A complementary perspective on business ethics in South Korea: Civil religion, common misconceptions, and overlooked social structures
Horak, S., & Yang, I. (2018). A complementary perspective on business ethics in
South Korea: Civil religion, common misconceptions, and overlooked social
structures. Business Ethics: A European Review, 27(1), 1-14.
DOI: 10.1111/beer.12153
Link:
https://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12153
Abstract
Following the recent call for advancement in knowledge about business ethics in
East Asia, this study proposes a complementary perspective on business ethics in
South Korea. We challenge the conventional view that South Korea is a strictly
collectivist country, where group norms and low trust determine the norms and
values of behavior. Using the concept of civil religion, we suggest that the
center of the South Korean civil religion can be seen in the affective ties and
networks pervading the economic, political, and social institutions, embedded in
and guided by Confucian ideals. We argue that South Korea should be seen not as
a collectivist low-trust society, but rather as an affective-relational society,
in which the relational context determines whether collectivism or individualism
prevails. Further, we assert that trust, the cohesive factor of affective ties
and networks, has until now been inadequately captured by conventional surveys.
Our proposed perspective contributes to a more holistic picture and a more
firmly grounded understanding of business ethics in South Korea.
Keywords
Affective ties, civil religion, Bellah, ethics, informality, network society,
social networks, South Korea, trust, Yongo