Using Davis, Donaldson and Schoorman’s (1997) conceptual stewardship theory
arguments, in this exploratory research we cautiously progress from theory development
to theory testing and examine the application of stewardship theory concepts in a
third generation South Korean family business. We explore how this family business
has been able to successfully transition leadership on multiple occasions and examine
ways in which agency costs are ameliorated by stewardship theory rooted initiatives.
We respond to researchers who have contributed to the development of stewardship
theory and who are united in their call for studies that validate the conceptual principles
developed over the past two decades.

Will more social relations always bring better performance for entrepreneurial firms?
Using a sample of all firms which went through an IPO during 2001-2004 in the
U.S., we examine the relationship between social relations of entrepreneurial firms
and their performance. Prior research has suggested that having relationships at the
early stage of organizational life provides many advantages to entrepreneurial firms.
Entrepreneurial firms facing severe uncertainty can gain benefits from social relations,
because relations can provide access to various resources. To a certain point, we
accept this well-known thesis. However, we argue that too many relations may have
detrimental consequences to firms’ success. We introduce possible negative mechanisms
and test the effect of immoderate level of social relations on the entrepreneurial firms’
performance. We expect that social relations of entrepreneurial firms will have an
inverted U-gshaped relationship with performance. We specify social relations of three
important groups (founder, TMT, and BOD) in entrepreneurial firms and examine
their impact on the IPO performance. As a result, social relations of TMT and BOD
have an inverted U-shaped relationship with IPO performance as expected. However,
founder interlock has a negative impact on IPO performance. Finally, implications
and limitations are discussed.

Authors try to answer the following question, “Who are entrepreneurs and why
do they want to become entrepreneurs?” In order to identify answers to the question,
we argue that researchers need to focus on the decision making problem of an individual
instead of environmental factors. In this article, we propose a different theoretical
framework, similar to the “prospective theory” in economics, from existing theories
in entrepreneurship. People usually have two types of opportunities, which are entrepreneurial
and non-entrepreneurial opportunities. First, using a formal model, we
try to prove that different individuals who have different “aspiration levels” tend to
have different sets of opportunities, entrepreneurial and non-entrepreneurial. Authors
claim that people become entrepreneurs because of the divergences between an individual’s
aspiration level and the market evaluations of the individual. Then, we offer
a couple of cases of when and how an individual’s aspiration level and the market
evaluation of the individual can be different.

Emerging economies are characterized by an increasing market orientation and
an expanding economic foundation. Because innovation increasingly shapes international
competitiveness, radical innovation plays a key role in economic development.
Yet, little is known about radical innovations in emerging economies. This paper examines
the relationship between business-government relations and innovation. We categorize
a firm’s political strategies into two parts: 1) official and 2) unofficial relations with
governments. We also present the moderating effects of trust that explain why firms
differ in radical innovation. Based on data comprising 40,462 firms from 58 emerging
economies, we found general support for the moderating effects of trust in official
relations with governments, but not in unofficial relations.

Despite the importance of intellectual property for a startup, exemplary evidence is lacking in reports on the use of proprietary assets, i.e. intellectual property, by firms to dominate the market. To fill this research gap, the current paper aims to show the process of formulating a very active strategy for intellectual property protection applicable in both domestic and global settings by examining a firm that introduced a totally new concept to the market. The case ed was Golfzon, which was founded in 2000 in Korea. Golfzon inaugurated a new business model, which is through offering a virtual golf game that is as enjoyable as real golf. In showing the market development process and Golfzon’s strategy, the growth of this firm is divided into three periods, namely, start-up period, rapid growth period, and diversification period. The results show that Golfzon actively made use of the intellectual property system to maximize their appropriable knowledge, starting from the rapid growth period. With this approach, the company outperformed its competitors in the Korean market, thereby becoming a dominant design in the industry. Presently, Golfzon is in the diversification period, which might be worth further elaborating in ensuing research if Golfzon exhibits a fine example for scholastic argumentation.