Jun-mo Ahn
Korea University · Business, Management and Accounting
About the Lab
Professor Jun-mo Ahn's research lab focuses on open innovation (OI) and its strategic implications in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with an emphasis on the micro-foundations of innovation driven by CEO characteristics and leadership. The lab investigates how openness, OI capacities, and collaborative partnerships—particularly with non-competing actors—enhance firm performance, resilience, and dynamic capabilities. It also explores the long-term and societal impacts of open innovation, including contributions to addressing grand societal challenges through cross-sector collaboration. The research integrates empirical analysis using survey and panel data from Korean and UK firms to provide actionable insights for managers and policymakers.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
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Selected Papers
15In small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs), where typically the decision‐making process is highly centralised, important decisions, such as open innovation (OI) adoption, will be strongly influenced by the characteristics of their Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Pointing the attention to the strategic leadership and human elements, this paper sheds light on the micro‐foundation of OI by emphasising the role that the personal traits of key individuals in innovation. OI adoption could result i
This paper attempts to deepen understanding of the relationship between open innovation (OI) and firm performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Based on survey data from 306 Korean innovative SMEs, the results of this study show that: (1) broad and intensive engagement in OI and cooperation with external partners are positively associated with firm performance; (2) technology and market-oriented OI modes (Joint R&D, user involvement and open sourcing), involving relatively lo
The literature has shown that open innovation (OI) can be a winning strategy in improving firm performance. However, in order to adopt and implement it, managers need to resolve practical problems, such as understanding the role played by OI capacities and openness on firm performance. In response to these needs, this study aims to investigate the hierarchical relationships between openness, OI capacities and performance using a structural equation model approach. This paper also attempts to com
Many studies have attempted to investigate the potential benefits of open innovation. However, the long-term effects of openness have yet to be demonstrated, even if few researchers hypothesized that high openness could increase firms’ dynamic capabilities and hence their resilience in the face of adversities, such economic downturns. Hence, this article attempts to investigate this dynamic relationship between openness and firm performance with particular considerations addressing the recent fi
Open innovation (OI) is an approach which describes a purposive attempt to draw together knowledge from different contributors to develop and exploit innovation. It has become clear that OI directly benefits organisations' economic performance and resilience, but researchers, practitioners, and policy makers became also convinced that OI might be the way forward to tackle the world’s most pressing societal challenges, representing unresolved Grand Challenges, which can only be weathered by diver
<i>Background</i>: Growing evidence indicates that physical/sporting activities may improve the health outcomes and quality of life (QoL) of breast cancer (BC) survivors. Since recent reports have suggested that sailing can improve the psychophysical well-being and QoL of people with disabilities, this pilot study evaluated the effectiveness of a tailored sailing experience on the QoL and psychological distress (PD) of BC survivors. <i>Methods</i>: A group of 19 breast cancer survivors, who were
This study explores the complex relationships between open innovation (OI) climate and OI activities by investigating the changing moderating effects of organisational facilitators in small innovative firms. Our partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis suggests (1) OI-friendly climate promotes OI activities, (2) this process is further facilitated by various organisational efforts, but (3) the efforts firms must put in are proportional to the level of openness intensity. The
Open innovation (OI) has become an important business norm of successful firms; however, its strategic aspects and the role of a key individual, such as a chief executive officer (CEO) in its adoption, have been under-researched. This paper aims to investigate whether OI is relevant to SMEs and how CEO characteristics influence firm performance through OI. The hierarchical relationships between a firm and CEO characteristics are analysed with structural equation modelling (SEM) using data from 4
With the complexity of technology increasing and globalisation becoming more common, the importance of collaboration in innovation implementation has increased in recent years. The literature has investigated collaboration in various ways, but the scope of the research has been fragmented and mainly confined to single- or similar-country contexts. To address this research gap, this paper investigated the different innovation strategy configurations in vertical, horizontal and international colla
This chapter aims to shed light on the role of the top executives in open innovation in small firms, providing a microfoundation framework for open innovation adoption, which future research will be able to empirically test. Recognizing that open innovation adoption implies an organizational routine change, we suggest that individuals’ characteristics, such as risk-taking propensity and endurance as well as their knowledge and network, play important roles in moderating open innovation adoption.
Innovation systems have seen diverse actors attempting to tame the Covid‐19 crisis, under varying degrees of government direction. Largely neglected in scholarly and public attention, however, are ‘bottom‐up’ solutions arising from the periphery of innovation systems. Drawing on inductive case research on a fringe doctor who invented the idea of the drive‐through testing system, and two university student teams that developed coronavirus applications, this study examines how peripheral actors ge
Research Areas
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