Strategic Types and Performances of Small Firms in Korea

YOUNGBAE KIM IS AN ASSISTANT professor of management and policy in the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Taejon, South Korea and Youngrok Choi is a researcher in the nuclear policy division of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon, Korea. This study attempts to identify the patterns of strategic behaviour of small firms in Korea in conjunction with their performance. Based on the data from 79 small firms across four industries, the results reveal that there appear to be four common strategic attributes cost efficiency, innovative differentiation, marketing differentiation, and asset parsimony and five strategic types of firms which have distinct combinations of these strategic attributes innovative, versatile, marginal, and reactive types. Each type of firm was also found to have different organisational characteristics and performance level. Finally, this study discusses the comparative management issue in the field of strategic management and offers some practical implications for managers of small firms.

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