On August 22, Hanyang University (President Lee Ki-jeong) announced that Professor Roh Tae-woo of the School of International Studies received the “Maeil Business New Scholar Paper Award” at the 27th Converged Academic Conference of the Korean Academic Society of Business Administration, held on August 20 at the Ulsan Exhibition & Convention Center (UECO).

The Korean Academic Society of Business Administration is the largest academic body in the field of business administration in Korea, serving as a bridge between academic research and real-world industry challenges. Its annual Converged Academic Conference is a leading forum for interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration, bringing together researchers and practitioners from not only business administration but also economics, engineering, social sciences, and more.

This year, the conference was held under the theme “Value-Up Management Innovation in the Age of AI,” showing record participation with 50 academic societies, 64 academic sessions, and a total of 347 papers presented.

The “Maeil Business New Scholar Paper Award” is given to outstanding young scholars in the field of business administration in recognition of innovation and scholarly contribution, serving as an important honor for next-generation researchers who will lead the field. The competition for the award was especially fierce this year, with particular attention on research covering sustainability and emerging technologies such as AI.

Professor Roh Tae-woo, in collaboration with Professor Lee Min-jae of Mokwon University, explored the topic “Decarbonization through Supply Chain Stakeholder Influence: Open Innovation and Dynamic Capabilities in Sunset Industries.” The research demonstrated that, despite structural constraints in declining industries, combining open innovation and supply chain collaboration strategies can accelerate decarbonization transitions. Also, it highlighted that AI can go beyond a simple automation tool to serve as a catalyst for sustainable management and carbon neutrality.

Professor Roh remarked, “The key to a circulating economy is creating a ‘closed loop’ structure that enables resources to be recycled and reused from production to disposal. Open innovation—businesses actively incorporating external knowledge and technology—is essential to achieving the cycle, and collaboration among industry, academia, and stakeholders can generate novel solutions for sustainability.”

This award particularly holds significance in the academic world as it has been conferred after a rigorous review and verification of academic impact and is granted to only a selected few. Professor Roh's achievement not only elevates the academic reputation of Hanyang University but is expected to serve as an important foundation for academic and industrial advancement in the fields of carbon neutrality and sustainable management.

Meanwhile, Professor Roh was recently appointed as the first Korean editorial board member of the world-renowned SSCI journal Business Strategy and the Environment. He has published over 190 papers in major SSCI and indexed journals, including Journal of Business Ethics, Technovation, International Business Review, and Journal of International Management. In 2024, he was recognized by Stanford University as one of the world's top 2% researchers; in 2025, he received the Editorial Contribution Award from Springer Nature for his role as Review Editor-in-Chief of the SSCI journal Asian Business & Management, further underscoring his outstanding contributions in the fields of international business and sustainable management.