AMORE PACIFIC
Case Synopsis
AmorePacific, the leader in the Korean market for beauty products, was established in 1945 with a strong focus on researching and developing products based on Korean home remedies. The company 1959, listed its shares in the Korea Stock Exchange in 1973, and changed its name to AmorePacific Corporation in 1993.
Industry dynamics and pace of development at Amore Pacific accelerated greatly during the 1990s. Domestically, anticipated entry by multinationals forced major changes in corporate and business strategy with a rigorous refocus on cosmetics by the mid-1990s, slashing of affiliates and reduction of headcount.[At the business level, it repositioned itself and its brands domestically and deepened its commitments by investing in product development and manufacturing as well as marketing/distribution in selected foreign markets, gearing itself for the challenges of the new millennium.
Suggested Assignment Questions
1. Where does AmorePacific make most of its money? How has it been able to dominate the Korean market against local firms such as LG Household and Healthcare (HHC)? Against multinationals such as L’Oreal?
2. Assess the performance of MNC’s - how do they compare against local competitors? What are the reasons for local companies outperforming MNC’s?
3. Which of AmorePacific’s three principal international targets—France/Europe, China and the United States—seems the most promising? Should a penetration strategy for the U.S./Europe differ from that for China?
4. What other recommendations would you make to Suh Kyung-Bae about AmorePacific’s internationalization?
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Class Timeline
The timeline for a typical class of 80 minutes might be as follows; Timing
Introduction 5 minutes
SWOT analysis and challenges faced by local companies in the face 25minutes of