This book attempts to pry open the ‘black box’ of compressed growth for Hyundai Motor since the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, with the company’s being on the verge of falling in the ‘middle-ranked carmaker’s trap in the 1990s, and critically examines the dual and contradictory nature of this leapfrogging catch-up instead of simply focusing on the company’s success story. This book presents the novel theoretical and empirical characteristics of Hyundai Motor’s ‘agile’ production system based on ‘authoritarian experimentalism’ characterized by the ability of engineers to solve problems in an improvisational manner, skill-saving work organization and segmented labor, and extended quasi-vertical suppliers’ relationships under the chaebol corporate governance.
Part : Conceptual Blocks and Overview.
Chapter 1: Introduction -
Building Conceptual Blocks for an Understanding of Catching Up, Chaebols, and
Production Systems.
Chapter 2: An Overview of Hyundai Motors Production
System.- Part : Empirical Anatomy.
Chapter 3: Skill Formation in Engineers
- Learning by Improvisation.
Chapter 4: Work Organization and Shop-Floor
Workers - Flexible Automation, Skill-Saving and Segmented Labor.
Chapter 5:
Supplier Relations - Extended Quasi-Vertical Integration.
Chapter 6: The
Overseas Production Network - Model Factories and Global Transfer of
Hyundai Motors Production System.- Part : Reflections and Prospects.-
Chapter 7: Conclusions - Theoretical and Empirical Reflections and Future
Prospects.
Hyung Je Jo is an emeritus professor of social science at the University of Ulsan, South Korea.
Jun Ho Jeong is a professor in the college of social sciences at Kangwon National University, South Korea.
Chulsik Kim is an assistant professor in the division of social science at the Academy of Korean Studies, South Korea
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