Currently, in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, global companies are fiercely competing in each field in the era of infinite competition. In particular, memory semiconductor manufacturers are continuing their competition in memory semiconducto...
Currently, in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, global companies are fiercely competing in each field in the era of infinite competition. In particular, memory semiconductor manufacturers are continuing their competition in memory semiconductors in another way, reorganizing into three global companies (S, H, and M) after three chicken games. As all companies are like this, it can be said that if semiconductor companies are eliminated from competition, the existence of a company itself is threatened, as can be seen from past experiences. The semiconductor industry has a certain pattern, the characteristics of the economic cycle industry in which boom and depression are repeated, and the characteristics of the high-tech industry in which technology changes proceed rapidly. Due to these characteristics of the business environment, constant technological innovation activities are essential management factors for semiconductor manufacturing companies, and analysis and research are needed to see how a series of innovation activities and innovation capabilities are related to management performance. As a result of reviewing the preceding studies conducted so far, it was found that the mainstream was to analyze and study the impact of technology strategies, technology learning, and network capabilities of SMEs and venture companies on absorption capabilities. On the other hand, due to insufficient research on the impact of semiconductor manufacturing companies' technological innovation capabilities on management performance, research on this was needed. Against this background, this study first verified the effect of technological innovation capability on absorption capability and absorption capability on innovation performance and non-financial performance, which are research variables of management performance. Next, in the verification of the mediating effect hypothesis, it was analyzed whether the absorption capability had a mediating effect in the relationship between technological innovation capability and management performance. The subject of this study was semiconductor manufacturing companies. The survey used an online questionnaire. The distribution of the questionnaire used an online questionnaire method that sends the format of a questionnaire provided by Datain, a survey agency. A total of 300 copies of the questionnaire were distributed and 251 copies were collected. 238 copies of the collected questionnaire were used for statistical processing, excluding 13 copies of unfaithful responses such as poor entries and omissions. SPSS 29 and Smart PLS 4.0 were used as statistical processing programs for analyzing sample characteristics and verifying hypotheses. The hypothesis verification results of this study are summarized as follows. First, as a result of verifying the basic hypothesis on the relationship between R&D capability, technology accumulation capability, technology innovation system, and network capability, the technology innovation system and network capability had a positive effect on the practical absorption capability. It was found that the results of this study were generally consistent with previous studies. It was confirmed that the stronger the technology innovation system, the more efficiently companies can acquire external knowledge and convert to internal knowledge, which leads to the improvement of practical absorption capabilities. In addition, the higher the network capability, the easier it is for companies to absorb external innovative knowledge, which can lead to the improvement of their practical absorption capabilities. Second, as a result of verifying the basic hypothesis on the relationship between practical absorption capacity, innovation performance, and non-financial performance, the practical absorption capacity had a positive effect on innovation performance and non-financial performance. It was confirmed that the results of this study were generally consistent with previous studies. It was confirmed that the stronger the practical absorption capacity, the more likely it is that innovation performance will improve, and the effective integration of external technologies and improvement of the internal technology development process act as a factor that directly increases innovation performance. Finally, it was confirmed that the actual absorption capacity has a mediating effect on the relationship between the technological innovation system, network capability and innovation performance, and non-financiality of semiconductor manufacturing companies. Semiconductor manufacturing companies can properly absorb external technologies and innovate in the internal R&D process only when the technological innovation system is systematically established, and networks with various partners play an important role in supporting and creating technological innovation. When the actual absorption capacity exerts a mediating effect, it is expected that the technological innovation system and network capability will play an important role in the process of strengthening innovation performance and non-financial performance. This analysis emphasizes the importance of establishing corporate policies and strategies that focus on technological innovation and network construction. According to the analysis of this study, it was confirmed that the higher the degree of possession and utilization of the technological innovation system and network capabilities of semiconductor manufacturing companies, the higher the utilization of the practical absorption capability, the higher the innovation performance and non-financial performance. It was also confirmed that the technological innovation system and network capabilities of semiconductor manufacturing companies have a significant impact on innovation performance and non-financial performance through the medium of practical absorption capabilities. These findings suggest that semiconductor manufacturing companies should make efforts to strengthen their real absorption capabilities in strengthening their technological innovation systems and developing network capabilities to connect with external knowledge, and that they will contribute to enhancing their competitiveness when strengthening these innovations.