YoungWon Park

Corporate mission, corporate policies and business outcomes: evidence from Japan

Purpose – This study sets out to explore questions such as: “Does mission statement matter? If so, in what ways?” Using data on mission statements of 128 large Japanese firms, the paper aims to show that corporate mission has a significant impact on corporate policies that determine employment, board, and financial structures.Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides evidence that strong‐mission firms are more likely to retain incumbent employees, promote managers from within firms, and have less debt and a higher percentage of interlocking shareholdings than weak‐mission firms.Findings – The evidence supports the view that strong‐mission firms value their organizational capital and thus tend to adopt policies to preserve it. It also confirms that corporate mission and its embedded policies contribute to better corporate performance. The paper suggests that the effect of explicit corporate mission and its implementation has practical impacts in corporate policies and business outcomes.Research limi...

Benchmarking open and cluster innovation: case of Korea

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine a development model of the Korean IT industry based on the concept of open and cluster innovation and reveal the synergistic effects between the textile and electronic industries.Design/methodology/approach – The analytical data on the Gumi Cluster are panel data mostly from the 1970s‐2000s. The specific case studies are based on the field research and in‐depth executive interviews for four firms.Findings – Through analysis of the innovation structure of the Gumi Cluster, the paper found that the Korean electronics industry has successfully caught up with first movers like the Japanese and US electronics industries. In this catch‐up process, industrial clusters of the Korean electronic industry took on an open cluster and sought open and cluster innovation through collaborating with foreign firms and the other industries like the textile industry for making a rapid catch‐up.Research limitations/implications – The contribution of this study is to highlight ...

The impact of product architecture on supply chain integration: a case study of Nokia and Texas Instruments

Since semiconductor elements are important in determining the total value of mobile phones in the global supply chain, the relationship pattern between semiconductor suppliers and mobile phone manufacturers is worthy of careful examination. As of now, little research attention has been paid to this dynamic reality. This paper introduces a brief industry background of semiconductors and mobile phones. A research model defines the role of product architecture in the nature of supply chain integration. Over the years, Nokia (as mobile phone manufacturer) and Texas Instruments (as component supplier) have maintained collaborative strategic alliances for their mutual competitive advantages. In contrast to the experiences of the personal computer industry, this case study of Nokia and Texas Instruments provides an insight into how mobile phone industry has been evolving in the context of global market.

Implementation of product strategy with differentiated standards

This paper examines the relationships between mobile communication standards and product development strategy from a product architecture perspective. A product architecture model is useful in analysing research issues related to mobile phone product development. Samsung Electronics (SE)’s unique organisational capabilities are essential components of its product architecture strategy. This case study suggests several practical implications. First, implementing an effective product strategy requires that organisations are capable of managing different standards and platforms. Organisational networking capabilities enable rapid development and deployment of increasing product volume and variety in a changing global economy. Secondly, efforts to increase market positions within IT industries (the mobile industry in particular) have resulted in the adoption of global standards as an essential priority and as a competitive product positioning strategy. This requires timely implementation of strategic change initiatives (e.g., changes in technology standards). Third, managing product architecture is a strategic process that seeks a necessary balance between: 1 modularity demands for greater market access through rapid network production systems 2 integrality requirements for greater competitiveness through keeping technological core capabilities in-house. The analysis conducted in this article may be extended to software specialisation processes for advanced as well as emerging markets.

Product architecture and integrated manufacturing information system: a comparative study of Japanese and Korean firms

Japanese firms are known for their superior technology and excellent quality performance. However, in spite of outstanding technological competency and quality performance, global competitiveness of Japanese electronic firms has been deteriorating in 2000s. In contrast, Korean counterparts have displayed significant global competitive gains. This article presents research model that defines interrelationships among product integrity, product architecture and IT strategy. This model is examined through case study of Japanese and Korean firms. The research results suggest that Japanese selected firms have solid base of monozukuri system from product concept planning to delivery to customers. However, different from Korean firms, these selected Japanese firms do not appear to utilise full IT potential for integrated manufacturing information system (IMIS). Differences between Japanese and Korean firms are discussed along with implications and lessons of this case study.

An effective integration of manufacturing and marketing system for long production cycle: a case study of Toyota Motor Company

A critical component of Toyota’s supply chain is to connect dynamic and uncertain demand requirements with the stable and efficient supply responses. For sustainable competitive position, firms need to build up a broad range of organisational capabilities. The reality is that from component suppliers via production to marketing of the final products it is critical to effectively process multiple cycle times. In view of diverse sets of production requirements paradoxically long production cycle is essential to speed up the overall processing time. Confusions in this matter need careful clarification and this is the very reason for this paper.

Global expansion and supply chain integration: case study of Korean firms

As global firms expand their business into emerging markets, supply chain integration has been crucial interests in recent years. This study examines global expansion and supply chain integration of Korean firms through the case studies of LG Electronics, LG Display and Hyundai-Kia Motor Company. The characteristics of the global production system of LG Electronics and Hyundai-Kia Motor Company can be summarised into two aspects - the implementation of the global standard production system (GSPS) and expansion of global businesses through cluster-based supply chain integration (CBSCI). Implications from our case study are provided, along with avenues for future research.

The impact of product complexity and variety on supply chain integration

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the antecedents of supply chain integration (SCI) at the product level. More specifically, it aims to show the relationship between product-level characteristics (i.e. product complexity and product variety) and different dimensions of SCI (i.e. internal, supplier and customer integration). Design/methodology/approach A survey-based research design is developed to measure different dimensions of SCI, product complexity and product variety. The authors use structural equation modelling to test the related hypotheses. Findings This research shows that internal integration is an enabler to supplier and customer integration. The results also show that under high product complexity, firms tend to implement internal and supplier integration, while product complexity does not have a direct impact on customer integration. Product variety is confirmed to be positively related to all dimensions of SCI. Originality/value This paper contributes to the SCI literature by first, providing empirical evidence which supports the study of the product design-supply chain interface; and second, exploring the relationships between product complexity, variety and internal, supplier and customer integration based on a governance view.

Supply chain risk management and organisational decision making: a case study of a major Japanese automotive firm

In this paper, we investigate how to use customer claims to improve the organisational processes from the viewpoint of supply chain risk management. Though customer claims indicate organisational process problems, these can be addressed only if the claims are resolved properly. Examining the case study of a Japanese automotive company demonstrates that it is difficult to utilise claim resolution to improve organisational processes. This paper explores the causes of this difficulty and proposes corrective action based on its analysis.

Strategic procurement through build to order system: an analysis of Japanese auto-manufacturers

Although strategic procurement has been approached in micro- or macro-purchasing perspective, it has rarely been examined from integration of customer requirements into manufacturing processes through effective insourcing and outsourcing practises. Effective cost reduction in manufacturing firms involves all the component parts. Thus, strategic procurement requires long-term manufacturing process planning based on responsive customer information systems and supplier integration for strategic procurement. This study focuses strategic procurement practises of Nissan, Toyota and Honda companies through their build to order system. Strategic procurement in particular utilises integration of customer information with all aspects of monozukuri. The key is to achieve short turnover time. Paradoxically, such short turnover time requires long-term production planning. In this paper, we also compare Nissan Production Way (NPW) with BTO of Toyota and Honda Motor Company. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.