Recent Issues
Vol.23/1 (2017, June)
An Empirical Comparison of Alternative Models of Consumers’ Environmental Attitudes and Eco-friendly Product Purchase Intentions
Author JUNYONG KIM
Keywords eco-friendly product, purchase intention, value-attitudebehavior chain, theory of planned behavior, synthetic models
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Using two sets of survey data collected in Korea and the United States
respectively, this study demonstrated that the model that integrated
the value-attitude-behavior hierarchy chain and the theory of planned
behavior had the highest fit with both sets of the data than other models
of consumers’ environmental attitudes and eco-friendly product purchase
intentions. The findings also showed that incorporating the effects of various
types of perceived values of eco-friendly products (e.g., environmental,
functional, and economic values) into the model did not improve the model
fit, although products’ environmental value had significant interaction
effects with some of the non-environmental values.
Vol.23/1 (2017, June)
Congruence within the Top Management: How “Old Boy Network” Affects Executive Appointment and Performance
Author DAEMIN AHN, WOOJIN KIM, EUN JUNG LEE, KYUNG SUH PARK
Keywords Social networks, communication, organizational design, congruence, executives, Korea
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This paper examines the determinants and the consequences of
congruence between the CEO and other executives focusing on the role
of previously-built school and regional ties. Using a sample of 2,129 firmyears
from 2003 to 2006 for all firms listed on the Korea Stock Exchange,
we find that executives are more likely to share the same school or regional
background as the CEO when the firm is small, foreign ownership is low, or
the CEO is a family member of the controlling shareholder. We also find that
such congruence increases firm value when the firm is young and foreign
ownership is large, but decreases firm value in firms tightly controlled by
family member CEOs through large voting rights. These results suggest that
congruence within the top management may facilitate communication when
the nature of information being transmitted is “soft,” but may aggravate
agency problems when CEOs are entrenched.
Vol.23/1 (2017, June)
On Regretful Hierarchy
Author JONGHOON BAE
Keywords Regrets, Organizational Culture, and Theory of the Firm
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This study evaluates the implications of regretful choices at the group
level and suggests that regretful choices in the market may underlie
the formation of hierarchy, i.e., a collectivity, which may not mitigate
the hazards of transactions but serve to absorb personal emotions, i.e.,
regrets associated with market transactions. In so doing, this study seeks
to identify the role of personal emotion in the theory of the firm vis-a-vis
calculative trust that is arguably granted to the impersonal firm.
Vol.23/1 (2017, June)
The Impact of Non-Financial Stakeholders on Accounting Conservatism: The Case of Labor Unions
Author HSIN-YI (SHIRLEY) HSIEH, BOOCHUN JUNG, HAN YI
Keywords Accounting Conservatism, Conditional Conservatism, Labor Unions, Layoff
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This study examines the relation between labor union strength and
conditional accounting conservatism. We argue that labor unions can
have an increasing or decreasing effect on conditional conservatism due to
considerations associated with layoffs and job security of union members.
Using Basu’s (1997) asymmetric timeliness framework and multiple
measures of union strength, we find that labor union strength leads to less
conditional conservatism, even after controlling for known determinants
of conditional conservatism. Our results are robust to endogeneity tests as
well as a battery of other sensitivity tests. We further demonstrate that the
negative relation likely results from unions’ ability to reduce the likelihood
of layoffs. Overall, we provide fresh evidence about the impact of a key nonfinancial
stakeholder, namely labor unions, on an important property of
earnings.
Vol.22/2 (2016, December)
The Effects of Trait Positive Affect on Autonomy and Task Cohesion: The Moderating Roles of Individual Affective Dissimilarity and Group A ffective Diversity
Author Moon Joung Kim
Keywords trait positive affect, affective dissimilarity, affective diversity, autonomy, task cohesion
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In the present study, I examine how an individual’s trait positive affect
(TPA) may interact with those of group members to generate important
individual outcomes, such as autonomy and task cohesion. The proposed
multilevel moderated mediation framework was tested using data collected
from 293 employees in 66 workgroups. Results demonstrated that the
indirect effect of TPA on task cohesion through autonomy is stronger when
individual affective dissimilarity is low and group affective diversity is
high. The analysis also confirmed the role of autonomy as the mediating
mechanism between TPA and task cohesion.
Vol.22/2 (2016, December)
Why Does Forgiving Boost Creativity? The Role of Cognitive Persistence
Author SU SANG LEE, EUN JIN JUNG, JUNHA KIM, SUJIN LEE
Keywords forgiveness; creativity; cognitive persistence; conflict; dual pathway to creativity model
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This study elucidates the specific cognitive mechanism by which the
act of forgiving enhances creativity. We use the dual pathway to creativity
model to examine whether the act of forgiving increases creativity via
cognitive persistence (generating detailed ideas within a small number of
categories), but not via cognitive flexibility (generating multiple categories
and switching ideas between categories). Two experiments conducted
Vol.22/2 (2016, December)
Testing Human Relations Hypothesis of the Hawthorne Studies
Author JEONG-YEON LEE
Keywords Hawthorne studies, social facilitation, social learning process, human relations, time series analysis
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Employing the method of time series analysis, this paper analyzes data
obtained from the Hawthorne experiment from the perspective of human
relations. Although previous studies adopted statistical tools to analyze the
“first relay” experiments, direct inclusion of “human relations” variables was
absent. The study includes “human relations” variables that suggest social
facilitation and social learning process in the statistical analysis. Unlike
previous studies, the direct inclusion of such variables resulted in the
support for the human relations hypothesis.
Vol.22/2 (2016, December)
Which Performance Feedback Triggers Problemistic and Institutional Search in the Semiconductor Industry? Profit vs. Growth
Author SOO YON HAN, KYUNG MIN PARK
Keywords R&D intensity; performance aspiration; problemistic search; institutional search
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This paper investigates; first, the impact of profit and growth aspirations
in triggering problemistic search; second, the existence of institutional or
imitational search; and third, the influence of performance aspirations on
institutional search in the global semiconductor industry. The empirical
results show that the growth aspiration is a more significant performance
measure affecting R&D intensity and the strong institutional search
behavior is also evident in our research setting. The institutional search
behavior is found to be strengthened by poor growth but weakened by low
profit, suggesting a shift of attention between aspiration and survival when
imitating others in R&D investment.
Vol.22/1 (2016, June)
Leader’s Role in Fostering Creativity:The Creativity Creation Model at KT AIT
Author SEONGWUK MOON, JAEHO SHIN, HONGSUK YANG, JAMES WON-KI HONG
Keywords creativity creation model, leadership, innovation performance
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To achieve innovation, constraints that block the effect of a company’s
creative culture on innovation and creativity in the organization have to
be removed. We propose the creativity creation model that takes account
of these constraints and suggest that, to cultivate an innovative climate,
Vol.22/1 (2016, June)
Top Managers’ Political Conservatism and External Governance Choices
Author JONGSUB LEE, KWANG J. LEE
Keywords CEO political conservatism, corporate governance conservatism, external governance choices, entrenchment discount, G Index, E Index, staggered board, limits to amend bylaws, supermajority JEL Classification: G34
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We develop a theory of corporate governance conservatism that reflects
the preference of politically conservative chief executive officers (CEOs)
for stability and continuity in corporate governance provisions without
managerial entrenchment. Our theory suggests that conservative CEOs
tend to prefer corporate governance provisions against hostile takeover and
drastic board turnover, but their emphasis on hard work and self-discipline
are likely to lead them to run their firms more efficiently with less debt.
Using a sample of 2,339 U.S. corporations in the 1996-2006 period, we
find strong empirical support for this new theory. Firms with Republican
CEOs, who are known to be politically conservative, are more likely to
stagger the terms and elections of directors, limit shareholders’ ability to
amend corporate bylaws and require supermajority for approval of mergers,
but those CEOs are not associated with a significant impairment in
shareholders’ value. Rather, we find firms run by Republican CEOs tend to
have higher return on assets and lower leverage, consistent with the results
documented by Hutton, Jiang, and Kumar (2014). Overall, our theory and
empirical results highlight an important spillover effect of top managers’
Seoul Journal of Business
ISSN 1226-9816 (Print)
ISSN 2713-6213 (Online)
ISSN 2713-6213 (Online)