Download This PaperBusiness Ethics - Evidence from Korea
48 Pages Posted: 29 Dec 2015
Date Written: December 2015
Abstract
This study investigates business ethics attitudes and practices in South Korea through a questionnaire survey conducted in 2015. The survey represents a replication of a similar study conducted in 2005 so that the change in business ethics perceptions between the years 2005 and 2015 could be examined. In detail, this papers looks into (1) ethical conflicts, (2) (un)ethical practices, (3) ethical dilemmas, (4) ethical standards, and (5) institutionalization of business ethics in Korean organizations. Overall, we find that the 2015 results are quite similar to those of the previous study. However, we can also observe increase in business ethics awareness among Korean respondents and overall improvement of ethical standards in Korea. Our findings also suggest that over time ethical perceptions of Korean respondents have been getting more similar to those of US' and Japanese respondents involved in a similar survey. Finally, we could observe increasing importance of code of ethics and punishment for unethical conduct as the most common tools used to institutionalize business ethics.
Keywords: Business ethics, Korea, survey, recent changes
JEL Classification: M14, O57
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Tae H. Choi (Contact Author)
KDI School of Public Policy and Management ( email )
P.O. Box 184
Seoul, 130-868
Korea, Republic of (South Korea)