Social Customs

Business Cards

• Exchange of business card play a main role in a meeting.
• In Korea, the way you treat to the business card equals to the way you treat to the person.
• Titles are very important to every business card by using professional title or Mr., Mrs., or Miss, followed by the surname. (Korean names begin with a family name followed by a given name.)

Meetings

• Punctuality is highly valued for Korean and must arriving on time for a meeting.
• Korean counterparts will expect to arrive earlier than Korean business executive.
• Hierarchy is very important in Korean culture, the most senior person always be the first to the enter the meetings room and guiding conversation..
• Silence are considered acceptable when somebody is presenting, avoid interrupting if possible.

Body Language

• In Korea, must bow when meeting with an elder.
• A junior should avoid eye contact with a senior business people because it considered as impolite or as a challenge.

Dress

• Formal dress for men and women in Korean during business.
• For men: conservative, dark colouured suits with white shirts and conservative ties.
• For women:  conservative business suits or dresses and blouses are appropriate.
• Jeans are not recommended.

Power distance

This dimension explores the extent to which the less powerful members of organisations and institutions accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. At last, it scored 60.

Individualism

South Korea scored 18 in the individualism dimension. This is a very low score and indicative of a collectivist culture. A collectivist culture places greater value on the achievements of the group as opposed to the achievements of the individuals within a group. Speaking one’s mind and confrontation are considered both rude and undesirable in such a culture.

Masculinity

For masculinity, this dimension indicates the degree to which ‘masculine’ values such as competitiveness and the acquisition of wealth are valued over 'feminine' values like relationship building and quality of life. South Korea’s score of 39 is indicative of a relatively ‘feminine’ culture. This reflects the emphasis that people place on cooperation and non-confrontational behaviour.

Uncertainty avoidance

 In such a culture, an employee may fail to use his or her

own discretion in the event of an ethical dilemma (e.g. a conflict of interest) or where there is no explicit ‘rule’ to direct their action.

 Long term orientation

This dimension indicates a society’s time perspective. South Korea’s score of 71 is indicative of a culture that is long term oriented i.e. emphasises perseverance, thriftiness and ordering relationships by status and observing this order.