IBS Lunchtime Research Seminar - Relational Foundations of Capability Development in International Customer Diversification: A Case Study of a Korean Automotive Supplier

You are cordially invited to attend an International Business and Strategy Departmental Research Meeting, during which there will be a presentation by Chul Chung, Henley Business School. A reminder that attendance for IBS (full time, research oriented) staff and full-time students is compulsory, and where possible, must be in person. Individuals unable to attend in person, due to legitimate reasons will be provided a Teams link on request. Non-IBS staff are welcome to attend. If you have not received the email invite please email Angie Clark

Please join us in Room 108, Henley Business School.

Please make sure you let me know in advance if you intend to attend in person so that the correct amount of catering is booked.

Date: Wednesday 11th January 2026, HBS Room G13

Time: 13.00 - 14.30

Abstract

As firms seek to diversify beyond dominant domestic clients, their success increasingly depends on the ability to reconfigure capabilities for global contexts. Yet little is known about how these firms adapt internal routines and develop new competences when entering institutionally distant markets. This article examines how a South Korean Tier-1 automotive supplier evolved from a deeply embedded partner of Hyundai/Kia to a globally competitive supplier for General Motors, European, and Chinese OEMs. Based on a longitudinal qualitative case study, we identify three relationally grounded internal mechanisms—relational reflexivity, embedded value logics, and psychological safety for adaptive experimentation—that enabled the firm to recombine and extend existing capabilities across divergent institutional environments. These mechanisms fostered continuous learning, moral coherence, and safe-to-fail experimentation, allowing the firm to preserve its identity while expanding internationally. By theorizing the emotional and normative microfoundations of capability development, this study contributes to dynamic capabilities theory, research on institutional pluralism, and microfoundational perspectives in international business.