About IPS

A knowledge powerhouse in the global competition

IPS aspires to thrust Korea into becoming an advanced global nation by creating new knowledge of the future through practical studies

The Institute for Industrial Policy Studies (IPS) is a government-approved research institute established under the auspices of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy (MOCIE) in 1993. IPS carries out empirical studies on worldwide industrial policies, advisory work on government organizations and consulting activities for corporate strategic planning. It also provides a range of education programs for government officials and business executives.

IPS regularly hosts seminars as well as symposiums that serve as venues for the presentation and sharing of results from major studies in order to advance the economy and management-related mindset of top managers, and operates the database of research findings for related parties to share knowledge and information.

Research Activities

IPS conducts objective and independent researches in a variety of areas including analysis of national and regional competitiveness of countries across the world, the study of corporate organizations and roles appropriate for the evolving society, assisting to define an ideal industrial policy and corporate strategy.

In particular, its research teams conduct independent research activities by tapping into its research networks equipped with more than 2,500 experts in economy and management from both within and out of the country, as well as by operating 34 research centers including the Center for National Competitiveness Studies, Center for Brand Value Research, and Center for Industrial Design and Center for Management Innovation.

  • Study of national competitiveness of countries from around the globe
  • Study of competitiveness of regions and cities
  • Study of brand equity evaluation and development strategy
  • Study of ethics management, sustainability management and ESG(Environment, Society, Government) Management
  • Study of ethics management, CSR, and sustainability management
  • Study of industries including semiconductor, IT and socio-cultural industries
  • Study of Crypto Business(Block chain) & Big Data
  • Study of Total Strategy Management (TSM)
  • Other competitiveness-related research and consulting


Key Research Activities

IPS National Competitiveness Research Report

IPS and the Institute for Policy & Strategy on National Competitiveness (IPS-NaC) have been jointly publishing the "IPS National Competitiveness Research Report" since 2001. The annual report provides a systematic set of national-level data on business management and economy that are required both in research and practice, thus offering useful information that helps various people in diverse fields in the society standings to become leaders in this global era.



Evaluation research on regional industrial policies: 「The Best Industrial Policy Award on Regional Economic Development」

The award, sponsored by the MOCIE, is given to the local governments that have nurtured the core competence unique of the region as well as that have achieved innovative regional development selected through a transparent and professional evaluation method. It is dedicated to helping inform the central government of the development path of the local governments, and thus contributing to the enhancement of industrial and national competitiveness.



Valuation of and Consulting on National & Corporate Brands

Since 2000, IPS has published annual reports on corporate and country brand valuations converted into monetary value. it develops and provides consulting services for brand building for enterprises and local governments while carrying out activities in regard to development of various policies and strategies for strengthening country brand.





City Competitiveness Evaluation Research on Korea

With regional competitiveness emerging as the bedrock of national competitiveness and a unit of region as a core unit of economy, the IPS is conducting an evaluation of cities in Korea. The evaluation attempts to overcome the limitations of previous city competitiveness research that mainly focused on identifying the gap between regions and ranking the competitiveness of individual cities, and to present a strategy for building competitiveness for each city.



Studies on Business Ethics, Sustainability and ESG (Environment, Society, Governance) Management

With the establishment of the Center for Business Ethics (CBE) and the Center for Sustainability Management in 2002, the Institute began research on ethics management, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability management. Current studies are mainly focused on the followings: policy advisory work on a government-level ESG management; development of corporate-level ESG management strategy and the non-financial reporting system. Based on the expertise accumulated over the years, IPS also provides education to train the staff and c-level managers in the ESG field and disseminate the best practices.





Education Program

The IPS offers the most up-to-date education programs having benchmarked world-class business schools that offer research-oriented education programs, and by utilizing its research experience accumulated through the operation of more than 30 research centers on industrial studies and business administration. In particular, the Brand Specialist Program, set up as part of MOCIE's policy projects, not only offers measures for Korea to develop into a high added-value economy, but also nurtures high-caliber talents as future leaders of the Korean economy, and proposes measures for developing core talents as well as advanced educational methods.



Brand Specialist Program (BSP)

The IPS established the Brand Management Institute (BMI) as part of the MOCIE's project for establishing the foundation of industrial technology in 2003, and has designed and conducted education programs on brand management by leveraging the know-how that has been accumulated through several years of conducting the MOCIE's major project-the brand equity valuation. The BSP broadly consists of basic theory courses in brand management and case studies lectured by professionals practicing in the field.



Certified Sustainability Officer (CSO)

CSO is the first private certificate introduced in 2008 to assure the professionalism of hands-on workers. To be a CSO, you would go through overall evaluation on your understanding of sustainable management strategies such as sustainability management, ethical management, and corporate social responsibility along with its theories, report writing, and assurance of them. People who achieve the certificate of CSO generally work in the fields pertaining to sustainability management at various organizations including private companies, public enterprises, and NGOs. Furthermore, some of them are working as professional CSOs.



ESG AMP (Adavanced Management Program)

IPS launched the 'ESG Advanced Management Program (AMP)' in 2021 for c-level managers who make major corporate decisions.This course is officially sponsored by 'Federation of Korean Trade Unions' and 'Korea Enterprises Federation'. The '3rd special labor-management cooperation course' was opened in 2022, and we have more than 100 CEO alumni. In this course, we learn trends for each ESG issue focusing on social (S) areas such as labor-management cooperation, and aim to raise experts who practice ESG company-wide strategies.





Forum

B.E.S.T ESG Forum (B.E.S.T means ‘Business Ethics is the Source of Top performance’)

Amidst the strengthened emphasis on ethics management across the world, the B.E.S.T Forum was launched in February 2003. The B.E.S.T Forum is a multi-stakeholders forum aimed at expanding an ethical corporate culture in Korea, spearheaded by stakeholders in ethics and ESG management. The forum is the longest-running initiative in Korea with a 19-years and comprised of 50 members from businesses, academic institutions and civic groups (as of Oct. 2022). The forum holds the ‘CEO pledge ceremony’ every year to pledge implementing sustainable management. This is an opportunity to announce the CEO's will internally and externally so that ESG management can be established as a culture. The theme of the pledge in 2022 was 'Practice of SDG in the ESG era', and the cumulative number of pledgers who have participated in the pledge so far is about 1,120, and the number of companies participating in the pledge is about 420.



Health Care Competitiveness Forum

In September 2002, the Health Care Competitiveness Forum was launched with the aim of contributing to the enhancement of the competitiveness of Korea's health care industry by serving as a venue for the sharing ideas on overcoming the challenges faced by the industry.



Society for Design Industry

The Society for Design Industry, launched in 1995, is spearheaded by 60 experts in the design industry, and consists of discussion and research for verifying the current status of and raising awareness on diverse issues in the design industry, and seminars with external lecturers for identifying the link between diverse industries and design, thus serving as an arena for the members to share various information by forming a network.





Seminar and Conference

Korea Brand Conference (KBC)

The Korea Brand Conference is an annual brand conference, dedicated to providing opportunities for raising awareness of brand management in domestic businesses. With its official "Country & Corporate Brand Valuation Report" and additional 10 research reports and brand-related case lectures, the KBC serves as an arena for exchange of knowledge and information.



New Year Seminar

The New Year Seminar was first launched in 2000 at the onset of a new millennium to provide a venue for presenting research results on various subjects at the beginning of a new year. The research practitioners give presentations on the research conducted by IPS, on which related experts, workers in the industry, and policy-makers hold discussions to define a vision for the Korean economy and to develop strategies for realizing the vision, as well as providing a framework for university-industry-institutes research.