Behind POSCO'S success: The role of government in technology capability building

This chapter sheds light on two challenging issues through a case study of Pohang Iron and Steel Company (POSCO), a large integrated steel company in Korea. In addition, it discusses whether the experience of the Asian newly industrialising economies can become a model for other developing countries to emulate in order to achieve sustained growth. The chapter discusses the development history of POSCO and changes in its performance and competitiveness along with the rapid growth of the company's productivity. Basically, POSCO's financial performance reflects two sets of factors: those related to factors such as yields and productivity, machinery and equipment, and organisation, which the company can control, and factors such as wages and interest rates which are given, and which the company cannot control. The remarkable performance of POSCO in the past twenty years reflects its basic competitiveness, although the business environment has been important as well.