https://scholarworks.unist.ac.kr/handle/201301/104 2026-04-08T22:11:20Z https://scholarworks.unist.ac.kr/handle/201301/88835 Title: Recombining Knowledge for Climate Innovation: Evidence From US Energy Incumbents Author(s): Min, Kyung-Baek; Baikishieva, Kyzai; Kim, Young Choon Abstract: As the climate crisis intensifies, energy incumbents must strategically transform their fossil-fueled legacies to remain competitive and sustainable. Yet, little is known about how internal knowledge architectures and external industry positions jointly shape their capacity for climate innovation. Building on the knowledge recombination literature, this study introduces knowledge coupling—the integration of diverse knowledge elements—as a structural mechanism enabling technological adaptation. We theorize an inverted U-shaped relationship between coupling and climate technology development, where moderate coupling balances coherence and flexibility. Extending this logic, we argue that firms positioned at the technological periphery—facing fewer institutional constraints—derive greater sustainability benefits from coupling by pursuing unconventional innovation paths. Using panel data on US energy incumbents from 1981 to 2022, our analysis supports these propositions. The findings reveal how internal knowledge design and external positioning jointly drive environmental innovation in the transition toward sustainable energy systems. © 2025 The Author(s). Business Strategy and the Environment published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2026-02-28T15:00:00Z https://scholarworks.unist.ac.kr/handle/201301/86740 Title: How founder experiences Matter? investigating novel technology development in autonomous driving ventures Author(s): Min, Kyung-Baek; Kim, Young Choon Abstract: This study investigates the influence of founders’ diverse prior work experiences on the development of novel technologies in autonomous driving ventures. Considering the multiple sources of work environments where founders’ experiences were formed, we make a distinction between path-conforming influence that pulls entrepreneurs towards existing paradigms and path-shifting influence that pushes them away from conventional norms. By investigating prior experiences from industry incumbents, industry diversity, entrepreneurship, and universities, we hypothesize their diverging implications for novel technology development. Analyzing patent records from autonomous driving ventures, we find that prior experiences from industry incumbency hinder the development of novel patents, whereas prior experiences from diverse industries and university research foster it. By decomposing the influences of venture founders’ prior work experiences into path-conforming and path-shifting camps, our research makes theoretical contributions to entrepreneurship research and offers practical implications for managing technology ventures in nascent industries. © 2025 Elsevier Inc. 2025-01-31T15:00:00Z https://scholarworks.unist.ac.kr/handle/201301/86248 Title: Management by Originals: Inventor CEOs and Firms’ Strategic Change Author(s): Kang, Yungu; Zhu, David Abstract: We build upon theories and studies regarding inventors and strategic leader-ship to explain how inventor CEOs are likely to drive a firm’s strategic change. We explainwhy inventor CEOs have the unique attributes of divergent thinking and intrinsic motiva-tion and, accordingly, pursue strategies that deviate from the past. We further suggest thatthe positive relationship between inventor CEO status and strategic change is strengthenedby CEO liberalism, CEO career variety, and industry dynamism. Using a comprehensive lon-gitudinal database of S&P 1500 firms, we test our theoretical predictions and find empiricalsupport for most of our hypotheses except for the moderating effect of industry dynamism.In highlighting the prevalence of inventor CEOs and showing how this achievement-basedexperience of CEOs is related to strategic change, our study identifies an important andnovel antecedent of this important strategic outcome 2025-08-31T15:00:00Z https://scholarworks.unist.ac.kr/handle/201301/84388 Title: Inter-Unit Executive Redeployment in Multiunit Firms: Evidence from Korean Business Groups Author(s): Chang, Sea-Jin; Kim, Young Choon; Park, Sangchan Abstract: Building on the literature on resource reconfiguration theory, we formulate a new theoretical framework that explains how executive redeployment within a diversified firm transfers different types of human capital embodied in executives to different units facing specific business challenges. In the empirical context of Korean business groups, we find that executives with unit-specific human capital, like turnaround experience, competitive experience, and international expansion experience, are redeployed to units with corresponding business challenges like financial difficulties, intensifying competition, and early-stage international expansion, respectively. We also show that executives with unit generic human capital, like corporate management practices and interunit coordination experiences, are redeployed to younger units seeking to establish corporate-level policies and practices. Additional analyses also show that the value of firm-specific human capital in driving the redeployment of executives is contingent on their functional orientation and seniority. 2024-04-30T15:00:00Z