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Managing under Extreme Uncertainty:The Case of Naver

LEE JANG-WOO1 · Kim, Hicheon2 · Dong-Jae Kim3

1 Kyungpook National University, 2 Korea University, 3 Yonsei University

Published: January 2015 · Vol. 19, No. 3 · pp. 151-172
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Abstract

Increasing degrees of uncertainty these days often render firms' existing competitive advantages obsolete. Navigating successfully through extreme uncertainties should require managers to rethink about how to manage their firms. The present study explores this topic by investigating the case of Naver, which has made significant success in highly uncertain environment, the Internet and mobile businesses. Specifically, the study uncovers how Naver has developed and implemented its strategies. First, entrepreneurial initiative triggered innovation to capture business opportunities. Second, it made strategic decisions by constantly responding to the changing environment rather than by careful planning. Also, it organized its operation around “cells” so that the company could stay close to the market and customers. All these offer a series of momentum to build a fairly robust management system--‘M-eso’ model as we put. The paper concludes by offering research opportunities for further studies on managing under extreme uncertainty.
Keywords: 경영환경의 불확실성경영혁신경쟁우위네이버창발성사례분석