Changing corporate culture over time in South Korea

Abstract

Corporate culture change is an interesting topic, not least since cultures are often seen as deeply ingrained and slow moving. Here we look at the example of the large, diversified conglomerates in South Korea – the chaebol. This is partly because of their strong corporate cultures, importance in the country's economic development and growth and growing public and political backlash against what are seen as overly powerful institutions. We find that over the decade from one crisis, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, to the next, the 2008 global financial crisis, there has indeed been change between and within chaebol corporate cultures. However, this is not as straightforward as it seems and the situation in and after 2011 has become even more complex, mainly due to changes in the global environment.

Keywords::

• Asia
• chaebol
• change
• culture
• Korean business
• South Korea

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yung-Ho Cho

Yung-Ho Cho is a Professor at Ajou University, Suwon, South Korea. Interested in organizational culture and organizational change, he has conducted a series of surveys to investigate cultural change in big businesses in Korea.

Gyu-Chang Yu

Gyu-Chang Yu is a Professor at the School of Business, Hanyang University in Korea. He has published academic articles in international journals and done consulting on HR and leadership for Korean chaebols.

Min-Kyu Joo

Min-Kyu Joo is a Senior Researcher at the Kim & Chang Law firm. Min-Kyu is interested in human resource management and organizational behaviour. Prior to his researcher career, Min-Kyu worked as a Research Associate at the Korea Labor Institute.

Chris Rowley

Chris Rowley is a Professor of HRM at Cass Business School, City University, London, UK and Director of the Centre for Research in Asian Management and Research and Publications, HEAD Foundation, Singapore. He has researched and published widely in the areas of human resource management as well as Asian business and management.