Jaeyong Song

Learning-by-Hiring: When Is Mobility More Likely to Facilitate Interfirm Knowledge Transfer?

To investigate the conditions under which learning-by-hiring (or the acquisition of knowledge through the hiring of experts from other firms) is more likely, we study the patenting activities of engineers who moved from United States (U.S.) firms to non-U.S. firms. Statistical findings from negative binomial regressions show that mobility is more likely to result in interfirm knowledge transfer when (1) the hiring firm is less path dependent, (2) the hired engineers possess technological expertise distant from that of the hiring firm, and (3) the hired engineers work in noncore technological areas in their new firm. In addition, the results support the idea that domestic mobility and international mobility are similarly conducive to learning-by-hiring. Thus, our paper suggests that learning-by-hiring can be useful when hired engineers are used for exploring technologically distant knowledge (rather than for reinforcing existing firm expertise) and also for extending the hiring firms geographic reach.

A Resource-based View of Strategic Alliances and Firm Value in the Electronic Marketplace

This study relies on the resource-based view to examine how alliances of e-commerce firms affect firm value in an emerging business sector. Using an event study method, we investigate 272 alliances of 69 e-commerce firms. Our findings show that alliances of e-commerce firms in general have a positive effect on firm value. Unlike previous studies of alliances, we find that marketing alliances generate significantly greater firm value than technology alliances. Our results also show that alliances with other e-commerce partners do not have a significantly different effect on firm value than alliances with bricks-and-mortar partners. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Mobility of engineers and cross-border knowledge building: The technological catching-up case of Korean and Taiwanese semiconductor firms

Does the mobility of engineers facilitate international knowledge spillovers and help newly industrializing countries catch up with developed countries? This study attempts to answer this question by tracing knowledge flows through the international mobility of semiconductor engineers. The paper uses patent data to track the mobility paths of engineers to examine whether knowledge flows occurred more than expected. The study finds that engineers who moved from the U.S. to Korea or Taiwan built their subsequent innovations based upon the knowledge of their previous firms in the U.S. Case studies based on field interviews further suggest that these mobile engineers have played significant roles in the technological catching-up of Korea and Taiwan.

Knowledge and the Multinational Enterprise

The emerging knowledge-based view of the firm has revitalised interest in the theory of the firm. Conventional wisdom concerning the existence of the firm has centred around the Coase/Williamson view that firms exist to economise on the transaction costs of market contracting through substituting an administrative mechanism for decentralised market contracting. By focussing upon the role of knowledge in the production process, economists and management scholars have been able to provide a rationale for the firm that, although consistent with transaction cost explanations, offers much deeper insight into the organisational problem posed by the production of goods and services. Knowledge-based approaches to the theory of the firm also have the potential to yield richer implications (and, possibly, more readily testable predictions) with regard to firm’s strategies and organisational structures than those offered by transaction cost analysis.

Corporate governance reform in Japan and South Korea: Two paths of globalization

This paper examines the effect of global pressures on local institutions in a comparative study of corporate governance reform in Japan and South Korea. In the literature on business systems and institutional change, globalization often appears as a monolithic force that either overwhelms all in its path through convergence or is rejected. In this paper, we demonstrate that globalization, in the form of the spread of Anglo-American corporate governance to East Asia, resulted in neither convergence nor rejection, but rather, in two different paths of change. We argue that differences in patterns of reform stemmed from the divergent ways in which local actors—the state, shareholder activists, and large corporations—interacted with each other, and with foreign investors, to respond to external pressures. Two key factors defined these interactions: resource dependencies on global capital, and the way in which local actors framed the concept of corporate governance to fit their ideologies and advance their own interests.

Interference effects in reflectance line shapes from ZnSe/GaAs epilayers

The reflectance spectroscopy is performed at 77 K on ZnSe epilayers of different thicknesses grown on GaAs substrates. The exciton line shapes of the reflectance spectra change dramatically with the epilayer thickness. This observation suggests that the interference effects between the reflected waves from the surface and from the interface play an important role on the exciton line shape of the reflectance spectra. To analyze the change in the exciton line shapes quantitatively, the reflectance spectra were calculated using a simple oscillator model for a dielectric function and considering a multiple reflection. Calculated line shapes of the reflectance spectra show good agreement with the observations.

Observation of the phase inversion in photoreflectance spectra from ZnSe/GaAs(001) heterostructures

The pump photon energy dependence of photoreflectance (PR) of a ZnSe/GaAs heterostructure has been measured at 77 K. The phase inversion in the PR signal is observed for the pump photon energy when it decreases from above to below the excitonic absorption edge of ZnSe. The observation of the phase inversion in PR is explained in terms of the modulation of the built-in electric field at the interface of the ZnSe/GaAs heterojunction, not at the ZnSe surface. It provides evidence of a built-in triangular-well potential and of hole traps at the ZnSe/GaAs interface. This argument is confirmed by photoreflectance excitation spectroscopy.

Dynamic Capabilities at Samsung

This article presents a clinical study, based on a decade of ongoing research at Samsung Group, that describes how the Samsung Group and its mobile phone division competed successfully in smartphones. The ability to manage co-opetition—simultaneous forces of competition and cooperation within the business group—is a particular dimension of dynamic capability that has stood Samsung in excellent stead. Relying on internal exhortations to cooperate often leads to a lack of dynamism, whereas untrammeled competition leaves proverbial synergies entirely untapped and spawns duplicative investments. Samsung, however, has succeeded by its ability to strike a balance between the two.

Incompatible Entry in Small-World Networks

The issue of whether a new incompatible technology can challenge an established technology has been controversial in the literature on network effects. Some argue that such incompatible entry is difficult when the established technology has built up its installed base. Others argue that history reveals many counter-examples. Instant messaging (IM) was, for example, thought to be a classic case of lock-in, but it turned out not to be. This paper argues that this controversy is partly attributable to the overemphasis on installed bases in prior work, where the role of the social network is largely missing in the discussion of network effects. By developing network effects models with various network structures, we offer a resolution to the controversy. We find that degrees of separation, one of the defining properties of small-world networks, affect the difficulty of incompatible entry: The longer the degrees of separation of a customer network, the easier the incompatible entry.

Internal embeddedness, geographic distance, and global knowledge sourcing by overseas subsidiaries

We investigate determinants of global knowledge sourcing of overseas R&D subsidiaries, shedding light on vertical cross-border embeddedness within firms. Drawing on the paradox of embeddedness perspective, which assumes that embeddedness may facilitate or hinder knowledge transfer, we examine the extent to which different types of internal vertical embeddedness – administrative versus knowledge – facilitate global knowledge sourcing. We find that vertical administrative embeddedness inhibits global knowledge sourcing, while vertical knowledge embeddedness promotes it. We also find differing moderating effects of geographic distance between headquarters and its subsidiaries on the association between vertical embeddedness and global knowledge sourcing.ResumeMettant en lumière l’enchâssement vertical transfrontalier au sein des entreprises, nous étudions les déterminants de l’approvisionnement en connaissances globales des filiales de recherche-développement à l’étranger. S’appuyant sur le paradoxe de la perspective de l’enchâssement, qui suppose que l’enchâssement peut faciliter ou entraver le transfert de connaissances, nous examinons la mesure dans laquelle différents types d’enchâssements verticaux internes – administratifs vs de connaissances – facilitent l’approvisionnement en connaissances globales. Nous constatons que l’enchâssement vertical administratif inhibe l’approvisionnement en connaissances globales, alors que l’enchâssement vertical de connaissances assure sa promotion. Nous constatons également des effets modérateurs différents de la distance géographique entre le siège et ses filiales sur l’association entre l’enchâssement vertical et l’approvisionnement en connaissances globales.ResumenInvestigamos los determinantes del aprovisionamiento de conocimiento global de las filiales de I+D en el extranjero, arrojando luz sobre la integración vertical transfronteriza dentro de las empresas. Con base en la paradoja de la perspectiva de integración, la cual asume que la integración puede facilitar o dificultar la transferencia de conocimiento, examinamos hasta qué punto difieren los tipos de arraigamiento vertical interna – administrativo versus conocimiento – facilita el aprovisionamiento de conocimiento global. Encontramos el arraigamiento administrativo vertical inhibe el aprovisionamiento de conocimiento global, mientras que el arraigamiento vertical de conocimiento lo promueve. Encontramos también distintos efectos moderadores de la distancia geográfica entre la casa matriz y sus filiales en la asociación entre la integración vertical y el aprovisionamiento de conocimiento global.ResumoNós investigamos os determinantes da obtenção de conhecimento global de subsidiárias de R&D no exterior, esclarecendo a integração vertical transfronteiriça dentro das empresas. Com base no paradoxo da perspectiva de incorporação, que assume que a incorporação pode facilitar ou dificultar a transferência de conhecimento, examinamos até que ponto diferentes tipos de incorporação interna vertical - administrativa vs. conhecimento - facilitam o aprofundamento global de conhecimento. Concluímos que a incorporação administrativa vertical inibe a obtenção de conhecimento global, enquanto que a incorporação vertical do conhecimento o promove. Também encontramos diferentes efeitos moderadores da distância geográfica entre a sede e suas subsidiárias na associação entre incorporação vertical e obtenção de conhecimento global.概要我们调查海外研发子公司全球知识采购的决定因素,揭示公司内部的垂直跨境嵌入。借鉴嵌入视角悖论,即假设嵌入能有助于或阻碍知识转移,我们研究不同类型的内部垂直嵌入 ‒ 行政与知识 ‒ 促进全球知识采购的程度。我们发现垂直行政嵌入阻碍全球知识采购,而垂直知识嵌入促进它。我们还发现总部与其子公司之间的地理距离对垂直嵌入与全球知识采购之间的关联有不同的调节作用。