The Product Market Strategies of Korean Knitwear Companies

The purpose of this study is to investigate how three factors--designer's capability, product market strategy, and product organization--supposed to determine the design process are related to each other. These factors influence Korean knitwear companies' market performances. For this purpose, we did not only library research on relevant theories such as the transaction cost economics but also empirical research largely based on a questionnaire. The respondents of the questionnaire were 59 designers, merchandisers(MDs), and top managers of knitwear companies located in Seoul. We analyzed the collected questionnaire data by using such statistical tools as χ²-test, t-test, and one-way ANOVA. Findings of this study were as follows. While there was a significant relation between organization form and designer's capability, no significant difference in designer's capability was found between trust enhanced network and unenhanced network. No significant relation was found between organization form and product market strategy, in discordance with Carney's arguments. Also, it appeared that there was no significant relationship between knitwear companies' product market strategies and their designers' capabilities.