ABSTRACT
Korean firms and business groups have achieved most of their growth by developing global businesses. From the 1960s, exports began to grow explosively, followed by a steep increase of foreign direct investment (FDI) since the 1980s. Furthermore, various Korean firms also engaged in global civil engineering projects, leveraging the competencies they had acquired in domestic reconstruction and infrastructure development projects after the Korean War. Korean business groups effectively applied Tiger Management practices when developing their export business and subsequently when localizing their business activities in other countries. Chaebols such as Hyundai, Daewoo, and Samsung aggressively scaled up their manufacturing activities and flexibly sought global business opportunities wherever they arose and with whomever they could work in realizing them. Many of their initial exports and civil engineering projects were targeted at developing countries which global competitors shunned due to high volatility and high-perceived risk. Subsequently, after having acquired more experience and skills, Korean firms successfully penetrated developed Western countries.
