Combining Korean Confucianism with European values to build successful business relationships

Abstract

Confucian and Buddhist influences in Korea combine to create paradoxical culture in which different ideas merge harmoniously. Meanwhile, Aristotelian European values have developed in a different direction. With increasing collaboration between European Union (EU) countries and Korea, developing enduring and successful business relationships is imperative. This paper addresses the lack of focus on Korean Confucianism and its effect on relations with Europe. It emerges from an evaluation of successful EU-Korean collaborations over 11 years in higher education and industry. Using thematic analysis of in-depth interviews with 'critical cases', our findings show that Korean Confucianism is a positive influence on relationships to achieve complex, ambitious aims. We posit that a combination of Korean and European values is ideal as Korean society undergoes rapid change and Europe faces political upheaval. Finally, we find that value adjustment from both sides is essential and a new framework of approaches to this process is proposed.