Management of paradox: a comparative study of managerial practices in Korean and Japanese firms

Numerous scholars are recognizing that paradoxes are indigenous to organizational functioning. Managers too are being challenged to do more and spend less, and delegate and know the details. As a corporate objective, neither efficiency nor innovation can be sacrificed. In this paper, we have attempted to capture this emerging trend empirically. Defining management of paradox as ‘managerial practices that realize the simultaneous accomplishment of multiple strategic objectives that are seemingly or actually incompatible,’ this paper explores how organizational capabilities of effectively dealing with paradox can be acquired. Specifically, the paper attempts to address two organizational mechanisms: decision-making structure and human resource practices (HRPs). Propositions deduced from the existing literature were tested with the data collected from 103 Korean firms and 136 Japanese firms. The data indicated that firms have to be multi-talented. It was found that firms that successfully accomplished innovation and efficiency objectives simultaneously were those that were able to mix paradoxical organizational practices: decentralization and control on the one hand and the three HRPs on the other. It was also found that the Japanese corporations were more apt in deploying paradoxical managerial practices than the Korean counterparts. The paper concludes by discussing a few theoretical implications.     

Determinants of corporate adoption of e-Marketplace: an innovation theory perspective

Despite the growing interest and attention from IT researchers and practitioners, empirical research on the adoption of e-Marketplaces has been limited. This study identifies the factors influencing e-Marketplace adoption from an IT innovation perspective. Innovation, environment, and organization characteristics were tested as determinants of the adoption of an e-Marketplace based on a survey of 39 manufacturing firms. The findings indicate that external pressure and organizational size have positive relationships with organizational adoption of e-Marketplaces. Contrary to the prior innovation research, however, relative advantages did not have a significant impact on the organizational adoption of an e-Marketplace.     

Study on the Utilization of Restaurant Services by the Disabled and their Demand for Better Access in Korea

This study is on disabled peoples' utilization of and demands for better access to restaurants, which are a social and cultural activity. A survey was conducted on 172 physically or mentally challenged persons regarding their utilization of restaurants, criteria for choosing a restaurant, inconveniences while visiting restaurants and requests for improvements. For dining to be more accessible to the disabled, mobility within restaurants, accessibility to restaurants and improvements in their facilities are urgently needed. A change in attitude by the people in the restaurant industry and encouragement at the government level are also needed.     

What makes you grab low carb beers?

What makes people choose low-carbohydrate, high-protein food (low-carb food), which is good for health but usually tastes bad? Using panel data on US beer consumption in which each consumption occasion is uniquely associated with various companion-based consumption contexts and exposure levels to diet information, we analyse the variations in consumers’ preferences for low-carb food. The results show that there exist considerable gender differences in the preference variation under peer pressure. First, single females behave in a way they dislike drinking low-carb beer in front of friends, spouses and significant others. Second, male (both married and single) and married females pretend to choose low-carb beer when accompanied by spouses or significant others. Finally, the elasticity of demand for healthy food with respect to news articles about low-carb diets is positive, yet with substantial differences in the degree of elasticity across demographic groups.     

A data envelopment analysis on assessing the competitiveness of Korean hotels

With the ever-rising cost of doing business and increased competition, many hotels have experienced financial difficulties resultant from a gradual decline in profit and market share. Since the financial health of the hotel affects its investment capability in constantly improving customer services, the service performance and the subsequent competitiveness of the hotel often reflect its financial efficiency. As such, there is a growing need to assess the financial efficiency of the hotel in comparison with its competitors. To meet such a need, this paper proposes a data envelopment analysis (DEA) that develops a meaningful set of benchmarks that will dictate best practices and form a successful hotel business model. Using the examples of 31 luxury and budget hotels in Korea, this paper illustrates the usefulness of DEA for the continuous improvement of hotel business practices.     

Assessing the impact of green supply chain practices on firm performance in the Korean manufacturing industry

As a growing number of customers tend to view corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a key purchase decision criterion, demands for CSR including environmental sustainability have accelerated in today's business world. To meet such demands, many firms consider embracing environment-friendly business practices. However, many firms are still hesitant to implement those practices due to sceptical views about their real managerial benefits. Although the previous literature confirms the positive link between a firm's commitment to environmental sustainability and its performance, the varying degree of impact of different kinds of environment-friendly supply chain practices on the firm's operational performance is still unknown. To fill the void left by prior research, this paper aims to classify various types of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and then assess the impact of each of these distinct types on the firm's operational performances (especially manufacturing and marketing performance). Also, this paper examines how the firm's organisational profiles such as firm size affect the particular firm's choice of GSCM practices. Our experimental results reveal that the chosen type of GSCM practices influences the firm's performance differently.     

The Effects of Governance on Classification Shifting and Compensation Shielding

Prior research (e.g., Dechow, Huson, and Sloan 1994 ) documents that, on average, compensation practices appear to shield CEO pay from income‐decreasing special items. In some circumstances, compensation shielding can be efficient. For example, it may encourage CEOs with earnings‐sensitive pay to take an action that reduces current earnings but nevertheless enhances value. Compensation shielding can be inefficient in other circumstances, such as when a board of directors is captured by an overly powerful CEO or the magnitude of negative special items has been overstated (e.g., by shifting core expenses into special items). This paper explores whether strong governance can explain cross‐sectional variation in compensation shielding, and whether stronger governance and auditing are associated with less shifting of expenses. We find that strong corporate governance mechanisms, as captured by board (and committee) independence, the Sarbanes‐Oxley (2002) Act (SOX) and its related governance reforms, and switches to Big 4 auditors, are all associated with less compensation shielding. While our evidence suggests that strong overall governance is associated with a reduction in manipulation of core earnings through classification shifting in the cross‐section, we find inconclusive evidence to suggest that board independence or SOX influence classification shifting.     

The dual analytic hierarchy process to prioritize emerging technologies

Recently, an analytic hierarchy process (AHP) has been frequently used as a proper tool for a wide variety of decision-making situations in fields such as government, business, industry, healthcare, and education. In this article, we will mainly focus on the use of the AHP to select proper emerging technologies for future R&D at a country level. For successful completion of our project, we propose to use the dual AHP (DAHP) which consists of the regular AHP and the Bayesian type AHP. This DAHP performs useful features when decomposition of the main criteria is desirable but is not technically feasible via the conventional AHP. As an empirical application, appropriate electronic device technologies for future R&D in Korea are found by the DAHP, which reveals that DAHP-led technologies selection (or DAHP-led resources allocation) at a country level is a many-faceted problem.     

Antecedents of customer participation in business ecosystems: evidence of customers’ psychological ownership in Facebook

Customers can influence the health of business ecosystem through their participation. What are the determinants of customer participation at the business ecosystem level? This study addresses this question by proposing a research model integrating the organizational socialization of customers, customer participation, and psychological ownership. It proposes customers’ psychological ownership as an antecedent of their participation in the business ecosystem. No study to date has empirically examined customer participation in business ecosystems. This study tests the hypotheses based on online survey data from 397 Facebook users. The results show that psychological ownership is a significant determinant of customer participation in the business ecosystem via word-of-mouth (WOM) and boycott intention. The result of our study also indicates that customer socialization significantly affects customer participation in the individual firm, which in turn leads to an increased psychological ownership. This study (a) broadens the concept of customer participation by examining it via the business ecosystem lens and (b) highlights WOM and boycott activities as examples of customer participation at the business ecosystem level.