Amazon.com Review
Just a few decades ago, South Korea was an agrarian country, a backwater of international business. The average life span was 47 years, the average per capita annual income less than a hundred dollars a year. By the end of the 20th century, Korea had risen to become the world's 11th largest economy, the eighth largest trading partner of the U.S., and a global leader in construction, semiconductors, shipbuilding, and steel production. Steers, a University of Oregon business professor who has written two previous books on Korean business issues, believes that a big part of that country's rise is good old-fashioned entrepreneurship. What Americans admire so much about Bill Gates and Phil Knight--the vision, the tenacity, the refusal to back down--is actually found all over the world. In Korea, it's best personified by Chung Ju Yung, who created the Hyundai Business Group. By the time Chung retired in 1991, Hyundai accounted for 16 percent of Korea's gross domestic product and 12 percent of its total exports.
Chung founded Hyundai (it means modern in Korean) in 1946 as a car-repair company, then quickly moved into the construction business. He became the U.S. Army's favorite contractor during the Korean War, and, afterwards, expanded Hyundai's ventures to include electronics, shipbuilding, oil refining, securities and investments, and automobiles. Almost any businessperson can draw lessons from Chung's success. Some of his management tactics would be considered extreme today--he once hiked through the woods in the middle of the night, waking up workers at a construction site to check on their progress--but his ability to seize business opportunities, forge alliances with the prevailing powers, and deliver upon promises made is certainly inspirational. --Lou Schuler
Review
"An exciting and instructive tale with a universal message for aspiring entrepreneurs, this is no hagiography, but a candid depiction of a strong-willed multibillionaire.
l." -- Louis Kraar, Board of EditorsFortune
"As a leading scholar of Korean business and culture, Professor Steers had presented us with critical insights and lessons concerning entrepreneurial spirit in a global context. Through a detailed analysis of Korean business practices embedded in two millennia of history and culture, we learn how Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung arose from peasant surroundings to heading Korea's premier Chaebol. This book should be on the shelf of every serious reader of entrepreneurship, leadership, and Asian business practices." -- P. Christopher Earley, Randall T. Tobias Professor of Global Leadership, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.
"Richard Steers' book, Made in Korea, a biography of Chung Ju Yung, is remarkable. Chung started as a rice merchant with meager capital, but today Hyundai is one of the largest business groups in the world. This is a true story of rags to riches. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Korea's economic development, and especially the secret of Hyundai's success." -- Joseph M. Ha, Vice President NIKE
"This is an up-close and personal look at the most important engine of Korea's rapid economic growth, the Hyundai Group and its founder, Chung Ju Yung. This is a readable, enjoyable way to understand Korean business culture and the roots of success of the Korean economy and Korean business groups from the 1960s into the 1990s." -- Jack G. Lewis, Director, Pacific Rim Management Programs, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
...it is well researched and full of perceptive observations on corporate strategy and close (ranging between extremely collusive to antagonistic at times) business/government relations in Korea's high growth era, so as to make the book still a worthwhile read with lasting insights..
–Albrecht Rothacher/ Asia Europe Journal, 2004
...it is well researched and full of perceptive observations on corporate strategy and close (ranging between extremely collusive to antagonistic at times) business/government relations in Koreas high growth era, so as to make the book still a worthwhile read with lasting insights..
–Albrecht Rothacher/ Asia Europe Journal, 2004
An exciting and instructive tale with a universal message for aspiring entrepreneurs, this is no hagiography, but a candid depiction of a strong-willed multibillionaire. l.
–Louis Kraar, Board of EditorsFortune
As a leading scholar of Korean business and culture, Professor Steers had presented us with critical insights and lessons concerning entrepreneurial spirit in a global context. Through a detailed analysis of Korean business practices embedded in two millennia of history and culture, we learn how Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung arose from peasant surroundings to heading Korea's premier Chaebol. This book should be on the shelf of every serious reader of entrepreneurship, leadership, and Asian business practices.
–P. Christopher Earley, Randall T. Tobias Professor of Global Leadership, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.
As a leading scholar of Korean business and culture, Professor Steers had presented us with critical insights and lessons concerning entrepreneurial spirit in a global context. Through a detailed analysis of Korean business practices embedded in two millennia of history and culture, we learn how Hyundai founder Chung Ju Yung arose from peasant surroundings to heading Koreas premier Chaebol. This book should be on the shelf of every serious reader of entrepreneurship, leadership, and Asian business practices.
–P. Christopher Earley, Randall T. Tobias Professor of Global Leadership, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University.
Richard Steers book, Made in Korea, a biography of Chung Ju Yung, is remarkable. Chung started as a rice merchant with meager capital, but today Hyundai is one of the largest business groups in the world. This is a true story of rags to riches. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Koreas economic development, and especially the secret of Hyundais success.
–Joseph M. Ha, Vice President NIKE
Richard Steers' book, Made in Korea, a biography of Chung Ju Yung, is remarkable. Chung started as a rice merchant with meager capital, but today Hyundai is one of the largest business groups in the world. This is a true story of rags to riches. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in Korea's economic development, and especially the secret of Hyundai's success.
–Joseph M. Ha, Vice President NIKE
This is an up-close and personal look at the most important engine of Korea's rapid economic growth, the Hyundai Group and its founder, Chung Ju Yung. This is a readable, enjoyable way to understand Korean business culture and the roots of success of the Korean economy and Korean business groups from the 1960s into the 1990s.
–Jack G. Lewis, Director, Pacific Rim Management Programs, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
This is an up-close and personal look at the most important engine of Koreas rapid economic growth, the Hyundai Group and its founder, Chung Ju Yung. This is a readable, enjoyable way to understand Korean business culture and the roots of success of the Korean economy and Korean business groups from the 1960s into the 1990s.
–Jack G. Lewis, Director, Pacific Rim Management Programs, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California
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