Factors related to technological innovation successful small and medium-sized export manufacturing firms in Korea

JOURNAL OF OPERATIONS

MANAGEMENT

Vol. 9. No. I, January 1990

Compiled

by Matthew Wailer* and Paul M. Swamidass*

Factors Related to Technological Innovation in Successful Small and Medium-sized Export Manufacturing Firms in Korea JONCYEUN LEE, D.B.A. UNITEDSTATESINTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY,1988, 171 PP. CHAIRMAN:RICHARDG. FREDERICK

innovation is becoming more difficult. The problem. In today’s turbulent environment, Management, technical, and regulatory factors interact and affect the viability of innovation in a competitive market. Developing countries, such as Korea, are faced with the need to compete on an international basis, yet face the problem of insufficient technological skills to establish market leadership in the face of global competition and protectionism. The purpose of the study was to determine the components of a favorable climate for innovation in Korean small and mediumsized export manufacturing firms, within the governmental-regulatory, the economic-market, and the organizational-social environments. The method. A descriptive-correlational approach was used to analyze survey data from technologically innovative firms recommended by the Korean Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Twenty-five executives, twenty technical personnel employed by these firms and fifteen government officials of the Ministry who were responsible for innovation completed the questionnaire. Factors promoting or handling technological innovation were analyzed for each study group in each of the three environments for innovation. Results. In the governmental-regulatory environment, government incentive policy, special financing and current information on market characteristics/trends promoted innovation. Unpredictability of regulatory policies, and supported research concentrated in large corporations hindered innovation. In the economic-market environment, prospects for profitability, quality information and new developments, and competition from foreign products promoted innovation. Current inflationary trends, interest/exchange rates; and investment risks for new products/mature life-cycle stages hindered innovation.

*University

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of Missouri-Columbia,

Columbia,

Missouri

6521

I

Vol. 9, No. 1

In the organizational-social environment, quality of engineers, financial/career incentives, and knowledge of top executives in evaluating new products promoted innovation. Managerial attitudes toward risk, being evaluated more on short-term profitability, and strong cultural disdain for manufacturing hindered innovation. (Order Number DA88 1687 1.)

Aggregate Production Planning: Discounted Cost Model

An Integrative

Jo.&0 VERISSIMO0. LISBOA,PH.D. CLEMSONUNIVERSITY,1988, 140 PP.

An integrative discounted cost model for production planning was developed. The integration of the functional areas of production and finance was considered. The present value of the total cost generated by the proposed model was used as the criterion for optimization. Data used were obtained from a textile company located in the upstate area of South Carolina. The present values of the total cost generated by the proposed model (IDC) were compared against the solutions provided by non-integrative non-discounted models. In most of the situations assumed, the solutions given by the IDC model have been shown to be significantly lower than the results given by the traditional models. However, under certain conditions the explicit consideration of the cost of capital in the model might be worthless, since no significant difference was found between the results given by the IDC model and the integrative nondiscounted model. The study of the sufficient conditions of the objective function of the IDC model was developed to prove the existence of a single global optimal solution for the interative discounted cost model. (Order Number DA8820160.)

The Introduction of Robotic Technology: Perceptions of the Work Force of an Aerospace Defense Company WILLIAM BURFORDROSE, JR., PH.D. UNIVERSITYOF NORTHTEXAS, 1988, 136 PP. MAJORPROFESSOR: DON POWELL

This dissertation examines the effect that the introduction of an advanced manufacturing technology, specifically robotics, has on the work force of an aerospace defense company. In this endeavor, there are two main objectives. First, this study determines whether workers feel that their jobs are threatened by the introduction of robotic technology. Secondly, the research compares the degree to which workers from different labor types feel this threat. A review of the literature reveals that the technical factors involving manufacturing technology have been thoroughly examined and discussed, but the effect that they have on the work force has been somewhat neglected. This dissertation develops ten hypotheses to ascertain

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of Operations

Management

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