Book
The culture of Korean industry: an ethnography of Poongsan Corporation
University of Arizona Press • Tucson • Published In 1992 • Pages:
By: Kim, Choong Soon.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book examines the culture and cultural influences of a major Korean company. Kim sees Confucian influence in the behavior of the founding president, who although may not espouse Confucian ideals, does live by them. Also, Kim sees Confucianist influences in the hierarchical and formal relationships of the corporation. Indeed, managers are sent in retreat to classical Confucian academies (SOWON), where they live a austere existence and are exposed to Confucian teachings and Korean folk culture. Personal connections are important in hiring managers and also in maintaining favorable relations between government and business. In the early history of the company, workers and managers worked in common effort to make the company a success, however, since then labor relations have soured. The unequal distribution of Korean wealth in the postwar boom period undermined the moral posture of entrepreneurs and managers in the eyes of the working class. Kim locates the source of Korean motivation and hard work ethic in the past conditions of poverty and humiliation that have lead to a particular emotion called HAN, or bitterness. He concludes that Korea's corporate culture is influenced mostly by Korea's own cultural history.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Acculturation and culture contact
- Economic planning and development
- Ethos
- Labor
- Business and industrial organization
- Theological systems
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Korea
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Asia
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- East Asia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator TypesThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Ethnologist
- Indigenous Person
- Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
- Ian Skoggard ; 1997
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1987-1991
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1355-1991
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Republic of Korea
- NotesAdditional notes
- Choong Soon Kim
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 223-238) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 92004859
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Koreans