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
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To make a good first impression it is good to learn few words in Korean, like "Good afternoon, how was your flight?" etc. It is usually hard, but it is also a nice surprise for them and it makes them as happy as when any foreign takes the challenge and tries to say something in Polish. I would suggest though consulting our Korean expression with someone who actually knows Korean first to make sure our guests will understand us and what is more important to avoid offending them or any other awkward situation.
In contacts with Koreans we should rather use simple English, at least at the beginning when we don't know how well they now it. It is better when we speak slowly and clearly, using the basic vocabulary. For some Koreans admitting they can not understand what we are saying would be very embarrassing. When it comes to English language Korean situation is similar to Polish one. Everybody in Korea learns English, but at the end they know it rather poorly and they don't like to use it. Even if someone speaks it fluently, often happens that one has very strange accent which is extremely hard for us to understand. That is because Korean has completely different grammar and pronunciation. The safest solution to the language problem is employing a translator.
Business clothing is no different then in Poland. Men should wear a traditional, dark suit with white shirt and a
Kim, J., & Zhong, Y. (2010). Religion and Political Tolerance in South Korea. East Asia: An International Quarterly, 27(2), 187-203. doi:10.1007/s12140-010-9112-1
Men are expected to be clean shaven and wear business suits with a tie and dress shoes that are well taken care of. Women are expected to wear three piece business suits, with skirts or slacks.
korea is a hierological country, which is why korean family names are in front of given names. this is also why you must speak formally to anyone older than you and people who are in higher rankings than you business-wise. when meeting people, it is customary to give a respectful hello and a deep bow. even when it’s just the cashier at some convenience store, a short head nod is still a regular part of greeting in korean culture. another common korean custom is the removal of shoes upon entering a house, this even applies to schools and some restaurants. all of this is simply out of personal respect for the
There are many cultures and subcultures all around the world, some may be controversial and others may be fairly similar to each other. Culture has a total of four elements: symbols, language, values and beliefs, and norms. The South Korean Culture is unique in the perspective of ingenuity and their independence. From the many rituals to the simple customs, Korean have a fun culture that many tend to want to be apart of. Recently, Korean culture has been making its way to the States and the teenagers are excited. Korean pop music (Kpop) and Korean dramas (Kdramas) are becoming a trend and with that so is the Korean culture in general.
Most of the physical resources of the world have been discovered and nearly all are fully acquired and applied for specific purposes. However, as technology and globalization have transformed the business world, future business successes depend upon innovation and creativity, such as the newest app (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) for growth and continued development. The businesses that understand how to best encourage innovation and creativity with their organizational climate and culture are best prepared to succeed. These types of businesses can have the nurturing environments that stimulate innovation and creativity for continued growth.
The culture of South Korea has a rich history and has been impacted by several other cultures throughout history.
The term corporate culture is a general term to refer to the company's culture in general. Culture itself is a great topic. To understand the corporate culture, there are three elements of culture that has been commonly known in public.
In the early 1980s the term “corporate culture” was developed and broadly known by the 1990s. The trend began with two books that examined the challenges that Japan posed for American industry, Theory Z (Ouchi 1981) and The Art of Japanese Management (Pascale and Athos 1981). The trend continued with two books that concentrated closely on American industry, Corporate Cultures (Deal and Kennedy 1982) and The Change Masters (Kanter 1983), and surpass to perhaps the book that best exemplifies this trend, In Search of Excellence (Peters and Waterman 1982). These academic scholars continued to generate books on management throughout the decade. (Denison, p. 1)
However on some shirtsleeve meetings Russian people of business prefer to look more casually, in such cases they untie their ties, take off their jackets and can choose suits of more light classic colors, such as gray or camel. Similarly American business people wear conservative suits and ties of dark colors. But women are also allowed to put on not only classic skirts and dresses, but also pants. In rural areas American people of business can wear their suits even without jackets and ties. Both Russian and American businesswomen are not supposed to wear jeans even on casual occasions. All in all negotiators of both our countries have an utterly conservative look, avoid vivid colors of fabrics and gaudy accessories.
In modern business, organizations deal with global partners and conflict often arises because of different outlooks, objectives, and policies. IT solutions are common in modern business to not only resolve conflict but to prevent it from occurring. In many cases
As mentioned above, Korean is primarily spoken in North and South Korea with 72 million people, however it expands far beyond it’s tiny peninsula. In China, two million people speak Korean as their fist language and 700,000 people in Japan. This is logical considering Korea sits right between the two nations. This also explains the heavy influence both nations have on the language. Other nations where Korean is spoken as a first language include the United States with two million speakers, and the Russian regions of Kazhstan and Uzbekistan with 500,000 speakers. (Korean Language History) In the United States, Korean is the third most spoken language in Virginia and Georgia. (Wideopencountry)
Korea needs to avoid excepting western's culture or education systems, and so on. Korea has accepted Western's culture a lot, so they are losing their own cultures. Hanbok, for example, people with Hanbok is rarely seen nowadays.
Samsung Group is an international corporation company from South Korean. It develops variable business areas such as food processing, electronics, textiles, securities insurance and retails. Especially, electronics like mobiles, laptops, televisions and semiconductors become the main source of their income in the global market. In 2010, Samsung Electronics becomes the largest information and technology organization in the world.
Geographically, Korea is a small country on the far eastern edge of Asia surrounded by China, Russia and Japan. South Korea is still under heavy military tension with North Korea. The area of South Korea is 100,210 square kilometers which is one fourth of California. The population is approximately 50 million. Its capital city is Seoul where approximately 10 million live. Its language is Hangeul (Korean). 29.2 percent of Koreans are Christians and 22.8 percent are Buddhists. 48 percent do not practice any religion. Although it is a small country, Korea is becoming a center of economic and cultural activities in Asia. Korea was colonized by Japan during 1909 to 1945, and later had to endure the painful Korean War during 1950 to 1953. However, since that time on, Korea has achieved amazingly splendid economic growth in a short period that was called as “the miracle of the Han River”. Today, Korea stands as one of the developed countries in the world. Now, Korea plays an important role in world economy as a member of G20 and hosted G20 Seoul Summit in 2010. Korea hosted the Seoul Summer Olympics in 1988, 2002 FIFA World Cup with Japan, and will host the Pyungchang Winter Olympics in 2018. Korea is famous for IT industries in global markets. Recently, Korean wave (Hanryu) for Korean dramas, movies, and music has been attracting worldwide audiences. (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, 2015)