Organizational culture and the tolerance of corruption: the case of South Korea

ABSTRACT

There has been long term and widespread criticism of organizational corruption around the world. This also includes South Korea with many examples, both historical and current. This is underpinned by several elements but an important and high profile factor is a seeming creation and tolerance of corruption by the large, diversified, dynastic family-owned and run conglomerates – the chaebol – and their nexus with the political elite. This study examines if there is any relationship between organizational culture and the tolerance of corruption within Korean firms. For this purpose, we chose four cultural traits as independent variables: large power distance, the government–business relationship, hereditary management and naembi culture, along with the tolerance of corruption as a dependent variable. Data was collected through a questionnaire survey and we used regression analysis to test our four hypotheses. According to the results, all our hypotheses received statistical support which implies these four cultural characteristics positively affect the tolerance of corruption within firms. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are also discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Chaebol
• corruption
• Korea
• organizational culture
• power distance
• tolerance of corruption

Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Wonkwang University in 2018.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

In-Woo Jun

In-Woo Jun, a first author of this paper, is an Associate Professor of the Department of Business Administration, Wonkwang University, Korea. He received his MBA and PhD from Birmingham Business School, University of Birmingham, UK. His research interests include competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility, sustainable management and corruption of international and Korean businesses.

Kyoung-In Kim

Kyoung-In Kim obtained his PhD from Korean University, and he is now working as a lecturer in Kunsan National University, Korea. His research interests include analysis of business environemnts, evaluation of corporate value, and financial management of Korean firms.

Chris Rowley

Professor Chris Rowley, Kellogg College, University of Oxford and Cass Business School, City, University of London, UK, researches and publishes widely in the area of work and employment and Asian business and management. He also writes practitioner articles and opinion pieces and provides expert comments for a range of international TV, radio and newspapers. His research areas include international and Asian HRM and management with over 650 books, book chapters, practitioner magazines and academic journals such as California Management Review, Journal of World Business, British Journal of Management, Human Relations, Work and Employment, Asia Pacific Business Review, Human Resource Management and International Journal of HRM, amongst others.