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This paper describes a comprehensive approach to examine how technological innovation contributes to the renewal of a firm’s competences through its dynamic and reciprocal relationship with R&D and product commercialization. Three theories of technology and innovation (the R&D and technological knowledge concept, product‐process concept, technological interdependence concept) are used to relate technology and innovation to strategic management. Based on these theories, this paper attempts to identify the dynamic relationship between product innovation and process innovation using system dynamics by investigating that aspect of the dynamic changes in the closed feedback circulation structure in which R&D investments drive the accumulation of technological knowledge.

Many companies are trying to acquire innovative technologies and relevant knowledge by sending R&D work overseas. Although recent research has been focusing on the aspects that motivate MNCs to establish offshore R&D facilities, such as cost reduction and market expansion, little is known about external or circumstantial factors influencing the performance of global R&D activities. Searching for enhancers of offshore R&D facilities, we investigated the relationships between the performance of offshore R&D and the technological capabilities of a parent company, its home country, and its R&D hosting country. Both patent data of EU and the EU R&D scoreboard of 134 overseas R&D labs from 46 MNCs, dating from the period of 2003 to 2005, are used in the analysis. The same time period is applied in calculating the RTA of each country. Regression analysis results support our main hypothesis that the technological capabilities of the parent company and the hosting country positively affect the performance of overseas R&D.

This paper posits that arm’s length buyer‐supplier relationship as the intermediate type between market exchange relations and strategic partnership might be advisable, and information technology may have a role as a mechanism actualizing the effects of such arm’s length relationship by strategic supply‐line diversification. Based on the theoretical analysis on interactive feedback relationships among IT level, buyer‐supplier relationships, and supply chain structure, we suggest a set of advisable buyer‐ supplier relationship type for efficient supply chain management. Also, doing so would be helpful in suggesting a dynamic IT investment and adoption model appropriate for the establishment of productive buyer‐supplier relationship, and further in providing theoretical foundations and practical guidelines on the role and function of B‐to‐B E‐commerce for efficient SC integration.

The premise of this paper is that coordination between market‐related diversification strategies and supply chain management (SCM) strategies will lead to better performance than when the two strategies are pursued independently. Viewed in this perspective, this research proposes that (supply chain) SC integration plays an intermediate role in influencing the relationship between diversification and performance. In order to confirm the validity of the above proposition, structural equation model was used to analyze the interrelationships among SC integration level, diversification level, SCM performance, and firm performance. The results of this study suggest that in small firms in which the direct effect of diversification on firm performance is absent relatively, the level of SC integration may be a critical intervening variable that could lead to successful diversification, while in case of large firms, SC integration may play an important infrastructural role for direct effects of diversification level on firm performance. This is helpful in developing a framework for linking a firm's SC integration strategy to its market/product diversification strategy, and also in identifying how SCM function can play a role in developing and supporting corporate competitive strategy to improve organizational performance.

While the origin of Korean Industrial Relations goes back 150 years when the country opened its seaports to foreign countries, it didn’t emerge as a field of study until 1950s when academics began to write books and papers on the Korean labor movement, labor laws, and labor economics. In this paper, we sketch this history and describe important events and people that contributed to the development of industrial relations in Korea. Korean industrial relations in the early 20th century were significantly distorted by the 35-year-Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945). After regaining its independence, the U.S. backed, growth-oriented, military-based, authoritarian Korean government followed suit and consistently suppressed organized labor until 1987. Finally, the 1987 Great Labor Offensive allowed the labor movement to flourish in a democratized society. Three groups were especially influential in the field of industrial relations in the early 1960s: labor activists, religious leaders, and university faculty. Since then, numerous scholars have published books and papers on Korean industrial relations, whose perspectives, goals, and processes are still being debated and argued. The Korean Industrial Relations Association (KIRA) was formed on March 25, 1990 and many other academic and practitioner associations have also come into being since then. The future of industrial relations as a field of study in Korea does not seem bright, however. Issues regarding organized labor are losing attention because of a steadily shrinking unionization rate, changing societal attitude toward labor unions, and the enactment of new and improved laws and regulations regarding employment relationships more broadly. Thus, we suggest that emerging issues such as contingent workers, works councils and tripartite partnership, conflict management, and human rights will be addressed by the field of industrial relations in Korea only if this field breaks with its traditional focus on union and union–management relations.

The role of logistics service provider (LSP) is essential for efficient logistics service quality (LSQ) and supply chain management, especially in multimodal transport. Multimodal transport routes that use the Trans-Siberian Railway (TSR) play an important role in the supply chains of Northeast Asia. This paper aims to identify current conditions of TSR LSQ and propose improvements to enhance the competitiveness of traditional routes. Therefore, this study sheds light on and provides recommendations for various managerial strategies to LSPs in the context of the TSR. This study utilizes Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to measure levels of importance and performance of the logistics service of LSPs that provide multimodal transport services via the TSR from South Korea to Europe. This study identifies capabilities on the basis of five criteria (price, timeliness, reliability, equipment systems, and customer service) from a customers’ perspective. The results of the research indicate that operational improvements should be considered to activate TSR multimodal transport for northern logistics routes from the perspective of Korean shippers. Specific findings show that balanced development strategies are needed for logistics routes that have not yet been significantly activated, while implying that logistics costs could be reduced initially to satisfy shippers. This study presents an operational strategy for LSPs using the TSR in northern logistics through IPA methods. Furthermore, this research can help policymakers propose specific policies to revitalize the northern logistics of Korean logistics companies and to provide incentive supports for shippers.

This study reveals how a Korean monetary transmission mechanism evolves in the tumultuous decade of the 1990s. We show that (i) contractionary monetary policy shocks have more explanatory power for the post‐crisis periods than for the pre‐crisis period; (ii) the effects on output from external shocks attributed to the oil price and the U.S. federal fund rates are mixed; (iii) there is little positive spillover effect from the U.S. to Korea through the trade channel; and (iv) there is a positive spillover effect from the international capital market channel.

The Hanbo (meaning Korean treasure) scandal or “Hanbogate” occurred on January 23, 1997, with the bankruptcy of Hanbo Iron and Steel Company, the second largest steel company and 14th largest conglomerate in South Korea, as its debt had accumulated to US$5.6 billion. Hanbo's bankruptcy triggered an investigation by the Public Prosecutor's Office that resulted in the imprisonment for 15 years of Hanbo's founder, Chung Tae-Soo, for bribing politicians and bankers to pressure banks to extend hugh bank loans to Hanbo. Nine other persons were also convicted including Chung's son, who was jailed for three years for bribery and embezzlement, and Kim Hyun-Chol, the second son of President Kim Young-Sam, who was sentenced to three years jail and fined US$1.5 million (New York Times, 1997).

This study aims to systemically evaluate morphological printing errors between computer-aided design (CAD) and reference models fabricated using two different three-dimensional printing (3DP) technologies with hard and soft materials.

The reference models were designed to ensure simpler and more accurate measurements than those obtained from actual kidney simulators. Three reference models, i.e. cube, dumbbell and simplified kidney, were manufactured using photopolymer jetting (PolyJet) with soft and hard materials and multi-jet printing (MJP) with hard materials. Each reference model was repeatably measured five times using digital calipers for each length. These values were compared with those obtained using CAD.

The results demonstrate that the cube models with the hard material of MJP and hard and soft materials of PolyJet were smaller (p = 0.022, 0.015 and 0.057, respectively). The dumbbell model with the hard material of MJP was smaller (p = 0.029) and that with the soft material of PolyJet was larger (p = 0.020). However, the dumbbell with the hard material of PolyJet generated low errors (p = 0.065). Finally, the simplified kidney models with the hard material of MJP and soft materials of PolyJet were smaller (p = 0.093 and 0.021) and that with the hard material of PolyJet was opposite to the former models (p = 0.043).

This study, to the best of authors’ knowledge, is the first to determine the accuracy between CAD and reference models fabricated using two different 3DP technologies with multi-materials. Thus, it serves references for surgical applications as simulators and guides that require accuracy.

The purpose of this study is to identify driving factors and a quantitative model for implementing public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Ethiopia as a case study in emerging economies.

A review of the literature and semi-structured interviews were carried out to identify driving factors affecting the implementation of PPP projects in the Ethiopian context. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey within three months, with 59 validated responses; mean score technique and factor analysis were conducted. The fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) method was applied to develop a driving index (DI) for implementing infrastructure PPP projects. Finally, a comparative analysis of top-five drivers was conducted between four emerging economies.

Mean values show that all driving variables are important. Through factor analysis, 22 identified driving variables were grouped into six factors, namely, benefit for public and private sectors, attention of private sector, social development, cost reduction, management ability of public sector and ability of private sector. The FSE method constructs a DI and shows that benefit for public and private sectors is the most crucial factor for PPP implementation in the context of Ethiopia. Apart from this, most driving forces for adopting PPP projects in these countries related to financial problems.

This study is one of the first integrate driving factors for PPP implementation. The index provides the decision-makers with a comprehensive tool to assess the needs of PPP implementation.