Strategic Capabilities, Innovation and Economic Development: Evidence from Korea’s Defence Industry

Strategic Capabilities, Innovation and Economic Development: Evidence from Korea’s Defence Industry | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Strategic Capabilities, Innovation and Economic Development: Evidence from Korea’s Defence Industry Il Sook Kwon, Jong Hee Jeong This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8243100/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study examines how companies in South Korea’s defence industry supply chain, a sector that drives the technological frontier of the national manufacturing industry, can strengthen their global competitiveness. It identifies the key determinants from an organisational capability perspective and analyses their relationship with firm performance. Building on this, the study examines whether these factors enhance corporate competitiveness and influence the development of the sector and national economic growth. Whereas prior research has tended to focus on external conditions or policy environments such as government support, this study adopts an integrated view that combines Porter’s diamond model, dynamic capabilities theory and endogenous growth theory, and proposes four dimensions of internal organisational capability: technological innovation, customisation, supply chain (SC) resilience and differentiation. Methodologically, the study employs a parallel design that combines Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis and panel regression, thereby integrating qualitative and quantitative approaches. The AHP results show that technological factors are ranked as the top priority, while the panel analysis finds that R&D investment and DQMS certification exert a significant positive effect on firm performance. Interestingly, the results highlight a gap between the expert expectations and economic trade-offs faced by firms. Taken together, these findings suggest that Korean defence firms can secure global competitiveness when they embed continuous R&D investment and quality management into their organisational routines and, on this basis, provide customised defence solutions for their clients. By integrating theoretical perspectives and applying a parallel methodological design from a multidimensional angle, this study offers academic and practical implications for the sustainable growth strategies of Korean defence firms. Business and commerce/Business and management Social science/Business and management Earth and environmental sciences/Environmental social sciences Korea defence sector Organisational capability industrial development national competitiveness Technological innovation SC resilience Customisation Differentiation Parallel AHP-Panel design Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8243100","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":578613713,"identity":"ebe99a85-081b-4521-8b66-f96d137036a2","order_by":0,"name":"Il Sook 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