The Hyundai Group's Chung Ju Young: A Profile in Leadership

This case describes the growth and development of the Hyundai chaebol and the role of Chung Ju Yung in that development. The reader gets a view of Asian business leadership and the values that drive many Asian leaders. Excerpt UVA-OB-0555 THE HYUNDAI GROUP'S CHUNG JU YUNG: A PROFILE IN LEADERSHIP Chung Ju Yung, well-known founder and chairman of Hyundai, had been both reviled and revered by fellow Koreans. His rags-to-riches story reflected Korea's national pride and personifies Korea's phenomenal growth in the postwar period. The Hyundai group was often hailed in Korea as the prototype of success in the modern Korean business environment. Hyundai was founded by Chung Ju Yung in 1946. It had become the largest conglomerate in South Korea—total sales in 1992 topped (U.S. dollars) USD51 billion—and had been ruled with an iron hand and will. Hyundai was a giant manufacturer of everything from computer chips to supertanker ships, and was perhaps best acknowledged in the United States for its Excel automobile, which, in 1989, was the fastest-selling import car in history. The Founding of Hyundai . . .