Catching-Up and National Environment: The Case of the Korean Aircraft Industry

Korean firms have attempted to catch up in the aircraft industry during last quarter century. Korean firms have built up their capabilities by moving from parts manufacturing through subassembly to system integration. The number of projects carried out and the intensity of technological effort undertaken by firms strongly influences market position and firm performance. However, successful catching up is not simply dependent on capability building within the firm. The national environment (Porter, 1990) in which firms are located plays a pivotal role. The Korean government has been effective in creating a favorable environ-ment in many areas, but has not been able to replicate this success in the aircraft industry. Opportunities for learning in the aircraft industry have been hampered by the small size of the Korean civilian aircraft market and the sophisticated requirements of military systems. A policy of domestic rivalry in airframe manufacture has created too many firms for such a small market. The ability of Korean firms to catch up in the aircraft industry depends on both the internal capabilities of firms as well as appropriate government policies and the involve- ment of government research institutions and universities over an extended period of time. There have been many studies about the catching up of developing countries in mass production (such as automobile, consumer electronics, and recently DRAM), but few in complex systems, such as aircraft.