earticle

영어

The objectives of the present study are to examine the effects of small and medium-sized companies'(SMC) collaborative relationship building between industry and academy on the relational committment and technology and market acquisition and then to investigate the subsequent effects of technology and market acquisition on technology development performance and firm performance. Despite the increasing interest in SMC's collaborative relationship building with academy or research institutes and the heightened utilization of the relationship little research has been conducted on the practical impacts of these relationships. Therefore, the present study developed the following research model and established related hypotheses. Data was collected nationwide, including metropolitan cities of Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, etc. A survey was conducted using questionnaires with 186 small and medium-sized companies. Questionnaires were filled out by the managers of the companies who were in charge of technology development, one questionnaire having been collected from each company. The results of the study showed that external cooperative networking such as collaborative relationship building between industry and academy influenced mutual committment and practical knowledge acquisition of technology and the market. Thus, when the SMC operates a technology development project with a university or research institute, they need to maintain close communication and collaboration in order to solve imminent problems related to the on-going project. Although the collaborative network building was found to have a relatively higher impact on technology knowledge acquisition than market knowledge acquisition, the SMC still needs to put an effort to acquire market knowledge through strategies for commercialization of technology in a systematic manner. In addition, the relational commitment affected technology and market knowledge acquisition. Especially, technological knowledge acquisition was shown to affect technological development performance and, in turn, firm performance. However, relational commitment affected market knowledge acquisition marginally at a statistically significant level. The market knowledge acquisition did not appear to influence technology development performance. Thus, it is inferred that market knowledge acquisition affects technology development performance through technological knowledge acquisition and in part directly influences firm performance. This study has found that collaborative relationship building as a external networking means to strengthen SMC's capability yields mutual commitment between industry and academy. Moreover, it was confirmed that internal capability building such as technological knowledge acquisition leads to technological development performance that is necessary for the SMC to grow and sustain. Unlike the previous research conducted in other countries the present study focused on the Korean SMC's collaborative networking and knowledge acquisition which are frequently supported by the central or local government. In particular, the constructs of relational committment and knowledge acquisition were empirically explored in a domestic domain. The present study could grasp internal knowledge sharing and transfer processes that had rarely been examined by the previous studies under Korean circumstances. The results indicate the potential capability enhancement and practical technology development performance for the SMC with limited internal resources in their collaboration with academy. The study implies that SMC's should exert to achieve technology development performance through proactive and collaborative relationship building along with relational committment and internal capability building rather than simply try to obtain government subsidy on a short-term basis.

한국어

본 연구의 목적은 국내 중소기업의 산학협력 구축이 상호 간 관계몰입과 기술 및 시장지식습득에 유의한 영향을 미칠 수 있음을 검증하고, 후속하여 기술 및 시장지식습득이 기술개발성과와 기업성과에 유의한 영향관계가 있는지 확인하고자 하였다. 이를 통해 현재 중소기업의 산학협력 구축에 대한 관심이 높아지고 있고 기업의 활용도가 높아지고 있음에도 불구하고 산학협력이 상호 몰입이나 실질적인 지식습득을 통해 기술개발성과로 이어질 수 있는지 밝히고자 하였다. 실증분석 결과, 산학협력 네트워크구축이 관계몰입과 기술 및 시장지식습득에 모두 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 또한 관계몰입 역시 기술지식습득에 유의한 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 특히 기술지식습득이 기술개발성과를 통해 기업성과로 유의한 영향을 미침을 밝혀낼 수 있었다. 그러나 관계몰입은 시장지식습득에 유의수준에 최소한의 수준에서 관계성을 갖고 있으며, 시장지식습득은 기술개발성과에 유의한 영향을 미치지 않는 것으로 나타났다. 본 연구는 중소기업의 역량 축적을 위해 활용되는 산학협력 네트워크구축 전략 중 활용도가 높아지고 있는 대학과의 산학협력 네트워크 구축이 실제로 대학과 기업 간에 관계몰입을 가져다줄 수 있음을 밝혀냈다. 또한 이를 통해 기업의 기술지식습득을 통한 기업내부역량강화 과정을 거쳐 기업이 실질적으로 필요로 하는 기술개발성과로 이어질 수 있음을 확인하였다. 이는 한정된 제반 인프라와 역량을 갖고 있는 중소기업이 대학과의 산학협력 네트워크 구축을 통해 기업역량강화 및 실질적인 기술개발성과가 가능하다는 것을 보여주고 있다. 따라서 기업은 단순한 정부지원금을 받기 위한 수단이나 기타 활용목적 또는 단기적 관계구축이 아닌 적극적인 대학과의 관계밀착 및 역량강화전략을 통해 기업의 기술개발성과를 이루는 것이 중요함을 시사하고 있다.