Corporate Culture in South Korea
The Corporate Culture in South Korea
Business in the XXI century is becoming more and more global, international; we find new partners in various, sometimes very exotic parts of the world. It is all possible thanks to the common language (assuming that "everybody" knows English), good and fast transportation and new ways of communication, like for example Internet. We are learning from each other and trying to adjust to new situations, although the differences are often much greater than just a language or a skin color. It gets harder when not only two different countries, but two different civilizations clashes. Then it is easy and highly likely that a lot of misunderstandings will occur, what can be a threat to our potential cooperation. That's why it is important to get to know the basic information about the culture and habits of the country we plan to do business with. There might be just some small differences, but those small differences might make a huge change in the overall impression and image of us, and significantly contribute to our future collaboration. Further in this essay I'm presenting some information that might be useful before we do business with South Koreans.
Before we move to specific aspects of the Korean culture it is crucial to know about very strong Confucian traditions in that country. At this time Koreans are the most conservative Confucian society in Asia. Its main characteristics are loyalty, centralization of the power, hierarchy, collective responsibility, high work ethic, respect for older people and caring more about the group success than individual. Worth remembering is the fact that Confucianism is not a religion, but a social and moral philosophy, what Europeans often confuse. It is easy to see and experience those values even during the first contact with Koreans.
Of course we have to remember about some rules that are rather unchangeable and the same everywhere in the world. One of them is punctuality. Koreans
Business in the XXI century is becoming more and more global, international; we find new partners in various, sometimes very exotic parts of the world. It is all possible thanks to the common language (assuming that "everybody" knows English), good and fast transportation and new ways of communication, like for example Internet. We are learning from each other and trying to adjust to new situations, although the differences are often much greater than just a language or a skin color. It gets harder when not only two different countries, but two different civilizations clashes. Then it is easy and highly likely that a lot of misunderstandings will occur, what can be a threat to our potential cooperation. That's why it is important to get to know the basic information about the culture and habits of the country we plan to do business with. There might be just some small differences, but those small differences might make a huge change in the overall impression and image of us, and significantly contribute to our future collaboration. Further in this essay I'm presenting some information that might be useful before we do business with South Koreans.
Before we move to specific aspects of the Korean culture it is crucial to know about very strong Confucian traditions in that country. At this time Koreans are the most conservative Confucian society in Asia. Its main characteristics are loyalty, centralization of the power, hierarchy, collective responsibility, high work ethic, respect for older people and caring more about the group success than individual. Worth remembering is the fact that Confucianism is not a religion, but a social and moral philosophy, what Europeans often confuse. It is easy to see and experience those values even during the first contact with Koreans.
Of course we have to remember about some rules that are rather unchangeable and the same everywhere in the world. One of them is punctuality. Koreans