Last modified: 2019-01-25
Abstract
The world is nowadays becoming more connected than ever with internet access. With this change also came a shift in the business world, allowing companies to expand into new markets. One example is General Motors’ global expansion to places such as South America, India, and South Korea. However, success is not promised in every country. We focused our research on GM South Korea and how it makes decisions to restructure financially and operationally based on its relation to other global subsidiaries and to South Korean economy. We define different types of restructuring in a company and how they would apply to our specific case. Then, we examined the circumstances around General Motors’ entrance of Korean market through the purchase of Daewoo Motors. We also analyzed the effects of bankruptcy on the Korean subsidiary in the financial crisis of 2008, rumor circulation in the business world, and the response of the car manufacturer to mass-scale worker strikes and union protests in years to come. By looking at these changes, we can pinpoint when operational restructuring, such as selling subsidiary companies in time of crisis, would be used in addition to financial restructuring, such as offering workers redundancy packages during the shutdown of one of the production plants. Furthermore, we look at General Motors’ restructuring plans in specific countries to compare global restructuring to domestic. By exploring the subjects, we can also apply GM’s case to other businesses to better understand how global strategy of Multinational companies affect each international subsidiaries.