The Transformation of Hyundai Motor Company to a “Big Three”

Hyundai Motor Company entered the automobile industry in Korea in 1967 with the launch of the Pony. Almost twenty years later, it entered the US market with the Hyundai Excel. In 2022, Hyundai had climbed to the top three behind Toyota and Volkswagen. Just as important, Hyundai’s image as a manufacturer of cars that were “good value” was changed to that of a company offering well-designed and technologically advanced cars. This transformation allowed the company to begin delivering strong profitability to its owners and dealer partners. Hyundai became the fastest-growing volume brand in the US in the past three years, behind only Tesla in the industry growth metrics.

David Teece writes about Hyundai’s transformation, cultural differences of organizations, and the role of management in the success of the business enterprise. He discusses the transformation in the context of the Dynamic Capabilities framework, which highlights three broad classes of activities: sensing (and sensemaking), seizing (execution), and transforming.

Read the article from California Management Review.