KJCKorea
Journal Central

This study empirically examined how the ESG activities of leading public enterprises influence organizational communication competence (decision instruction delivery and comprehension), decision quality, and employee creativity. Using structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 4.0, the analysis revealed that the environmental, social, and governance components of ESG positively affect communication competence. Furthermore, decision instruction delivery and comprehension were found to significantly enhance both decision quality and employee creativity. These findings suggest that ESG activities contribute not only to external reputation building but also to improving internal communication, decision-making processes, and the cultivation of a creative organizational culture. The study highlights the practical implications of ESG as a strategic tool for enhancing organizational performance, emphasizing the importance of strengthening managerial communication training, establishing two-way feedback channels, clarifying roles, and fostering a creative work environment.

Digital transformation (DT) has become a popular strategic tool that is a sort of compulsion for the growth of manufacturing businesses but still there are mixed results on its impact. In this study, the influence of DT on firm’s performance is evaluated, concentrating on Korean manufacturing industry. Furthermore, the mediating roles of operational agility, process innovation and operational performance as well as the moderatingrole of environmental turbulence are examined. Based on dynamic capabilities theory and operations strategy, a mediation–moderation model is tested with 350 respondents (firms) among automotive, electronics and metal industries. Using (PLS-SEM), the evaluation of direct, indirect, serial mediation and moderation effects are tested. The results show that DT does not directly enhance firm performance but rather DT has enabled organizations to become more agile and innovative in their processes, which in turn strengthens operational performance. Mediation Analysis revealing the parallel and serial pathways of mediation by bootstrapping. Moderation analysis shows that environmental turbulence increases the benefits of DT on agility and innovation. The findings reveal that it is not only technology, but capability development plays a significant role in DT success, more specifically under volatile environmental conditions. Businesses should invest in digital transformation that focuses on agility and innovation, support operational indicators as a benchmark of success and take care of environmental turbulence.

The purpose of this study is to empirically analyze the effect of firms' research and development expenditures and labor costs on their capacity utilization. Using data from 14,715 firm-year observations of non-financial listed firms in Korea from 2011 to 2023, this study examines the effect of firms' research and development (R&D) expenditures and labor costs on their capacity utilization. through regression analysis. The findings show that both R&D expenditure and labor costs are significantly and positively associated with firms’ annual capacity utilization. This study highlights the importance of R&D and labor expenditures as key determinants of capacity utilization, offering a new perspective not fully addressed in prior research. It also differentiates itself by utilizing capacity utilization, a unique indicator difficult to obtain outside the Korean market.