Tae Kyung Sung

Characteristics of technology transfer in business ventures: the case of Daejeon, Korea

Abstract This article explores the characteristics of venture business and entrepreneurs in Korea to (1) identify technology transfer activities, (2) analyze the differences between technology transfer in linear and nonlinear venture businesses, and (3) guide more effective venture business policy and strategy. This empirical assessment reveals that entrepreneurs have insightful evaluations about their resources and capacities as well as expectations with regard to functions and features of science parks and incubators. Respondents from “linear model”-based start-ups tend to be older and have higher education, employ more basic research and development (R&D) and have more R&D-oriented careers, and have more varied work experience than “nonlinear”-based start-ups. The functions and features of science parks and incubators were generally not considered a critical influence on start-ups nor on the growth of venture businesses. Accordingly, alternative venture-nurturing strategies are discussed as being key to accelerate venture businesses growth.

Knowledge and technology transfer grid: empirical assessment

Most current literature on knowledge and technology transfer (Appropriability Model, Dissemination Model, and Knowledge Utilization Model), provides models and descriptions of the processes of transfer, but these models are limited in terms of their application in contemporary high-tech industries since most studies do not provide plausible explanations on key behavioural factors affecting the transfer of knowledge and/or technology. Based on the literature, 16 research variables are identified as affecting the process and results of knowledge and technology transfer. Survey results indicate four key factors to accelerating knowledge and technology transfer: Communication, Distance, Equivocality, and Motivation. Data analyses show that there are four distinctive clusters that demonstrate contrasting characteristics in terms of these four factors. The careful mapping of the four clusters on the four factors indicates informative knowledge and technology transfer patterns. Finally, actions to increase communication interactivity and motivation, and to reduce cultural distance and equivocality are suggested.

Critical Success Factors for Business Reengineering and Corporate Performance: The Case of Korean Corporations

Abstract This article briefly reviews the literature on business reengineering (BR), analyzes critical success factors (CSFs) for BR, develops a BR-CSFs model, empirically tests the model on Korean firms, and investigates the impact of BR on corporate performance in Korea. Many Korean firms are attempting to transform from Japanese- to American-style business management. As part of this process, BR has gained substantial critical mass as the first widely accepted American-born management methodology accepted in Korea. While Western-based BR methodologies provide general procedures and techniques the CSFs listed in this research focus on the key factors that Korean firms generally confront. In the present research, 20 CSFs, taken from a literature review were divided into four categories: strategic, organizational, methodological, and technological/educational. A survey was developed to assess the firm-specific importance and development of each of these CSFs. Survey responses from 162 Korean corporations indicate a positive association between the designated CSFs and corporate performance. Korean BR team leaders and CEOs/COOS rate “strategic” and “methodological” CSFs as most important while “organizational” and “technological/educational” CSFs are considered less important, a rank ordering challenged by the authors.

Critical Success Factors in Electronic Commerce: Korean Experiences

This article determines critical success factors (CSFs) for electronic commerce (EC), and investigates the explanatory power of these CSFs on firm performance. Through a literature review and interviews with managers in Korean EC firms, a list was compiled of 16 CSFs consisting of 111 items. Questionnaires were administered to managers of EC companies in Seoul, Korea. Survey results show that CSFs have very significant explanatory power for firm performance. Security, privacy, technical expertise, information about goods and services, and variety of goods and services are the most explanatory CSFs. This analysis confirms the fact that customers use EC if they feel comfortable navigating EC for information about a variety of goods and services without technical difficulty and in a secure and private manner. High-performance firms show stronger association between CSFs and performance than lower performance firms do in terms of both Tobins q and return on assets.

Competitive advantage of IT and effects on strategy and structure: knowledge-intensive vs manufacturing industries

This paper empirically examines relationships between competitive advantage of information technology (CAIT), corporate strategy, organisational structure, and organisational performance in Korean knowledge-intensive and manufacturing industries. Effects of information technology on the linkage among corporate strategy, organisational structure, and performance are investigated and CAIT measures suggested by Sethi and King (1994) are tested for verification. Research results confirm that information technology provides several traits of strategic advantages such as efficiency, threat, functionality, preemptiveness, and synergy, directs corporate strategy, shapes organisational structure, and significantly contributes to corporate performance, especially for firms in the knowledge-intensive industry. Firms in the knowledge-intensive industry show quite different patterns of using CAIT, employing corporate strategy, forming organisational structure from firms in manufacturing industry.

Study on characteristics of technology transfer in venture business

Explores the characteristics of venture business and entrepreneurs, identifies technology transfer activities in venture, and analyzes the differences between technology transfer in linear and non-linear venture businesses in order to guide more effective future venture business policies and strategies. An empirical assessment reveals that entrepreneurs have accurate evaluations and realistic expectations about their resources and capacities, as well as about the functions and features of science parks and incubators. Linear model-based start-ups show higher education levels, more basic technology innovation, later start-up age and more R&D-oriented prior jobs and experiences than nonlinear-based start-ups do. In contrast to expectations, the functions and features of science parks and incubators were not significantly influences on start-ups, nor did they contribute to the growth of venture businesses. Therefore, more effective venture nurturing strategies are needed for the further vitalization of venture businesses.

Knowledge/technology transfer and adoption

Knowledge management is comprised of knowledge generation, transfer, accumulation, adoption, and diffusion. Contemporary technology transfer (TT) focuses on the adoption of knowledge. Technology is essentially knowledge. Transfer is the movement of knowledge/technology via some type of channel (analog or digital): person-to-person, group-to-group, and organization-to-organization.Knowledge/Technology Transfer (KTT) centers on the communication of information that is intended to accomplish a task. KTT is a particularly difficult type of communication; often it is ineffective. KTT is becoming a major management focus and involves a range of organizational, informational, and behavioral challenges to getting knowledge (ideas and products) from research to process and market applications in a cost effective, timely manner.Increasingly communities, nations, and geographic regions are linking their standard of living, job creation, and overall competitiveness to effective knowledge creation and use. As advanced technologies become increasingly complex; as outsourcing RD as technologies proliferate while product development cycles shrink; as world-class talent and other resources become increasingly scarce; and as the global market place becomes increasingly competitive, the importance of effective, efficient, and timely knowledge transfer and adoption becomes increasingly apparent. It is important for the birth, survival, and growth of small firms and the diversification and competitiveness of mid-sized and large firms in all industry sectors. In addition, it is increasingly important in the public sector. This is the reason why knowledge management and technology transfer/commercialization is being extensively covered in academic, government, and business conferences nationally and globally.In this the eighth year of the Knowledge/Technology Transfer and Adoption Mini-track, we focus such topics as: (1) barriers and facilitators to effective and efficient knowledge/Technology transfer and application from both theoretical and practical perspectives; (2) K/TT across industry, government, and academic organizations; (3) the management of knowledge in new organizational forms such as research consortia; (4) the global implications of knowledge management and transfer in the digital age; and (5) key differences between codified (structural capital) and tacit (human capital) knowledge.We have eight papers from around the world: three papers from U.S.A, three papers from Europe and two papers from Asia. The first paper by Georg Disterer addresses individual and social barriers to knowledge transfer, which recently emerges as one of the major research topic in Europe. ?Economic Development through Knowledge Creation ? The Case of Korea? Sang Kyu Lee approaches from macroscopic perspective and suggests government level policy and strategy to facilitate economic prosperity through knowledge creation. The third paper by Pedro Conceicao and Manuel Heitor notes the importance of university in learning economy and discusses the roles of university in this new digital era. ?Knowledge Management Support Systems: A Comparison of Use in Law Firms and Consulting Forms? by Petter Gottschalk addresses the implications of knowledge management in knowledge organizations and suggests the ways to improve the management of knowledge in organizations.The fifth paper ?Study on Characteristics of Technology Transfer in Venture Business? by Tae Kyung Sung, Byung-Su Kang, and Sang Kyu Lee explores the characteristics of venture business and concludes that entrepreneurs have accurate evaluations and realistic expectations about their resources and capacities as well as functions and features of science parks and technology business incubators. Franscisco Veloso and Richard Roth explore new technologies in emerging markers and address policy constraints to the adoption of advanced automotive technologies. The seventh paper by Pedro Oliveira and Aleda Roth look at mergers and acquisitions as a tool for knowledge/technology transfer. Final paper by Glenn Dietrich discusses innovation and the use of virtual teams in knowledge society.