earticle

영어

This study investigated what factors influence small and medium Korean manufacturing firms in determining their technology development methods in pursuit of competitive advantages. There are two major limitations in this realm of inquiry. Firstly, the transaction costs perspective used to be a predominant theoretical approach in the field. However, questions have been raised regarding the explanatory power of the transaction cost perspective due to its weak applicability in some decision contexts, such as the technology development method decisions. Some have recommended that several theoretical perspectives be used in a contingent manner to enrich the explanatory power of the transaction cost approach. That is, several complimentary theoretical arguments can be adopted. Secondly, although small South Korean manufacturing firms are exhibiting growth in technology development activities, they have thus far received relatively little attention from academic researchers. Rather, researchers have mostly concerned themselves with the innovation activities of large multinational firms. An integrated theoretical approach to the use of the innovation activities of the Korean manufacturing small firms was pursued in this study to overcome the aforementioned limitation. Transaction cost (TC) and resource based (RB) perspectives were adopted as major theoretical approaches for our study. These two perspectives were selected because they represent the current leading views in the field. In addition, these two perspectives provide contrasting views of modal choice, which motivated us to combine and integrate them. Relying on the TC and RB perspectives in a contingent way, this study identified three major factors as core determinants for technology development methods: (1) specialized asset investment; (2) environmental uncertainty; and (3) technological uncertainty. Meanwhile, this study also suggested entrepreneurial capability as a moderating factor. Using these variables, a total of six hypotheses were proposed for empirical examination. For the empirical test, this study targeted South Korean small and medium enterprises(SMEs) in manufacturing sectors, mostly knowledge-intensive ones with the Korean Standard Industrial Classification (KSIC) 26. Potential subject SMEs were identified using selection guidelines appropriate for the purpose of the research. Of 1,021 Korean KSIC26 SMEs identified, 271 firms responded to the questionnaire survey (26.5% response rate). The data obtained from these 271 Korean SMEs were submitted to logistic regression analysis to test research hypotheses. The analysis revealed that respondent firms preferred an internal technology development approach when they perceived high levels of specialized asset investment and technological uncertainty. However, this preference was weaker for firms who possessed strong entrepreneurial capabilities. Perceived environmental uncertainty was not critically influential to choice of technology development mode, and entrepreneurial capability did not have a moderating effect on the influence environmental uncertainty. There are theoretical and practical implications of these results, Although the TC and the RB perspective may each form a good theoretical basis for understanding the pattern of technology development methods decision, combining them provides more powerful explanation than what could be achieved by either single theoretical view. In particular, this study found that the RB perspective was specially important in the case of small firms with an entrepreneurial strategic orientation. Those small firms were inherently confronted with their newness and smallness. The newness and smallness leads those firms to be more inclined to cooperate with other companies to learn and complement necessary resources and know-how. Hence entrepreneurial strategic orientation moderated how specialized asset investment and technological uncertainty influence the small firm’s choice of technology development method. Additionally, the present findings provide practical guidelines for Korean SMEs who may lack previous experience with choosing the optimal technology development strategy for innovation. For instance, these findings suggest small firms should be cautious about choosing an external technology development method if they are not highly technically confident and/or doing so would require an intensively specialized investment. However, small firms that possess a substantial external network and have an entrepreneurial strategic orientation can purse an external technology development method with confidence. There is a noteworthy limitation of this research that should be mentioned. That is, this work did not consider the impact of institutional factors. Moreover, questions remain regarding the outcomes of using knowledge acquisition methods.

한국어

본 연구는 우리나라 중소제조업체가 신기술개발을 어떠한 방식으로 수행하고자 하는가를 살펴보는 데 그 목적이 있다. 본 연구주제와 관련한 기존 연구를 살펴보면 주로 거래비용이론에 기초한 연구가 해외학회를 중심으로 다수 진행되어 왔으나 자원기반이론과의 통합적 적용을 통한 실증연구는 매우 드문 편이었다. 무엇보다 국내 중소기업의 핵심자원이라고 할 수 있는 기업가적 역량과 거래비용이론에서 제시하는 핵심변수와의 상호작용이 신기술개발방식 결정에 어떠한 영향을 미치는 가에 관한 연구는 전무하다고 할 수 있다. 본 연구는 이 같은 기존 연구의 한계를 극복하기위하여 작성되었다. 먼저 거래비용이론에서 제시하는 자산특화성, 환경적 불확실성, 기술적 불확실성 등의 3가지 변수가 기술개발방식을 결정하는 데 어떠한 영향을 미치는 지 살펴보았다. 그리고 이들 변수가 자원기반이론에서 제시하는 기업가적 역량과 어떠한 상호작용을 나타내는지 검증해 보았다. 271개의 기술집약적 중소기업(KSIC26)을 대상으로 한 실증분석을 한 결과, 취득하고자 하는 지식이 자산특화적 특성이 강하고 기술적 불확실성이 높을수록 해당기업은 내부화 방식을 통한 기술개발추진을 선호하는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 그러나 응답기업의 기업가적 역량 수준이 높을수록 이 같은 성향은 부(-)의 조절효과를 보이고 있는 것으로 나타나고 있다. 본 연구의 이론적 시사점은 다음과 같다. 먼저, 그 동안 신기술개발을 어떠한 방식으로 수행할 것인가에 대한 이론적 설명이 거래비용이론과 자원기반이론을 중심으로 각각 전개되어 왔으나, 본 연구 결과, 거래비용이론의 이론적 설명력이 자원거래비용이론의 그것보다 더 유효한 것으로 나타나고 있다. 그러나 거래비용이론에서의 핵심 설명변수들이 자원기반이론에서 제시하는 기업가적 역량과 통합적으로 적용될 경우 더 나은 설명력을 제시하고 있음이 판명되었다. 본 연구의 실무적 시사점으로는 무엇보다 자본과 경험이 풍부하지 않은 중소제조업체가 기술개발활동을 외부화 방식으로 추진할 경우 잠재적인 분쟁과 부당한 요구를 어떻게 대처해 나아갈 것이가를 고려해야할 만큼 리스크가 따르고 있음을 인지해야한다. 그러나 해당기업이 충분한 기업가적 마인드와 관계적 역량이 있다면 과감히 타기업과의 협력을 모색하는 것도 바람직한 방안이 될 수 있다. 마지막으로 지식방식을 위해 선택한 방식에 제도 환경적 요소가 고려되지 않은 것이 본 연구의 한계점으로 남아 있고, 선택방식이 어떠한 기업성과를 가져왔는지 확인하는 것이 향후 연구과제로 남아 있다.