Hyundai Case Study

Asia Pacific Business Review
Vol. 12, No. 2, 131–147, April 2006

Globalization and Employment
Relations in the Korean Auto Industry:
The Case of the Hyundai Motor
Company in Korea, Canada and India
RUSSELL D. LANSBURY*, SEUNG-HO KWON** & CHUNGSOK SUH†
*University of Sydney, **School of International Business, University of New South Wales,
†
University of New South Wales
ABSTRACT Examination is made of the complex interactions between globalization and employment relations as reflected in the operations of the Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) in
Korea, Canada and India. After the closure of its short-lived attempt to manufacture cars for the
North American market from Canada, the HMC ‘relaunched’ its globalization strategy in India in
1998. An examination of Hyundai’s experience in both countries suggests that employment relations is likely to continue to be an evolving blend of company-specific policies and locally-based practices. KEY WORDS : Globalization, management, unions, employment relations, production systems,
Korea, Canada, India

Introduction
The effects of globalization on employee relations are widely debated. One view is that globalization has created pressures for convergence between different national settings, particularly as multinational enterprises extend their manufacturing and other operations across a variety of countries. Alternatively, it is argued that at national-level institutional arrangements play an important role in creating divergence between employment relations in different countries. As a consequence, globalization is not likely to lead to universal convergence of national patterns of employee relations. A third view rejects the simple convergence/divergence dichotomy and argues that there are complex interactions between global and national (or local) forces which shape the outcome of employee relations (Lansbury, 2002). The Korean automobile industry offers an opportunity to analyse this debate as it

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