Focusing on the labour management strategies of the Hyundai Business Group, this important new study argues that historical analysis is essential for a complete understanding of the dynamics of South Korean industrial relations.
This important new study argues that an historical analysis of the labour-management policies of the Korean family conglomerates, or chaebol, is essential for a complete understanding of the dynamics of South Korean industrial relations. Focusing on the labour-management strategies of the Hyundai Business Group, the book offers a new perspective on the Asian 'tiger' economy.
Asian business conglomerates have clearly been successful agents of growth, mobilizing capital, borrowing technology from abroad and spearheading Asia's exports. However, these firms have long had a number of organisational and financial weaknesses, including heavy reliance on debt, that make them vulnerable to shocks. Nowhere was this more true than in Korea, where the large corporate groups known as chaebol have dominated the economic landscape. This collection of essays by leading political scientists and economists provides a comprehensive look at the chaebol problem in the wake of the Asian financial crisis. The authors consider the historical evolution of the chaebol and their contribution to the onset of economic turmoil in 1997. The book analyses the government's short-run response to corporate and financial distress, and outlines an agenda for longer-term reform of the financial system, corporate governance and the politics of business-government relations.
The Republic of Korea represents an economic success story, based on the cooperation between the government and Korean conglomerates, the Chaebol. The economic success of Chaebol companies and their international expansion have not only resulted from the promotional and supportive activities provided by the government but also from the government intervention in establishing bilateral agreements between the Korean and foreign governments. Considering the importance of governmental relationship in the Republic of Korea, this research has the objective to cover the place of governmental relationship for the Korean Government and Chaebol companies facing the Asian crisis and global competition. In this context, the evolution as well as the dimensions of the governmental relationship between the Chaebol companies and the Korean Government are explored, with regard to corporate sector reform and labor management.
Focusing on the labour management strategies of the Hyundai Business Group, this important new study argues that historical analysis is essential for a complete understanding of the dynamics of South Korean industrial relations.