Technology Commercialization and the Performance of New Technology-Based Firms: The Moderating Effect of Internationalization

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Technology commercialization is the ability of companies to translate technology into innovations that leads to valuable market transactions. Companies may enhance the ability to commercialize their technologies through knowledge acquisition from international activities. This means that internationalization itself could be a useful platform for new technology-based small firms to help facilitate technology commercialization activities. Nonetheless, research into technology commercialization as a key capability that allows firms to successfully bring their technologies to markets remains under- examined. This study seeks to explore the impact of technology commercialization on the performance of new technology-based small firms in Korea, with a particular focus on the moderating effect of internationalization. Building on the extant relevant literature, the study constructs hypotheses, which are tested using multiple regression analyses for data collected from 221 new technology-based firms which operate in the Korean Green IT sector. The results indicate that technology commercialization and internationalization positively relates to performance and that internationalization positively moderates the relationship between technology commercialization and performance. The findings imply that, for new technology-based firms, active involvement in international activities can help them to gain external complementary resources, thereby contributing to performance improvement. Such firms that seek to commercialize R&D output therefore need to strategically place more emphasis on international business involvement in that it should secure further growth and competitive advantage. Limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.

참고문헌 (Reference)

1 Jones, R. S., "“Korea’s Green Growth Strategy: Mitigating Climate Change and Developing New Growth Engines,” OECD Economics Department Working Papers, 798, OECD Publishing"

2 Terjesen, S., "Varieties of Export-Oriented Entrepreneurship in Asia" 26 (26): 537-561, 2009

3 Francis, J., "The impact of Firm’s Export Orientation on the Export Performance of High-Tech Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises" 8 (8): 84-103, 2000

4 Joshua, S. G., "The Product Market and the Market for ‘‘ideas’’ : Commercialization Strategies for Technology Entrepreneurs" 32 : 333-350, 2003

5 Kamal-Chaoui, L., "The Implementation of the Korean Green Growth Strategy in Urban Areas" OECD 2011

6 Martins, P. S., "The Impact of Exporting on Firm Productivity : A Meta-Analysis of the Learning-by-Exporting Hypothesi" 145 : 431-445, 2009

7 Autry, C. W., "The Effects of Technological Turbulence and Breadth on Supply Chain Technology Acceptance and Adoption" 28 (28): 522-536, 2010

8 Calantone, R., "The Effects of Environmental Turbulence on New Product Development Strategy Planning" 20 (20): 90-103, 2003

9 Nassimbeni, G., "Technology, Innovation Capacity and the Export Attitude of Small Manufacturing Firms : A Logit/Tobit Model" 30 : 245-262, 2001

10 Zahra, S. A., "Technology Strategy and Company Performance : Examining the Moderating Effect of the Competitive Environment" 11 (11): 189-219, 1996

11 Hou, J., "Technology Route and System Design of Green IT" 113 : 238-244, 2010

12 Chen, C. -J., "Technology Commercialization, Incubator and Venture Capital and New Venture Performance" 62 (62): 93-103, 2009

13 Bollen, K. A., "Structural Equations with Latent Variables" Wiley 1989

14 Di Benedetto, W. S., "Strategic Capabilities and Radical Innovation : An Empirical Study in Three Countries" 55 (55): 420-433, 2008

15 Zahra, S. A., "Sources of Capabilities, Integration and Technology Commercialization" 23 (23): 377-398, 2002

16 Wolff, J. A., "Small-Firm Performance : Modeling the Role of Product and Process Improvements" 44 (44): 268-284, 2006

17 Nugent, J. B., "Small and Medium Enterprises in Korea : Achievements, Constraints and Policy Issues" 18 : 85-119, 2002

18 Freel, M., "Small Firm Innovation, Growth and Performance : Evidence from Scotland and Northern England" 22 (22): 561-575, 2004

19 Podsakoff, P. M., "Self-Reports in Organizational Research : Problems and Prospects" 12 (12): 531-544, 1986

20 Lu, J. W., "SME Internationalization and Performance : Growth vs. Profitability" 4 (4): 27-48, 2006

21 Bagozzi, R. P., "Representing and Testing Organizational Theories : A Holistic Construal" 27 (27): 459-489, 1982

22 Aguinis, H., "Regression Analysis for Categorical Moderators (Methodology in the Social Sciences)" Guilford Press 2004

23 Lin, B. -W., "R&D Intensity and Commercialization Orientation Effects on Financial Performance" 59 (59): 679-685, 2006

24 Nunnally, J. C., "Psychometric Theory" New York 1978

25 Park, J. K., "Proposed Framework for Improving IT Utilization in the Energy Industry" 58 : 387-392, 2009

26 Teece, D. J., "Profiting from Technological Innovation : Implications for Integration, Collaboration, Licensing and Public Policy" 15 : 285-306, 1986

27 Kline, R. B., "Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling" Guilford Press 2005

28 Chiao, Y. -C., "Performance, Internationalization and Firm-Specific Advantages of SMEs in a Newly-Industrialized Economy" 26 : 475-492, 2006

29 UNEP [United Nations Environment Programme- Green Economy Initiative], "Overview of the Republic of Korea’s National Strategy for Green Growth" UNEP DTIE 2010

30 Bagozzi, R. P., "On the Evaluation of Structural Equation Models" 16 (16): 74-94, 1988

31 Little, A. D., "New Technology-Based Firms in the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany" Wilton House 1977

32 Hair Jr., "Multivariate Data Analysis" Prentice Hall 2006

33 Aiken, L. S., "Multiple Regressions: Testing and Interpreting Interactions" Sage Publications 1991

34 Kim, W. C., "Multinationals’ Diversification and the Risk-Return Trade-Off" 14 (14): 275-286, 1993

35 Sethi, D., "Liability of Foreignness to Competitive Advantage : How Multinational Enterprises Cope with the International Business Environment" 8 (8): 223-240, 2002

36 Castro, D. D., "Learning from the Korean Green IT Strategy, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation"

37 Wiklund, J., "Knowledge-Based Resources, Entrepreneurial Orientation and the Performance of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses" 24 : 1307-1314, 2003

38 Rosenbusch, N., "Is Innovation Always Beneficial? : a Meta-Analysis of the Relationship Between Innovation and Performance in SMEs" 26 (26): 441-457, 2011

39 Manolova, T. S., "Internationalization and the Performance of the Small Firm: A Review of the Empirical Literature Between 1996 and 2001, In Emerging Paradigms in International Entrepreneurship" Edward Elgar 2004

40 Majocchi, A., "Internationalization and Performance Findings from a set of Italian SMEs" 21 (21): 249-268, 2003

41 Wan, C. C., "International Diversification, Industrial Diversification and Firm Performance of Hong Kong MNCs" 15 (15): 205-217, 1998

42 Hemmert, M., "Innovation Management of Japanese and Korean Firms : Comparative Analysis" 14 (14): 293-314, 2008

43 Li, Y., "Incentive Mechanisms, Entrepreneurial Orientation and Technology Commercialization : Evidence from China’s Transitional Economy" 25 (25): 63-78, 2008

44 Fernández, Z., "Impact of Ownership on the International Involvement of SMEs" 37 (37): 340-354, 2006

45 Rodriguez-Pinto, J., "How Market entry Order Mediates the Influence of Firm Resources on New Product Performance" 29 : 241-264, 2012

46 Almus, M., "Growth of New Technology-Based Firms : Which Factors Matter?" 13 : 141-154, 1999

47 Mingay, S., "Green IT: The New Industry Shock Wave, Gartner RAS Core Research Note G00153703"

48 Chang, S. -J., "From the Editors : Common Method Variance in International Business research" 41 (41): 178-184, 2010

49 Barney, J., "Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage" 17 (17): 99-120, 1991

50 Lichtenthaler, U., "External Technology Commercialization in Large Firms : Results of a Quantitative Benchmarking study" 37 (37): 383-397, 2007

51 Ibeh, K. I. N., "Exporting as an Entrepreneurial Act: An Empirical Study of Nigerian firms" 35 (35): 566-586, 2001

52 Yang, C. -H., "Exporting and Productivity : a Firm-Level Analysis of the Taiwan Electronics Industry" 41 (41): 340-361, 2007

53 Añón, H. D., "Exporting and Innovation Performance : Analysis of the Annual Small Business Survey in the UK" 29 (29): 4-24, 2011

54 Pett, T. L., "Examining SME Performance : The Role of Innovation, R&D and Internationalisation" 3 (3): 301-314, 2011

55 Armstrong, J., "Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys" 14 (14): 396-402, 1977

56 Rasiah, R., "Epilogue : Implications from Industrializing East Asia’s Innovation and Learning Experiences" 17 (17): 257-262, 2011

57 Thukral, I. S., "Entrepreneurship, Emerging Technologies, Emerging Markets" 26 (26): 101-116, 2008

58 Zahra, S. A., "Entrepreneurship in Medium-Size Companies : Exploring the Effects of Ownership and Governance Systems" 26 (26): 947-976, 2000

59 Jantunen, A., "Entrepreneurial Orientation, Dynamic Capabilities and International Performance" 3 (3): 223-243, 2005

60 Teece, D. J., "Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management" 18 (18): 509-533, 1997

61 Rhee, J., "Drivers of Innovativeness and Performance for Innovative SMEs in South Korea : Mediation of Learning Orientation" 30 (30): 65-75, 2010

62 Grima, S., "Does Exporting Increase Productivity? a Microeconometric Analysis of Matched Firms" 12 (12): 855-866, 2004

63 Atkinson, R. D., "Digital Quality of Life: Understanding the Personal and Social Benefits of the Information Technology Revolution, Information Technology and Innovation Foundation"

64 Stevens, G., "Creativity(plus)Business Discipline(equals)Higher Profits Faster from New Product Development" 16 : 455-468, 1999

65 Fiedler, M., "Commercialisation of Technology Innovation : An Empirical Study on the Influence of Clusters and Innovation Networks" 54 (54): 410-437, 2011

66 Zahra, S. A., "Business Strategy, Technology Policy and Firm Performance" 14 (14): 451-478, 1993

67 Accenture/National Information Society, "Assessing Green IT maturity among Korean companies"

68 Meade, A. W., "Assessing Common Methods Bias in Organizational Research" 2007

69 The Framework Act on SMEs, "Article 2 of Framework Act on SMEs and Article 3 of Enforcement, Decree of the Act, Korea"

70 Hult, M., "An assessment of the Measurement of Performance in International Business Research" 39 (39): 1064-1080, 2008

71 Knight, G., "An Inquiry Into Born-Global Companies in Europe and the USA" 21 (21): 645-665, 2004

72 Yeoh, P., "An Empirical Analysis of Sustained Advantage in the U. S. Pharmaceutical Industry : Impact of firm Resources and Capabilities" 29 : 637-653, 1999

73 Siegel, R. A., "Accelerating the Commercialization of Technology : Commercialization Through Co-Operation" 95 (95): 18-26, 1995

74 Collins, J. M., "A Market Performance Comparison of U. S. Firms Active in Domestic Developed and Developing Countries" 21 (21): 271-287, 1990

75 Gartner, "10 Key Elements of a ‘Green IT’ Strategy"