Abstract
The mid-1990s brought dramatic transformation to Korea’s domestic market environment and businesses resulting from abrupt market liberalization and the rise of digital technologies. These transformations necessitated that businesses worldwide readapt their organizations. Korea’s large-business group-driven business system, with strengths in mass and heavy-industrial production, however, was not particularly well suited for this challenge. Yet, a group of domestic businesses – particularly a group of chaebol divisions (in retail, food, and fashion) – effectively responded to these trends and rose into nimbler, and trendier, consumer goods operators. They have implemented agile techniques to develop and retain competitive advantages in the fast-changing consumer goods sectors, and in some cases, rose into significant branded consumer goods manufacturers and retailers within the domestic and international markets. This chapter traces the history of this transformation, including the changing market and political economic environment, the conditions that led to these retail chaebol’s capability development, and how they implemented agile manufacturing techniques within their supply chains. Three cases are discussed to illustrate the shift: AmorePacific in cosmetics, Samsung C&T in fashion apparel, and Shinsegae E-Mart in food retail operations. The overall insight is one that emphasizes the necessity for coherence between firm strategy and organizational structure in firm adaptation, as the successful chaebol firms demonstrate.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | The Routledge Companion to Asian Family Business |
Subtitle of host publication | Governance, Succession, and Challenges in the Age of Digital Disruption |
Editors | Ho-Don Yan, Fu-Lai Tony Yu |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 298-312 |
Number of pages | 15 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 9780429342813 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780367359508, 9780367754631 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 28 2021 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Economics, Econometrics and Finance
- General Business, Management and Accounting