South Korean Corporate Culture and Its Lessons for Building Corporate Culture in China

Corporate culture, as a management theory and method, emerged as an important component of organizational success in the late twentieth century. Korea’s unique style of corporate culture is a critical element to its economic success. Both China and Korea still have a strong influence of Confucianism on everyday life; Confucianism is the most dominating component in both countries’ cultures. The Western style of management philosophy, with its associated corporate culture, is generally regarded as the most efficient and effective philosophy. However, the successful experience of Korean business based on its own corporate culture has also gained attention and praise from all over the world. Many experts and businesspersons in China are looking at the Korean style of management and its unique corporate culture with serious interest, and are considering it as the most suitable style of management for China to have continued success in its economy. In fact, corporate culture in China is only at the beginning of building its own management culture and philosophy, and is facing many problems and challenges today. The success of Korea and its economy based on its unique corporate culture and management philosophy gives China and its businesses new perspectives and ideas. This paper will analyze the formation of corporate culture in Korea, and discuss deeper understanding of Korean corporate culture, including its background and influencing factors. Also, this paper will talk about the current situation and existing problems in China regarding corporate culture and propose some ideas that Chinese businesses could learn from Korea’s success.