PSBP Paradigm을 이용한 상생협력진단모델 구축 : 발전사와 협력기업간 상생협력을 중심으로

Inter-firm cooperation between large and small and medium enterprises(SMEs) have been on-going for the past few years. Most of the inter-firm cooperation to date, however, have been mostly government-led with the large private companies or state-owned cooperations responding to the government's call. The focus of the government's policy was on improving the overall business exchange relationship conditions that the SMEs hold and on providing support with the management resources for the SMEs. As a result, it was viewed largely as something granted by the government to the SMEs. It is true that the government's systematic and administrative efforts proved effective in the overall establishment and dispersion of the inter-firm cooperation. However, there are also criticisms that the implementation of the inter-firm cooperation is restricted and unilateral. This study looks into the state-owned corporation that is considered as the best practice in implementing the inter-firm cooperation policy most accurately and most aggressively. The study aims to evaluate the implementation of the inter-firm cooperation policy to date and to identify suggestions for further improvement of the policy. To analyze the current status, PSBP(philosophy-structure-behavior-performance) paradigm is used, where philosophy is added to the SCP model(structure-conduct-performance model). The cooperation philosophy reflects the overall cooperate goal, vision, mission and values which provides the propelling force for a company's network structure, its behavior and performance. Key elements are organization interoperability, goal interoperability, partner immersion and trust(Achrol et al., 1990, Lim and Jun 1999). In particular, trust is viewed as the key concept in the formation of a corporate network. Williamson (2008) presents the trust approach as the most desirable interaction between the large private companies and the SMEs. In terms of the relationship structure, the hybrid contracting, a combination of a short-term, market-oriented exchange and the integration(hierarchy) of the related parties of the contract, is found to be the most common form of the relationship between the large private companies and the SMEs(Williamson 2008). Here, the large private company and the SMEs are members of the business ecosystem. They develop through a flexible network structure where a strong network and a weaker network are weaved together(Dyer and Nobeoka 2000, Iansiti and Levien 2004a, b). The focus of cooperation behavior in the inter-firm cooperation must shift from a lower level of cooperation, consisting of division of labor in manufacturing and production, to a higher level of cooperation in R&D and marketing that can enable a build-up of technological capacities for the SMEs. Also, open innovation is needed in order to activate further innovation at the SMEs. The study will look into the possibility of an integration and the current situation of the cooperation philosophy, relationship structure, cooperation behavior and performance. This paper is a case study of East-West Power Corporation(EWP) and the SMEs that are in a cooperative relationship with EWP. The PSBP model will be applied to the analysis result drawn from the case study, which is conducted through an in-depth interview and a survey. The following is an explanation of the results from the survey and the interviews regarding the four areas of cooperation between EWP and the SMEs. •Cooperation Philosophy : Compared to the 2004 figures, the trust approach gained higher scores. ‘Honesty', ‘Trustworthiness', ‘Fairness', ‘Keeping promises', ‘Keeping confidentiality' were the categories used in the evaluation. The average score was 6.4(out of a 7 point scale). The score is much higher than that of large private companies, indicating that trust-oriented cooperation philosophy, which is the PSBP's starting point, is established at a high level. •Relationship Structure : The relationship structure between EWP and SMEs is a market-oriented relationship structure based on lowest price competitive bidding. The SMEs working with EWP replied that the relationship they have with EWP is very important but the level of dependence is low; this result backs up the afore mentioned structure. In contrast, we find similar results from the SMEs working with large private companies, who have a more integrated(hierarchy) relationship structure with the SMEs. A short-term, relaxed market-oriented structure does create a fair and even playing field to all SMEs, but has its limits in the long-term inter-firm cooperation that aims for a higher level of cooperation. To overcome such limitations, EWP has maintained a separate team to support the SMEs that they work with and has also set up a Consultative Committee for SMEs, comprised of key SMEs that work with EWP. It is suggested that EWP work on further strengthening its integrated(hierarchy) structure to disperse and share knowledge and to upgrade the R&D capability and innovation of the SMEs. Such efforts will enable the organization to further evolve into a more flexible cooperation network. •Cooperation Behavior : The results of the survey asking the level of EWP's cooperation behavior in the two categories, 1) how well does EWP supports the SMEs capability building and 2) how well does EWP support the SMEs through a benign approach, are as follows. The overall level of satisfaction of the SMEs regarding the cooperation behavior of EWP scored an average of 4.7 points out of a 7 point scale. The score for behavior pursuing both the SMEs' capability building and protection were the highest at 4.9 points. The next highest score was given when EWP worked to build up the SMEs' capability but showed less effort in protecting them. This shows that the inter-firm cooperation creates a higher level of satisfaction when it is oriented towards building up the SMEs' capability. However, the SMEs viewed most of the inter-firm cooperation for technology capability building as part of a benign behavior to protect the SMEs. This illustrates that the high level of trust philosophy in the inter-firm cooperation is not connected to the cooperation behavior. Comparison of the survey results from EWP and from other large private companies show no major difference in the categories of ‘Awareness of being a cooperative partner', ‘Communication' and ‘Close cooperation.' It does, however, show significant difference in the scores for ‘Mutual visits', ‘Sharing of key information' and ‘Joint work.' EWP and the SMEs that work with EWP have a short-term, market-oriented relationship structure. And such relationship structure is affecting the cooperation behavior. When asked what is the most important element in a cooperation behavior, 63% answered that stability in business exchange is the most important element, indicating that the SMEs are affected by the short-term, market-oriented relationship structure. •Performance : The scores for ‘Product development', ‘Technology improvement', ‘Response capability' and ‘Overall competitiveness' were relatively high, while scores for ‘Cost reduction', ‘Delivery time reduction', ‘Sales increase' and ‘Profit increase' were relatively low. For EWP to achieve better scores in this categories, improvement is needed to further develop all areas of the philosophy, relationship structure and cooperation behavior. At the same time, more work is needed to solve the problem found in the issue of low relevance among the four ares so that the high level of philosophy can positively affect the relationship structure and the cooperation behavior. The study finds that for the cooperation behavior to result in actual performance outcome in both the large private companies and the state-owned corporations, a change in the philosophy or the relationship structure must take place first. However, such changes are not easy to be realized. Only changing the cooperation behavior, without changing the philosophy or the relationship structure, may result in a benign approach or the continuation of a muscular approach. The inter-firm cooperation pursued to date has shown a high level of trust in the philosophy area. However, the short-term, market-oriented approach hinders the trust and philosophy from being leveraged to other areas of cooperation behavior and performance. To overcome such limitations, the government-led inter-firm cooperation must be redirected to a private-sector-led inter-firm cooperation, with the following features : a contract methods that enables a long-term cooperation relationship, multi-players participating in an open innovation process, and a platform that enables such open innovation. For the inter-firm cooperation to be further developed and applied as a more sophisticated tool for different industries, different size organizations and different partners, the whole process should be redirected as a private-sector-led, government-supported effort.