South Korea:
It is a State in East Asia, located on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighboured by China to the west, Japan to the east, and North Korea to the north. Its capital is Seoul, the second largest metropolitan city in the world and a major global city.
In 1910, Korea was annexed by Japan. After liberation and occupation by Soviet and U.S. forces at the end of World War II, the nation was divided into North and South Korea. The latter was established in 1948 as a democracy. A war between the two Koreas ended in an uneasy cease-fire. After the war and a period of military rule, the South Korean economy grew significantly and the country was transformed into a major economy and a full democracy.
South Korea is a developed country and had one of the world´s fastest growing economies from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. Its rapid transformation into a wealthy and industrialized economy in this short time was termed the “Miracle on the Han River”.
They are mainly Buddhist. But as of 2005, just under half of the South Korean population expressed no religious preference.
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https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ks.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_ks.html
Organisational aspects:
Jeong: The concept of jeong exists in Korean, Japanese, and Chinese cultures, and the same Chinese character is used in these countries. However, it is very interesting for us to see that the meaning of the same character is subtly different for each of these countries. The Chinese emphasize the aspects of loyalty and reciprocity in relationships when using their jeong character. The Japanese equivalent, pronounced “jyo,” means sentimental feelings with the addition of another word, “nin jyo.” Jeong in Korean culture has much broader meanings and ambiguous nuances in the expression of emotions, and encompasses the Chinese and Japanese concepts.
http://www.prcp.org/publications/sig.pdf
Japan:
It is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.
Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents.
A major power, Japan has the world´s second-largest economy by nominal GDP and the third largest in purchasing power parity. It is also the world´s fourth largest exporter and fifth largest importer. It is also the only Asian country in the G-8 and is currently serving as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. Although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern and extensive military force which is employed in self-defense and peacekeeping roles. It is a developed country with very high living standards.
In 1947, Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution emphasizing Liberal democratic practices. The Allied occupation ended by the Treaty of San Francisco in 1952 and Japan was granted membership in the United Nations in 1956. Japan later achieved spectacular growth to become the second largest economy in the world, with an annual growth rate averaging 10% for four decades. This ended in the mid-1990s when Japan suffered a major recession. Positive growth in the early 21st century has signalled a gradual recovery.
Japan is a constitutional monarchy where the power of the Emperor is very limited. As a ceremonial figurehead, he is defined by the constitution as "the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people". Power is held chiefly by the Prime Minister of Japan and other elected members of the Diet, while sovereignty is vested in the Japanese people.
From 1868, the Meiji period launched economic expansion. Meiji rulers embraced the concept of a free market economy and adopted British and North American forms of free enterprise capitalism. Japanese went to study overseas and Western scholars were hired to teach in Japan. Many of today´s enterprises were founded at the time. Japan emerged as the most developed nation in Asia.
Many religions are practiced in Japan but most Japanese follow Shinto or Buddhism. Generally they do not associate themselves exclusively with one of these, but incorporate features of both into their daily lives in a process known as Syncretism.
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https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/maptemplate_ja.html
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
Korea – Chaebols: a South Korean form of business conglomerate. They are powerful global multinationals owning numerous international enterprises. The Korean word means "business family" or "monopoly" and is often used the way "conglomerate" is used in English. 財閥.
Example: Samsung Group, Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, LG Group, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo and Ssang Yong Group, among others.
Japan – Keiretsu: is a set of companies with interlocking business relationships and shareholdings. It is a type of business group. They evolved from the old pre-World War II Zaibatsus. 系列.
Example: Midori Kai, Mizuho Group, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo.
Chaebol, are often compared to Keiretsu, but the Chaebol conglomerations are much more similar to a Western conglomerate.
There are at least three major differences:
- First, the Chaebol were family dominated. In 1990, for example, in most cases the family that founded the major business in the Chaebol remained in control, while in Japan the Keiretsu were controlled by professional corporate management.
- Second, individual Chaebol were prevented from buying controlling shares of banks, and in 1990 government regulations made it difficult for a Chaebol to develop an exclusive banking relationship. The Keiretsu usually worked with an affiliated bank and had almost unlimited access to credit.
- Third, the Chaebol often formed subsidiaries to produce components for exports, while large Japanese corporations often employed outside contractors.
All of this created huge economic conglomerates that had to deal with the 1990´s big crisis. Some of whom declared bankruptcy and some of whom were able to succeed.
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1. http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/chaebol.htm
2. http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/keiretsu.htm
3. http://t.web.umkc.edu/tjh9b/wp/%5BCoR%5Denterprise.ppt
QUESTION
Choosing one of the questions mentioned on EAFIT Interactiva to be included in your blog:
In the case of Korean and Japanese management styles, do you think they tend to converge or diverge ?. Are they likely to converge to each other or to other management styles (Western, Asian, etc).
They tend to converge but they will never homogenize by means of divergence, it prevents the two lines from ever merging one into the other.
Japan is the dominant managerial style in the region and Korea has adopted many of its patterns and methods to be successful, but the Koreans will never be like the Japanese, centuries of history that could join them, actually, separates them and prevent it from happening.
We have seen the main differences between the two management styles and we know for sure they will never become one.
Western and Asian models fight each other to be the dominant pace in the world, but as concluded in class, we are too different from the world to become homogeneous at its fullest.
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