Sohyoun Synthia Shin and Sungho Lee
This paper aims to provide an examination of firms’ strategic orientations, innovativeness and performance with large Korean companies.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide an examination of firms’ strategic orientations, innovativeness and performance with large Korean companies.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors investigated the impacts of firms’ major key strategic orientations (customer orientation [CO], competitor orientation [PO], technology orientation [TO] and internal/cost orientation [IO]) on firm innovativeness (INNO) and performance outcomes with large Korean companies.
Findings
The results of the analysis showed that CO, PO and TO positively influence the innovativeness, which contributes to firm performance.
Originality/value
The authors provide some managerial implications on the multiple roles of strategic orientations on firm INNO and performances, along with limitations of this study and future research directions.
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Yi Ling Yang, Sungho Lee and Sahangsoon Kim
Theoretically, the paper aims to provide locus of legitimacy as a framework to not only introduce a multidimensional perspective on legitimacy but also expand the understanding…
Abstract
Purpose
Theoretically, the paper aims to provide locus of legitimacy as a framework to not only introduce a multidimensional perspective on legitimacy but also expand the understanding about resource acquisition strategies of social enterprises. Empirically, the authors test the theoretical predictions by using cases from South Korea and Taiwan. Practically, the authors intend to assist chief executive officers (CEOs) of social enterprises in their effort to secure valuable resources and provide policy implications so that both South Korea and Taiwan learn from each other.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use case methods to find evidence of the proposed theoretical framework. The initial search for target companies showed that social enterprises in South Korea and Taiwan were ideal samples. In-person, email and phone interviews were conducted on CEOs, and archival data on institutional environments and various aspects of social enterprises were collected. Collected data were analyzed using the locus of legitimacy framework to find out how different emphasis on locus of legitimacy impacted critical decisions of social enterprise, such as human, financial and network resources.
Findings
As predicted in the locus of the legitimacy framework, the analyses confirmed that locus of legitimacy did explain critical decisions of social enterprises in South Korea and Taiwan. First, significant institutional forces existed, shaping social enterprises behavior. For example, Taiwanese Jinu showed that greater emphasis was given to internal legitimacy, while South Korean Sohwa was higher in external locus of legitimacy. Such differences systematically impacted choices made on resource acquisition strategies. Jinu showed a greater similarity to those of for-profit companies, aligning key decisions of resource acquisition strategies to achieve financial viability as a top priority. However, Sohwa, though financial performance was still important, put more emphasis on meeting institutional demands from South Korean Government.
Originality/value
This study is one of early studies that attempts to understand the structure of legitimacy faced by social enterprises. The authors argue that organizations can play a more proactive role in securing legitimacy. The authors believe that locus of legitimacy framework complements the existing understanding about legitimacy in institutional theory. By introducing a multidimensional perspective about legitimacy, the authors add additional explanations about how firms exposed to different institutional forces can have diverse alternatives in resource acquisition strategies.
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Rajneesh Suri, Rajesh V. Manchanda and Sungho Lee
Building on research that has studied cultural differences between South Korea and the USA, the authors' conceptualization suggests that products associated with fixed and…
Abstract
Building on research that has studied cultural differences between South Korea and the USA, the authors' conceptualization suggests that products associated with fixed and discounted price formats would be evaluated differently in these two countries. The differences in product evaluations were expected to lead to differences in perceptions of quality, monetary sacrifice and value of offers between the two pricing formats. These predictions were tested using laboratory experiments conducted in South Korea and the USA. Results showed that Korean subjects’ evaluated a product that was discounted in price to be superior in quality and value and lower in monetary sacrifice than when it was the full price. The US subjects however, reacted in an opposite manner and evaluated products with discounted prices as inferior in quality and value in comparison to a fixed price. These findings were robust across two discount conditions (15 percent and 20 percent off).
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Linda I. Nowak and Judith H. Washburn
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this…
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this study suggest that consumer perceptions about product quality, consumer trust, consumer perceptions about pricing, and positive expectations for the consequences of the winery's actions undertaking the pro‐environmental policies, all have strong, positive relationships with the winery's brand equity. Trust in the winery and brand equity for the winery increased significantly when the winery in this study adopted proactive environmental business policies.
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Sungho Cho, Minyong Lee and Taewoo Kim
While studies have highlighted the benefits of athlete endorsement as a means of strategic marketing communication and public relations, there are risk factors associated with…
Abstract
Purpose
While studies have highlighted the benefits of athlete endorsement as a means of strategic marketing communication and public relations, there are risk factors associated with the practice, especially when a celebrity endorser is involved in immoral incidents or social activism. This study examined the impacts of athlete endorsers’ controversial behavior on sponsors. It scrutinized the change in publicly traded corporations’ shareholder value when their athlete endorsers were implicated in either immoral conduct or social activism.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the event study analysis, this study investigated the sponsored corporations’ abnormal returns around athlete endorsers’ involvement in immoral incidents and social activism. Total 34 cases (18 immoral scandals and 16 social activism) were collected from 2009 to 2019.
Findings
The data analysis revealed a significant difference in abnormal returns between the two different types of incidents for the four different windows (2, 4, 8 and 15 days) after the date of the focal event. While scandals of immoral conduct did not cause significant loss in shareholder value, cases of social activism showed negative abnormal returns for sponsoring corporations.
Originality/value
This study presented the first comparative analysis of how endorsers’ immoral behavior and social activism impacted on the shareholders’ value of sponsoring firms. Using stock performance data, the findings provided the empirical evidence in stock markets’ different reactions regarding scandals and social activism. The study contributes to the relevant body of literature by comparing the different contexts in celebrity endorsement.
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Ho Wook Shin, Sungho Cho and Jong Kwan Lee
Integrating the resource-based view (RBV) with pay dispersion research, the authors examine how the allocation of resources between hiring new employees and compensating current…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating the resource-based view (RBV) with pay dispersion research, the authors examine how the allocation of resources between hiring new employees and compensating current employees, as well as the allocation of resources among new employees, affects organizational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors use panel data on Major League Baseball teams. The authors also use system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimations to control for the impact of past performance on current performance, unobserved individual heterogeneity and omitted variable bias.
Findings
The authors find that the larger the portion of the human resources (HR) budget allocated to hiring new employees, the poorer organizational performance becomes unless the focal organization has already significantly underperformed. The authors also find that pay concentration among new employees has a positive impact on organizational performance unless the focal organization has already significantly overperformed.
Originality/value
This study extends RBV research by examining how resource allocation patterns affect organizational performance, which has rarely been studied. Moreover, by showing the organizational context's significant effect on the outcome of financial allocation for resource acquisition, this study extends both the RBV research and the pay dispersion research.
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Sung-Woo Lee, Sung-Ho Shin and Hee-Sung Bae
This study aims to analyze information on vessel traffic between the two Koreas with a probability distribution for each route/vessel type. The study will then conduct an estimate…
Abstract
This study aims to analyze information on vessel traffic between the two Koreas with a probability distribution for each route/vessel type. The study will then conduct an estimate for maritime transport patterns of inter-Korean trade in the future. To analyze the flow of inter-Korean coastal shipping, this study conducted visualization analysis of shipping status between North and South Korea by year, ship type, and port using navigation data of three years from Port Logistics Information System (Port-MIS) sources during 2006 to 2008, which saw the most active exchanges between the two governments. Also, this study analyzes shipping status between the two governments as a probability distribution for each port and provides the prospects for future maritime transport for inter-Korean trade by means of Bayesian Networks and simulation. The results of the analysis are as follows: i) when North-South routes are reopened, the import volume for sand from North Korea will be increased; ii) investment in the modernization of ports in North Korea is required so that shipping companies can generate profit through economies of scale; iii) the number of the operating vessels including container ships between the two governments is expected to increase like when the tensions and conflict on the Korean Peninsula was release, especially between Busan port in South Korea and Nampo port in North Korea; and iv) among container ships, transshipment containers imported and exported through Busan Port will be shipped to North Korea by feeder transportation.
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This empirical study examines the psychometric comparability of Aaker's Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997) in sponsorship matching. It employs a structural validation protocol…
Abstract
This empirical study examines the psychometric comparability of Aaker's Brand Personality Scale (Aaker, 1997) in sponsorship matching. It employs a structural validation protocol - the congenerity test (Ohanion, 1990) - to investigate the extent to which sports events and sponsors can be psychometrically matched. The results show that sports events and sponsors are comparable only in terms of limited numbers of the dimensions of the a priori scale. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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Seoung-Wook Whang, Kenneth Sungho Park and Sangyong Kim
The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) to implement integrated project delivery (IPD) systems in the Korean construction industry.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) to implement integrated project delivery (IPD) systems in the Korean construction industry.
Design/methodology/approach
This study categorized potential CSFs and analyzed them using factor analysis and multiple regression analysis to choose the best ones based on responses from Korean construction experts.
Findings
In total, 29 potential factors were selected and categorized into 7 CSFs using factor analysis.
Originality/value
The outcomes of the study are useful as a reference for applying the IPD system in different developing countries and mid-sized construction industries.