Professor Joon Mahn Lee’s general research interests are corporate growth strategy in innovative ecosystems, entrepreneurial strategy, and corporate innovation, corporate governance and the strategic decision-making process of executives, and corporate strategy under uncertainty. He received his Ph.D. in corporate strategy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and served as a faculty member specializing in management strategy at Purdue University and Korea University. He also serves as the Asia Representative at the STR Research Committee, Academy of Management.

Q: How would you describe your career path?
A: I enrolled in the SNU College of Business Administration in 1998 and earned my B.S. and M.S. in international management. I received my Ph.D. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in management strategy. I then taught at Purdue University in Indiana, USA, for six years and at Korea University for four and a half years. I joined the SNU Business School as a faculty member this March.


Q: How does it feel to return to your alma mater to research and teach?
A: I think other professors would probably feel the same as I do, as many are also SNU Business School graduates. But it also feels different because it brings back memories, considering that I spent a lot of time on campus as a member of the CBA soccer team and many student clubs, including N-CEO and IFS.


Q: Why did you major in management strategy?
A: As a member of IFS, I found finance interesting because it is functional and clear-cut. When you study strategy, on the other hand, you exchange opinions and have discussions about which values you should pursue as a CEO. You also have to make a stochastic and open decision with no correct answer by choosing a slightly better value, which I found very interesting and inspired me to major in strategy.

Q: Do you have any regrets as an undergraduate student or advice for students?
A: I spent a lot of time on campus participating in various student clubs. I am satisfied in that respect, but I do regret not going abroad as an undergraduate exchange student. So I want to advise students to go abroad and gain overseas experience as exchange students. These days many students have attended English kindergartens and are very good at English without living overseas, but if you live in a foreign country for half a year or a year, you learn how to speak English and understand foreign cultures. It could be an eye-opening experience because you realize that there are entirely different worlds and cities completely different from Seoul, and people pursue different types of happiness in many different ways. Your prejudices will melt away by meeting people from India, France, and Italy, and you will also learn to become less fearful of challenges in other countries and find more pride in your own country. I think it would help you greatly if you could experience this as a student.


Q: Do you have any final words of advice for students at the Business School?
A: The privilege of being a business school student is that whichever field you study will have something to do with “business management.” Becoming a specialist in one field is important, but having a broad knowledge of various topics is important because diversity can lead to innovation. So I think business school students have the benefit of being able to come up with new ideas based on this diversity. You might think that having a broad knowledge will not help you get a job in the short run, but it will be much more helpful when you advance your career and try new things in collaboration with others. I recommend that you learn extensively and appreciate diversity.

Professor Chongho Kim

Professor Chongho Kim earned his bachelor’s degree at the SNU College of Business Administrations, his master’s in accounting at the University of Texas at Austin, and his doctorate in accounting at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he taught and researched accounting for three years at New York University in the United States. He was appointed as an assistant professor in accounting at SNU Business School in March 2023.

Q. How does it feel to return to SNU Business School as a faculty member after graduating from SNU?
It has been ten years since I left Seoul National University after earning my bachelor’s degree. I think I may have come back relatively quickly after leaving SNU. The Supex Hall stood even before I left the school, so I do not think the school facilities changed that much. I sometimes feel at home and as if I went back to when I was an undergraduate student because the campus facilities are relatively the same. Perhaps I feel that way even more because some of my former professors are still teaching. Teaching SNU students also reminds me of my undergraduate days, so I can often relate to them and feel a sense of pride in teaching them, and I generally feel fulfilled these days.

Q. What inspired you to become a CPA? How did you become interested in accounting?
I already have a definite answer to this question as an accounting professor. There are words that you always say as an accounting professor, such as “Accounting is the language of modern business.” However, I could only understand such sayings after studying accounting more deeply. I first studied accounting when I entered college and initially did not know anything about accounting. I became interested in accounting after learning from Professor Woon Oh Jung, and I became quite good in the field when my friend suggested that we prepare for the CPA exam together.


Q. What are your research interests and plans?
Accounting as an academic field is generally classified as information economics. Information economics is an academic branch that focuses on how economic agents respond to uncertain information. In information economics, not only the typical financial statements of a company but the information in any form is considered as information. For example, the sanitation level of a restaurant can be considered as information. You need to know about the reliability of such information to understand how such information functions, which is one research topic in accounting.

My research interests lie in such disclosure theories. Disclosing information and not choosing to disclose information are both significant. To understand these decisions, you must know the company’s intention and how information is generated. I frequently use economic models in empirical studies. Using economic models, you can create an idealized economic situation first, which gives you a framework for an in-depth understanding of why our reality is so different. In the ideal world, according to accounting, all information will be fully disclosed. There should be certain obstacles that deviate from such full disclosure, and my current research focuses on analyzing the reasons for this.

I am also researching disclosure regulations. One of the arguments for regulating information disclosure is that when one company provides information, it will help economic agents make better decisions about other companies. However, some companies will only disclose the information if it benefits them directly, even if the costs of disclosure do not exceed the benefits to society as a whole. In this case, information disclosure is a loss for individual companies, but disclosure regulations are necessary to strike a balance so that the disclosure of all companies can generate social benefits. But arguing that such a balance is necessary requires a numerical comparison between the exact social benefits and the cost of creating the information for a single company. This is why I am also quantifying social benefits by designing mathematical models based on economics.


Q. What kind of lectures do you want to give at the SNU Business School?
While it is important to generate accounting information for the accounting system to function, it is also important for people to understand the information. I think the Principles of Accounting is an important tool subject because not only business majors but every student graduating from SNU should learn and understand the functions of accounting as a language of modern business. I hope to introduce students to the basics of accounting as a language of modern business through the Principles of Accounting course. However, I fear that for some students who have no interest in accounting, this course might become the last accounting class they ever take in their lives. So my goal for the Principles of Accounting class, at least, is to make students realize how useful and fun accounting is.

Q. What are your core values in life?
I went through many changes in my life in the past five years before I decided to return to Korea. I cannot get into the details, as they are personal, but I had many opportunities to think about the meaning of life through the experience. There are many values to pursue in life, but the absolute fulfillment of each value will differ depending on your career choice. Although everyone will use the same yardstick to judge your achievements, it is your own values that determine your priorities and your best choices in life. I valued success more than any other values in the past, but now my family and other values are just as important.

Q. Do you have any final words of advice for students at the Business School?
As I have just mentioned, the many values in your life, especially your priorities, can change over time. Your priorities change and should change with each stage of life. However, it is easy to forget this transition if you do not think about how you will make changes at some point. Because it is difficult to revert or change many decisions in your life, it is important to predict your future in advance and decide how to make adjustments to your priorities before making major life decisions. Also, do not hesitate to visit me anytime. Listening to someone who has been there just a bit ahead of you can be helpful when facing the various challenges in life!