrate this innovative circular business model through product servitization at the Hyundai Automotive Enterprise in Korea. This business model can be effective because of emerging new ‘smart connected products’ such as the ‘internet of things’ and ‘fifth generation’ network technologies. Cost, convenience, and the circular economy for firms, consumers, and the environment are critical factors in this new business model.

Bribery and Allocation Efficiency: Evidence From Public Procurement Auctions in Korea

A well-known scandal involving a public enterprise in Korea suggests that supplier firms use entertainment expenses to maintain corrupt ties with officials of purchasing agencies. Such corrupt ties may allow supplier firms to bid low in procurement auctions in anticipation of corrupt officials allowing low-cost goods and services to be supplied. Examining entertainment expenses and bidding data of firms participating in Korea Online E-Procurement System (KONEPS) auctions, we document the prevalence of the entertain-more-and-bid-low behavior, which suggests that a significant part of entertainment expenses are indeed bribes paid to public officials. We further show that the Antigraft Act of 2016, which limits entertaining public officials, had the intended effect of reducing corruption in public procurement. Finally, constructing a measure of firm-level bribe amounts from the response to the new law, we show that bribes are unlikely to enhance allocation efficiency contrary to the prediction of the grease-the-wheels hypothesis.