O presente trabalho analisa o investimento externo direto das empresas sul-coreanas no mundo, considerando que o IED é resultado e alimenta o processo de concentração e centralização do capital. Abrangendo um período de 1968 a 2010, a pesquisa aponta para mudanças no papel do Estado, na proporção e no portfólio do investimento, e nas regiões para as quais se destinam os investimentos.. Buscou-se periodizar o fenômeno conforme as alterações da estrutura normativa que institucionaliza e autoriza dos investimentos, considerando também as mudanças macroeconômicas e políticas de cada período. / This dissertation examines the foreign direct investment of South Korean companies in the world, considering that FDI is the result and feeds the process of concentration and centralization of capital. Spanning a period from 1968 to 2010, the research points to changes in the role of the state, in proportion and portfolio investment, and regions for which the investments went. We tried to periodize the phenomenon according to the regulatory framework that institutionalizes and authorizes the investment, considering also the macroeconomic changes and policies of each period.

O presente trabalho analisa o investimento externo direto das empresas sul-coreanas no mundo, considerando que o IED é resultado e alimenta o processo de concentração e centralização do capital. Abrangendo um período de 1968 a 2010, a pesquisa aponta para mudanças no papel do Estado, na proporção e no portfólio do investimento, e nas regiões para as quais se destinam os investimentos.. Buscou-se periodizar o fenômeno conforme as alterações da estrutura normativa que institucionaliza e autoriza dos investimentos, considerando também as mudanças macroeconômicas e políticas de cada período. / This dissertation examines the foreign direct investment of South Korean companies in the world, considering that FDI is the result and feeds the process of concentration and centralization of capital. Spanning a period from 1968 to 2010, the research points to changes in the role of the state, in proportion and portfolio investment, and regions for which the investments went. We tried to periodize the phenomenon according to the regulatory framework that institutionalizes and authorizes the investment, considering also the macroeconomic changes and policies of each period.

In this thesis, the author will scrutinize the chaebol in Korean economy. Since their emergence, their existence has straddled between amity and antagonism. Even if they contributed to Korean economy, they still remain the criticism targets from people. Hence, this research is for investigating the reason and will seek for the better prospect. While I am researching, I tried to keep moderation perspective. Therefore, the author deals with Korean conglomerate’s strong points as well as the criticism points. In this process, research’s basis is on the case study with Samsung and also literature analysis. The propose of research is to reject the polarization perspective in order to avoid harmful consequences and to acknowledge chaebol’s efforts such as global strategies. Moreover, this research will not stretch the meaning of economic democratization and will approach from the co-existence perspective.

This dissertation investigates the nature of Korean media giants among members of Asian media conglomerates in the era of media marketization. Since the 1980s, each state in Asia has adopted neoliberal media laws and policies that have made its media systems more market-driven. This neoliberal media reform led to the restructuring of media systems from state-controlled systems to profit-oriented ones and facilitating the emergence of Asian media conglomerates. However, scholarship on the nature of Asian media giants has been sparse in critical media studies. Thus, I conduct a case study to explore the nature of Asian media giants with a focus on the interplay between media ownership and media markets in order to determine the major beneficiaries of Asian media marketization. I focus on the three Korean media conglomerates of Samsung, CJ and JoongAng Ilbo groups during the period from 1998 to 2012 when the Korean state applied the neoliberal media mode to the Korean media systems. Utilizing the theoretical approach of political economy of communication, I examine three points: (1) the relationship between the era of neoliberal media and the structures of four media markets (e.g., advertising, daily newspaper, cable television and film); (2) the interconnections among media expansions, media ownership and informal ties (e.g., blood and marriage ties); and (3) the relationship between the changed structures of those four media markets and corporate censorship of the three chaebol groups. To address these questions, I used both institutional and corporate profiling techniques and then analyzed both governmental and secondary documents, including those covering structures of media markets, media ownership, boards of directors, media expansions and emergent issues in the information and entertainment markets. Consequently, my analysis finds that neoliberal media laws and policies led to forming centralized market structures controlled by chaebol groups with connections to Western media conglomerates and/or foreign capital. Also, I find that the Lee family members used family connections to expand their media businesses and control multiple media operations, thereby becoming the media emperor in Korea. Finally, my analysis shows that a media-oriented ideology has rarely guaranteed free competition among market players but has instead led to increasing the market polarization between a few market controllers and many independent media companies. In other words, my study indicates that the neoliberal media mode allowed family capitalists in Korea with foreign capital to control the structures of media markets.

The main topic of the final thesis is Hyundai Motor Company access to the Czech market and company's marketing strategy within the country. As the Korean company gains respectable share on the passenger car market in the Czech Republic, the thesis describes a process of building its factory in Nosovice, Moravia, standing for the highest direct foreign investment in Czech to date, as well as another operational activities having direct relation to its success. The diploma thesis consists of several thematically oriented blocks. The first parts are focused on marketing principles, terminology and strategies related to companies in general seeking international expansion and activities abroad. Next paragraphs analyse Czech car market and its characteristics. History of Hyundai Company and description of its global marketing activities and tactics are depicted in the next chapters. Following parts illustrate a strategy employed in the Czech Republic, explaining "New Thinking. New Possibilities" vision and a comparison with the local SKODA Auto manufacturer. The work discloses Hyundai's activities leading to the growth on the market, currently positioning company as the second most successful brand in the year 2013. Concept of a "Czech car" maker is included further in the thesis. Final chapters are dedicated to a market research focusing both on brand awareness, insights and interpreting basic overview of the Czech customers and their attitudes regarding automotive industry.

The project's primary objective is to make a survey of quality management in Korea, with an in-depth study of how management motivates employees to work for quality. A secondary objective is to make proposals on how Scandinavian and Korean industry can learn and improve in quality management areas. The main focus was on the automobile, electronics and shipbuilding industries.Our survey revealed that the Korean conglomerates have extensively implemented and applied quality management in their operations, and deserve more international respect and recognition in this area. Regarding motivation for total quality, we found that Korean workers are not so much involved in quality related work, but management is now succeeding in enhancing everybody's awareness, in essence through materialistic incentives.We reckon that Scandinavia can learn something when it comes to building employees' company pride, using TPM, and making decisions. Likewise, Korea can learn from Scandinavian industry in terms of service quality, capability-based human resource management and employee involvement. Further, we stress the importance of principles in the adoption process.

South Korea is a country that is poor in natural resources and capital and remains behind many other nations in technological development; however, South Korea's unique development strategy has led its economy to high growth over the last three decades. During 1997, South Korea began to experience a serious financial crisis, including bankruptcies of many of its conglomerates, a drastic depreciation in the international exchange rate of the South Korean currency, and an increasing foreign debt. Currently South Korea is struggling to compete with products from both industrialized nations and newly industrializing nations. The current crisis has occurred as South Korea has been engaged in extensive market-opening. Knowledge is lacking about South Korea's intricate and rapidly changing political and economic climate. The purpose of this research was to explore and clarify the interrelated factors that have contributed to South Korea's present economic problems, especially those facing South Korea's retailing industry. The qualitative methodology of "grounded theory" was used in this study. Grounded theory is a general methodology for developing theory that is grounded in data which are systematically gathered and analyzed. Theory evolves during the research process through a continuous interplay between analysis and data collection. This research attempted to discover the factors, or themes, that have affected the South Korean economy and retailing industry. The following factors were identified: (1) foreign direct investment; (2) the price-gap between imported goods and domestic products; (3) South Korea's trade deficit; (4) perceived over-consumption of luxury items by South Korean consumers; and (5) the chaebol, or South Korean large conglomerates. The economic factors that have led to the current difficulties facing the South Korean retailing market are complicated and interwoven. South Korean retailers will have to address these factors in the future, and attempt to find solutions. It is hoped that the knowledge resulting from this will be of benefit to South Korea's attempt to compete in a global marketplace. / Master of Science

Les sociétés familiales sont les plus anciennes, les plus nombreuses et les plus importantes de notre économie. Pourtant, elles ne font l’objet d’aucune définition légale et n’ont que rarement suscité l’intérêt du juriste. Nous avons donc cherché à caractériser la société familiale en nous intéressant plus particulièrement à certaines d’entre elles, les sociétés cotées sur le marché financier. La société cotée familiale combine deux univers, la famille et le marché, qui sont fondés sur des valeurs et des modes de fonctionnement diamétralement opposés. Cette opposition nous permet de mieux distinguer les spécificités, mais également les risques attachés aux sociétés familiales. C’est à travers l’exemple des chaebol, des conglomérats familiaux coréens, que cette étude a été menée. L’analyse emprunte une méthode comparative où les sociétés chaebol sont opposées aux sociétés familiales françaises. Notre étude a permis de mettre en évidence l’impact du contrôle familial sur le fonctionnement de la société cotée. Elle souligne également l’échec relatif du transfert des normes américaines dans l’environnement coréen, confirmant ainsi la théorie de la dépendance au sentier. Parallèlement, cette étude invite à réfléchir sur la réception possible du droit français, plus proche de la réalité coréenne / Family-owned companies contribute the largest share to our economy. Yet, there is still no legal definition of what a family-owned company is and the topic has not drawn a lot of interest from legal academics. This study aims at differentiating family-owned companies by focusing more specifically on companies listed on a financial market. Family-owned listed company combines two worlds, family and financial market, which are based on diametrically opposed values and modus operandi. This conflict helps us to understand the specific features of these companies, as well as the risks attached to them. Taking the example of the chaebol, the Korean family-owned conglomerates, we highlighted the impact of the family control on the management and the governance of these groups. We compared French and Korean companies and legal frameworks, drawing the conclusion that the French legal system might have been a better fit to the Korean environment than American rules. Our research also underlines the relative failure of the transplant of U.S. standards in South Korea, which can be explained by the theory of path dependence.

This thesis investigates the historically composed political and economic contexts that contributed to the late 1990s commercial renaissance of Korean national cinema and that have sustained the popularity of Korean films among local and regional audiences ever since. Unlike existing approaches to the topic, which emphasise the textual characteristics of national film production, this thesis considers relations between film production, distribution, exhibition, and ancillary markets, as well as Korean cinema’s engagement with international cinemas such as Hollywood, Hong Kong, China and Japan. I argue that following the relaxation of restrictive film policy towards the importation and distribution of foreign films between 1986 and 1988, the subsequent failure of the domestic film industry to compete against international competition precipitated a remarkable shift in consensus regarding the industry’s structure and functions. Due to the loss of distribution rights to foreign films and the rapid decline in ticket sales for Korean films, the continued economic viability of local film companies was under enormous threat by the early 1990s. The government reacted by permitting conglomerates to seize control of the industry and pursue vertical and horizontal integration. During the rest of the decade, Korean cinema was transformed from an art cinema to a commercial entertainment cinema. The 1997/98 economic crisis led to the exit of conglomerate finance, but streamlined film companies were able to withstand the monetary meltdown, continue the domestic revitalisation, and, since the late 1990s, build media empires based on the expansion of Korean cinema throughout the Asian region.