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http://dx.doi.org/10.5805/SFTI.2021.23.5.598

Review on the Development History of Korean Textile and Fashion Companies and Chaebols - Based on Corporate Life Cycle Theory -  

Yu, Haekyung (Incheon National University, Department of Fashion Industry)
Publication Information
Fashion & Textile Research Journal / v.23, no.5, 2021 , pp. 598-610 More about this Journal
Abstract
Korean textile and fashion companies have played a major role not only in developing the Korean economy since Korea's industrialization started in the early 1960s but also in providing opportunities to form and expand chaebols (conglomerates of family-owned businesses). This study reviewed and analyzed the historical development of chaebols, which started the fiber/textile/fashion business before the 1960s and maintained their chaebol status until 2010. The Samsung, Samyang, Kolon, Taekwang, Hyosung, LG, and SK groups were included in the study, and data were collected from diverse sources, including the publications and websites of the chaebol companies, newspapers, magazines, and research articles. The strategies of the companies at the corporate and group levels were examined based on the corporate lifecycle, which consists of existence, growth, maturity, rebirth, and decline stages. The results showed that all the analyzed companies actively engaged in product line expansion during the growth stage. Vertical integration, especially backward integration, was common during the growth stage. Some groups established new companies to manage additional product lines and integration, while others pursued growth strategies mainly at the corporate level. The rebirth stage occurred in only a few companies and groups. Some seemed to be going through the decline stage, and the rest of the groups exited the textile and fashion business.
Keywords
textile company; fashion company; chaebol; corporate life cycle; Korean economic development;
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