This is the story of KoreaÂ’s rapid rise from a subsistence agriculture economy to a high-tech powerhouse, with lessons for other newly industrializing countries and even established competitors that want to follow KoreaÂ’s lead. Through his examination of more than two hundred Korean companies, Kim explores the dynamics of their technology learning, maintaining that in spite of the favorable impact of public policy and the cultural environment, private industry made the countryÂ’s ambitious development goals a reality. For managers and policymaker, imitation to innovation is rich with examples and insights on how to build and sustain the knowledge and capabilities that lead to global advantage.
Korea’s rapid industrialization may be attributed to many factors. The most important of all may be the technological change in its industries, which flowed from the accumulation of technological capability over time. The term “technological capability” refers to the ability to make effective use of technological knowledge in effort to assimilate, use, adapt, and change existing technologies. Technological capability has three elements: production, investment, including duplication and expansion, and innovation.