East Asia

• China
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Macau
• Mongolia
• North Korea
• South Korea
• Taiwan

IMPORTANT FACTS:

RELIGION: the most important religions practiced by East Asian people are Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and Shinto.

KOREA BEFORE THE 60’S:

} Liberation from Japanese rule – 1945
} Creation of government – 1948
} Korean War - 1950
} Agricultural economy
} Low GDP per capita, even less than Mozambique or Senegal

KOREAN VISION:

} Accelerated growth in economy
} Improvement of products quality
} Change from a poor country to an industrialized one
} Changes in the labor market: qualified jobs
} Increasing international market share

JAPANESE VS KOREANS

• There are shared characteristics between the Japanese and Koreans
• Cultural factors differentiating Chaebol from Keiretsu:
– Layoffs
– Authoritarian
– Family owned


THE CHAEBOLS

It is a state-lead economic model. The big Winners are: Samsung, Hyundai, LG, Kia, and Daewoo. These big companies are recognized worldly by their high revenues from exports.

The Chaebols are large conglomerate family of controlled firms in South Korea. These companies have strong ties with government agencies, and also they have privileges access to credits with the government banks.

CHAEBOLS BENEFITS

} Scale Industrial conglomerates
} High impact in economic growth
} Access to new technologies
} Improvement on processes quality
} Great power holders

Question:

List the main similarities and differences of Japanese and Korean management styles.

JAPANESE VS KOREAN MANAGEMENT STYLE

· A wider set of cultural norms in each society is a powerful force for differentiation across borders.

JAPANESE AND KOREAN MANAGEMENT STYLE SIMILARITIES

· Both develop management styles based on finding a model in developed countries.
· Both belong to common cultural heritage: Confucianism and Buddhism.
· Sometimes Koreans look like Japanese more than Korean. Marketing – Korean- corporate brand.

References:

Lee, Jangho, Thomas W. Roehl, & Soonkyoo Choe. 2000. What Makes Management Style Similar and Distinct Across Borders? Growth, Experience and Culture in Korean and Japanese Firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 31(4): 631-52.