Korean Culture And Business Practice

As one of the most important key aspect of the Korean culture, which influences the way to do business in South Korea significantly, Kibun does not have direct English translation. It basically means a mood or feeling of balance and good behavior (Chaney and Martin, 2011). In South Korea, people are continuously trying to maintain the environment of stable Kibun, both in personal life and business world. People are willing to maintain their own Kibun as well as others’. It is not polite to disturb others’ Kibun. For this aspect of Korean culture, it is much about the feelings of others (Southerton, 2008). People tend to do things with the respect of others’ opinions and feelings, and sometime avoid saying “no” or bad news, to prevent hurting others’ Kibun. Knowing this culture is very important to maintain the harmony, and especially in the business world. In the business world, Korean people always make an attempt to be polite, friendly, and do things with only the best of intentions. They do not want to lose others’ face by criticizing them in public. In business, a manager’s Kibun is damaged if his subordinates do not show proper respect. A subordinate’s Kibun is damaged if his/her manager criticizes him/her in public (Southerton, 2008). Therefore, it is very likely that Korean people would show their different opinions or feelings by giving positive or ambiguous answers. People need to read from their non-verbal or body languages to understand the actual meaning of the answers. 

 

It is common for Korean people to understand each other; however, it is very easy to cause misunderstanding and/or confusing to foreigners. For example, Americans usually like to do business directly. They present their opinions and feelings by giving direct and clear answers. Sometime, they even seem argumentative to those who are from other countries. In this case, there is a very high chance that Americans would hurt Koreans’ Kibun, and thus, it is hard for the two parties to achieve agreement on business. Therefore, it is very important for foreigners, like Americans, to understand the culture of Kibun, and be prepared and practice picking up their non-verbal and body languages to know the actual meaning. On the other hand, Americans should try to avoid too argumentative or aggressive when doing even small business with South Koreans.

 

In South Korea, the way of paying attention to others’ non-verbal and body languages, as well as the tones of what they say is Nunchi. The translation of Nunchi is eye measure. In other words, Nunchi is the ability to determine another person’s Kibun by using the eye (Southerton, 2008). As mentioned above, people need to learn from others’ non-verbal and body languages, as well as the tones to get the real meaning of what they said. Nunchi is like a sixth sense, but it is more looking at visual clues and understanding what the person is really saying. For example, if you are a boss of Koreans telling them that they are doing a certain thing wrong in their work, and they may take this to mean that you are not satisfied with all their work. Another example could be: A Korean may say to you that “Are you hungry?” He/she is actually saying “I am hungry, can we eat now?” So if you answer “No”, it would hurt his/her Kibun. The correct answer would be to ask the Korean what he/she wants to eat (Southerton, 2008). From the discussion above, we can tell that Kibun is an essential part of South Korean culture, and foreigners or foreign companies must learn to understand it and know how to react to this unique culture, in order to corporate better with South Koreans. 

 

In South Korea, people believe that a person owes total loyalty to parents and authority figures, notably rulers, elders, and organizational leaders, as well as those who are in high hierarchical rankings in their hierarchy. Therefore, workers see themselves as they owe the same loyalty to their employers and supervisors as to their parents and family elders. In the business world, Koreans show their respect to their employers and supervisors, and usually avoid conflicts as much as they can, if they have different opinions. They would like to obey the employers’ and supervisors’ orders to show their loyalty, and expect to get confirmation and satisfaction from their employers and supervisors. On the other hand, their employers and supervisors are usually concerned with the well-being of the subordinates. It means that they avoid blaming or criticizing their subordinates in public.

 

Neither of the parties would like to do anything to lose others’ face, which would cause disturbing the harmony. However, there is no such concept like Inhwa in other countries, such as the United States. In the United States, people are not considering that conflicts with others’ opinions are disturbing the harmonious environment. They believe that they have the right and freedom to show their different opinions and feelings to others, including their employers and supervisors. They do not have as strong loyalty as Koreans have in their work places. They believe everyone in the work place is equal, and feel free to share their thoughts.