Professors Hyun Seok Lee and In Joon Noh of Korea University Business School received the SK Award for their research that empirically examines how organizations learn from crises and develop recovery capabilities, based on an analysis of drug shortages in the United States. 

I am deeply honored and grateful to receive this SK Award. This study empirically examines how organizations learn and build recovery capabilities following crises, based on the significant social issue of drug shortages in the United States. It is especially meaningful that our second paper on drug shortages has also been accepted for publication in Management Science, following our first paper. It is also very meaningful to have co-authored this work with my colleague, Professor In Joon Noh, who works in the same field.

I hope that collaboration among the outstanding faculty at Korea University Business School will continue to grow, supported by ongoing encouragement and institutional support. I will also continue striving to pursue research that combines academic rigor with meaningful social impact. 

I am very pleased and honored that the paper we have worked on for a long time, together with my colleague Professor Hyun Seok Lee, has been accepted for publication in our target journal. 

I hope our research can contribute, even in a small way, to understanding and addressing the issue of drug supply shortages. I also look forward to continuing to pursue meaningful research through collaboration with outstanding scholars both in Korea and abroad. 

• Title of Paper : Learning in Recovery from Disruption: Empirical Evidence from the U.S. Drug Shortages 
• Journal : Management Science 
• Publication Status : Accepted for publication; volume, issue, and official publication date to be determined 
• Summary of Key Findings : 

This study examines whether pharmaceutical manufacturing plants learn from repeated drug shortages in the United States and recover more quickly as a result.

Drug shortages directly affect patient treatment, making them not only production disruptions but also a significant social issue. By analyzing approximately 5,000 cases from 2015 to 2020, the study finds that plants with more experience in resolving past shortages tend to return to normal operations more quickly when new disruptions occur. However, this learning effect is more evident in cases caused by internal factors, such as production disruptions or quality issues, and is less effective in addressing external factors such as raw material supply problems or sudden spikes in demand.

Furthermore, the experience accumulated at one plant does not easily transfer across plants within the same company. Ultimately, the study highlights that rather than simply experiencing crises repeatedly, it is more important to systematically organize and share the solutions developed on-site. It also suggests that for external causes, there are limits to what companies can achieve on their own, and that policy support is also necessary.