Different perception of unethical behavior between Koreans and Westerners in business

Abstract

This study examines whether Korean businessmen behave differently from Western businessmen in perceiving unethical behavior in their organizations and business. In collectivist culture like Korea, unethical behavior is often conducted in a collectivistic form. If overlooking unethical behavior is taken for granted among people, they become callous to the unethical behavior and finally would not mind engaging in unethical behavior and even cooperating in colleagues’ unethical behavior. From this, it was expected that in Korea where collectivistic culture is dominant, more unethical behavior will occur in a collectivistic form than in Western countries where individual culture is dominant. The results show that Koreans are more likely to overlook unethical behavior while Westerners are not hesitant to blow whistle.