KUBS Young Scholars’ Conference Concludes, Expanding Academic Exchange Through Cross-Disciplinary Re
KUBS Young Scholars’ Conference Concludes,
Expanding Academic Exchange Through Cross-Disciplinary Research Sharing
The 2nd KUBS Young Scholars' Conference 2025 took place on Friday, November 28, at the LG-POSCO Hall. The event, held simultaneously in Ahn Young-Il Hall and Rooms 216 and 217, was organized as part of the BK21 Four - stage Business Administration Education and Research Program and featured both mini conference sessions and roundtable sessions.
In the mini conference sessions, graduate students who had recently presented at major international academic conferences shared their research findings. In the roundtable sessions, participants freely exchanged ideas with fellow attendees over refreshments at tables dedicated to various topics, including research themes, opportunities for interdisciplinary and joint research, job market trends, and graduate school admissions. The event was open to all members of the university, including Korea University graduate students.
The event began with a welcoming address by Professor Woochan Kim, Director of the Business Administration Education and Research Group. He remarked, “Academic achievements are refined through the advice and cooperation of many people,” adding, “I hope today serves as a meaningful step in strengthening each of your research endeavors”
In the mini conference sessions, attendees chose presentations of interest based on the pre-published program and moved freely between rooms. Each presentation included a 10-minute talk followed by a 5-minute Q&A.
As research from various disciplines was presented, participants were exposed to a broad range of academic perspectives. This year’s conference featured 19 graduate students presenting on 20 topics. With a wide array of majors and themes represented, participants could engage selectively in sessions aligned with their interests and explore diverse research areas. Many students commented that the ability to tailor their experience made the program feel as rich and intensive as that of an international academic conference.
Presentation Titles and Speakers
△ Heo, Yerim — “Betting Big, Backed by Hedging: How Subsidiary Networks Reshape CEO Risk Perceptions in CBA”
△ ZHANG, YEXUAN — “Third-Party ESG Ratings and the Green Innovation Dilemma: The Moderating Role of Executive Green Awareness”
△ JAWARA FAKULIE ALFRED — “The Impact of Managerial Ties on the Relationship Between Institutional Voids and Firm Performance”
△ Kim, Yerim — “Market Maker Short Selling: A Necessary Evil?”
△ Park, Jungwoo — “Understanding the Concepts of Proactive Quality Management and Its Profitability: The Event Study Method”
△ HONG, TONGTONG — “Foreign Exchange Reserves and Corporate Leverage: A Credit Risk Spillover Channel”
△ Lee, Juhyun — “Does NAS Affect CAM Quality? – Evidence from Korea”
△ ZHOU, YUNXIAO — “Beyond Tier-1: How MNCs Shape Indirect Suppliers’ Sustainability via Institutional Pressures”
△ Jang, Jongik — “Is CSR Always a Buffer? Reinterpreting Its Role under Political Uncertainty: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea”; “Navigating Climate Regulatory Diversity: How MNEs Learn from Cumulative Experience”
△ Lee, Seungjun — “Multi-Period Stochastic Programming for Location-Inventory Decisions in Closed-Loop Supply Chains”
△ Jeon, Injae — “When Elephants Fight: How Nonmarket Strategy Helps Third-Country MNEs Cope with Geopolitical Rivalry”
△ Sun, Jongin — “What Sets Resilient Firms Apart in Times of Global Disruption: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic”
△ Song, Minki — “From Attention to Advantage: The Market Spillovers of Live Streaming Commerce in Digital Retail Ecosystems”
△ JIN, XUANTING — “Beyond Mere Distance: How Intra- and Inter-Brand Proximity Shape Omnichannel Performance”
△ Son, Bongjin — “Impact of Financial APIs on the Trade Outcome of Foreign Investors”
△ Eum, Sangwon — “A Conjoint Analysis Model with Attribute Groups: Focused on Music Streaming Services”
△ CHEN, MENGTING — “Consumers’ Privacy Awareness and Trust: Impacts on Regional Courier Services”
△ Oh, Jaeyoung — “How the Association Between Pet and Self-Construal Shapes Marketing Effectiveness and Consumer Mindsets”
△ SARI DOROTTYA — “Coordination of Confusion?: An Examination of Boundary Objects and Semantic Drift on ‘Agility’”
A selection of the presentations is introduced below
In Ahn Young-Il Hall, Heo Yerim delivered the first presentation. A doctoral student in Global Business, Heo introduced her study, “Betting Big, Backed by Hedging: How Subsidiary Networks Reshape CEO Risk Perception in Cross Border Acquisition,” which she previously presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual Conference 2025.
Her research examines how CEOs’ personal risk perceptions influence decisions regarding cross-border acquisitions (CBA), and how the structure of a firm’s subsidiary network moderates this relationship. She categorizes subsidiary networks into “breadth,” referring to geographic dispersion across countries, and “depth,” indicating concentration in specific countries, and develops hypotheses based on these distinctions. The empirical analysis shows that greater perceived CEO risk leads to reduced CBA investment. Moreover, network breadth mitigates this negative effect, whereas network depth amplifies it.
Jang Jongik, also a doctoral student in Global Business, introduced his research, “Is CSR Always a Buffer? Reinterpreting Its Role under Political Uncertainty: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in South Korea,” which he presented at the Strategic Management Society Annual Conference 2025. He explained how he developed his research idea on the relationship among Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), political crises, and firm value. Building on prior studies examining the “CSR–political crisis–firm value” relationship, he employed South Korea’s presidential declaration of martial law as a natural experiment to test the “insurance effect” of CSR. The findings showed that firms more active in CSR experienced even more negative market reactions following the political crisis. Jang noted that in emerging or state-led economies like South Korea, CSR often serves as a means of cultivating ties with the government rather than responding to civil society, suggesting that its positive effects may not hold under conditions of governmental instability.
Oh Jaeyoung, a doctoral student in Marketing, introduced his study, “How the Association between Pet and Self-Construal Shapes Marketing Effectiveness and Consumer Mindsets,” which he previously presented at the American Marketing Association (AMA) Conference 2025. The study examines the hypothesis that images of dogs and cats activate different types of self-construal, thereby shaping preferences for advertising messages and influencing consumer judgments.
The experimental results showed that participants exposed to dog images preferred interdependent messages, whereas those shown cat images tended to favor independent messages. The study further revealed that even brief exposure to such images can alter consumers’ price perceptions and evaluations.
The presentations proceeded smoothly, with active exchanges of ideas during the Q&A sessions that contributed to further developing each study. Participants shared brief words of encouragement with the presenters, helping maintain a supportive atmosphere. Several presenters noted that the event helped them plan the next steps in their research.
After all presentations had concluded, participants reconvened in Ahn Young Il Hall for the roundtable sessions. Seated at tables organized by research themes, attendees freely exchanged views on research challenges, preparation processes, and personal insights. At the “Sustainability Governance” table, Jang Jongik and Choi Wonjin discussed upcoming conference deadlines and preparation strategies. Choi noted, “The deadline is about a month away, so I was seeking some advice.”
This year’s event provided an important opportunity for researchers from various disciplines to gather and share their research experiences. The Management Education and Research Group plans to continue supporting programs that promote research exchange among graduate students. Through future Young Scholars’ Conference initiatives, the foundation for collaboration among young scholars is expected to grow even further.
2025.12.10국제실
