Asia Pacific Business Review

Business in Korea and China in the Age of Geopolitical Rivalry: Industrial Policy, Non-market Strategy, and Global Value Chain Realignment

The global business landscape is witnessing a fundamental shift from a market-driven logic of efficiency to an era of "Integrated Strategy" (Baron, 1995), where geopolitical interests and economic security dictate corporate strategic choices. The recent intensification of geopolitical tensions has accelerated the "Return of Industrial Policy," signaling that the competitive advantage of Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) is no longer determined solely by market capabilities but by sophisticated non-market responses synchronized with state strategies (Benito & Meyer, 2024). Within this global turbulence, South Korea and China provide a unique and critical context for examining institutional uncertainty and strategic realignment. As global hubs for strategic industries such as semiconductors, EV batteries, and AI, these two nations sit at the "geopolitical frontline" where techno-nationalism and protectionism collide (Li & Shapiro, 2024). Historically, firms in both countries have evolved their management systems through state-led industrial policies and the reconfiguration of business groups (Bae & Rowley, 2003; Rowley & Bae 2004). Today, they face significant institutional volatility driven by the state's shifting policy priorities, the tightening of regulatory frameworks, and rising protectionism, which creates a pressing need for a reconfiguration of managerial cognitive schemas and high strategic resilience (Santangelo et al., 2025).

This Special Issue invites high-quality research that explores how firms in South Korea and China, or businesses directly linked to these markets, navigate these external institutional uncertainties. We seek to examine the diverse ways in which shifting industrial policies and macro-political environments reshape corporate strategic landscapes and organizational responses. This includes discussing the evolution of political engagement and non-market strategies (Choi et al., 2015; 2021), while focusing on how institutional instability and evolving state-firm relations influence strategic change, resource reconfiguration, and corporate decision-making in the East Asian context. We also invite papers addressing the impact of the changing geopolitical environment and rising nationalism on international human resource management (Lee et al., 2023). The ultimate goal is to derive universal non-market strategy discourses applicable to the broader Asia-Pacific and global business ecosystems through the lens of the Korean and Chinese experiences.