The Investment Strategy of Korean Transnational Companies: Quantitative and Structural Aspects and a Typology of Korean Management Systems. Is Korea Following the Japanese Strategy?

The first Korean undertaking with regard to foreign investment was a project in forestry development in Indonesia in 1968. The 1980's seem to be characterised mainly by manufacturing activities, which have been seriously affected by the second Oil Crisis, the securing of markets and natural resources, and, in particular, by increasing protectionism in advanced countries. The strategy of the Koreans seems comparable to that of the Japanese in the sense that the Koreans are using Great Britain and some southern European countries such as Portugal as test cases before entering markets on the rest of the European continent. Growing nationalistic feelings have resulted in increasing protectionism in some EC countries, especially against the import of 'cheap goods' from the Far East on the one hand, and the rapidly growing capital-intensive and technology-intensive industries in Korea such as electronics and cars.